We're Engaged!!

I'm sure most of you by now will have heard the news, but for those of you who haven't: Toshi ended our unforgettable vacation with a stunning sunset proposal!!

Anyway before all that, here is what we got up to during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Osaka
Osaka is my home from home. I admit I was homesick for Japan several times during my time in Hanoi, and it was wonderful to be in Japan again. Osaka brings the comforts of a loving family, familiar food, and also the excitement that one day I will call it Home when Toshi and I finally settle to start a family.

 Osaka Tower

Queuing up for 45 mins in the cold for kushikatsu, battered meat and veg skewers dipped in miso sauce

 

 Fushimi Inari in Kyoto for the Yoshida's annual New Year pilgrimage

 Outside ice skating.. Toshi was so happy to be on a real ice rink (you may recall Hanoi's plastic ice rink here)

Absolutely freezing night boat fishing near Kobe city port.. we caught 32 fish and a starfish.

The most amazing thing was the bio-luminescent plankton in the sea!!

Saipan

If you're Welsh you might have misread that as 'Siapan', but no, Saipan is not in Japan: it is in fact an American territory South-East of Japan and East of Philippines. It's an extremely popular destination for Japanese tourists, hence how we managed to find such a cheap tour package flying out from Osaka.

• Day 1

It was a real test of my stamina to keep swimming for 30 mins or so non-stop, but the breathtaking beauty of the ocean world beneath was well worth it. The picture above is not mine but gives a good impression of what it was like!!
I also learned the painful way to never touch a sea urchin :'(

A 20 minute boat journey from Saipan led us to Managaha Island. The white beach and pure blue sea reminded me of my visit to Phi Phi Island with my Grandad back in '98!

 Parasailing! Not nearly as scary as you might think, just a great view and a great memory!!

• Day 2

 Started off the day with a poolside swim

 An American-style lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe

 A romantic Valentine's Day sunset barbeque

Yummy seafood and interesting traditional dance entertainment

Me participating in the traditional dance; unbeknownst to me I would receive a proposal 15 minutes later!

As the waitress came with dessert, at the perfect moment I was served a ring box!

Of course I answered with a very teary 'yes!'

So to my family who are reading this, I hope you're reassured that I'm very happy and well-looked after, and we'll see you in Osaka for our wedding sometime within the next 20 months!

Tết Tết Tết Tết Đến Rồi! (Tet is coming!)

Tết, as the Chinese New Year is known in Vietnam, is fast approaching! This year will be the Year of the Golden Snake and it falls on Saturday night. It is basically a combination of the Japanese New Year (see my blog post here), the Western-style Christmas and everyone's birthday rolled into one.. so it's a pretty big deal!!!

日本風なお正月＋洋風なクリスマス＋みなさんの誕生日みたいな大きなエベントがやってきます。。ベトナムのお正月です！

Interestingly in Vietnam, everyone ages by one year at the Lunar New Year and not on their date of birth (though personal birthdays are still often celebrated Western-style, because, why not!?)

昨日天気がよくて出かけました！！
This weekend brought AMAZING summery weather (mid twenties and elusive blue skies!), and determined not to waste it, Toshi and I headed to Hoan Kiem to seek out Tết preparations following the recommendation of a student's parent.

Maple Bear End-of-the-Year Party
35 of the 70-or-so staff at our school gathered and pooled resources to fix up a hot pot in one of our classrooms! It was great to bring the staff together and my assistant cooked up such a yummy broth!!!
メープルベアで開いた鍋の忘年会 ！海老うまかった！

Veg, shrimp, chicken, tofu, beef and oysters! Don't forget the yummy MSG!

  Chicken foot- abundant with wrinkle-preventing collagen and elastane!

From this Friday Toshi and I will head to Osaka over the Lunar New Year holiday period until the 16th, including a brief trip to the Island of Saipan over Valentine's. This will be my first time to America.. though as it's not the mainland, not sure whether to count it or not! I'm sure you can guess I'm very excited!!
金曜日から吉田家によろしくおねがいします！

Apartment Video Tour!!

As promised.. here is the apartment tour!!

Happy New Year! Chúc mừng năm mới!

A happy new year to you all! I hope this year brings you all what you want!
明けましておめでとうございます！！
Christmas
As you know I spent this Christmas in the UK! It was really lovely to spend Christmas with the family! Here are a couple of pictures of me excited like a little girl at the Harry Potter Studios:
今年のクリスマスはイギリスで過ごしました。ハリーポッターツアー参加して最高でした！！！

New Year
Toshi and I didn't want to join the insane crowd of people dancing to the DJ near the Opera House in Hanoi, so we ended up walking around Hoan Kiem Lake, a popular date spot of ours. In typical Vietnam-fashion the giant tv screens showing the countdown broke down 30 mins before midnight(!), so everyone just used their own watches when the time came and it was funny hearing excited shouts and different 5..4..3s.. going on everywhere! A very unique new year!
ハノイのお正月はゆっくりで池の周りさんぽうしたり１２時まで待ちました。 １０時に日本にいる家族のことを考えました。

 Hundreds of motorists stopped to watch the screen while it was still working (left) and the Lake (right)

１００人以上が道の中でバイクでニューイヤーテレビを見ました。

New Place

The new year is a good time to start new things, and Toshi and I are going to start living together from this weekend!!! Toshi got permission from his superiors for his hard work, and although I'll have a long commute to work, I really can't wait to start this new stage of my life!!

お正月は新しいことをやるときですよね。今週からトシ君と一緒に住み始まります！トシくんと新しい生活を始まりがめちゃ楽しみです！！

A sneak peak, please look forward to the video tour when it's nicely decorated!!

ビデオツアーを楽しみしてください

Old Neighbouhood

Finally this is the video I'd promised to take for my dad of the street market on my way to work. I was in a bit of a hurry, but please enjoy the pigs trotters and chickens waiting to be plucked!!
最後は自分のお父さんのために取った近所のビデオです。

Vietnam Karaoke Review and Skating

Well, it took 3 months, but I have finally experienced karaoke in Vietnam! Let's start with the good- generous drinks buffet deal, CHEAP and very spacious rooms.
The bad- you had to look through a book to find a song you wanted to sing and write down the code on a piece of paper, which you then gave to the staff member outside the room. Now at this point in the drinking party this was very challenging!!!
The song selection was about as dated as the technology itself； I managed to recognise and sing 'Madonna- Just Like a Prayer' and 'The Bee Gees- Eternal Flame'.
ついにベトナムのカラオケの経験した！いい点は部屋が広いです。悪い点が曲セレクションだし、選び方が紙で！だけど、楽しかった。

The weather recently had been rather dreary and pollution-y until suddenly this weekend of blue skies and 27'C sunshine! Determined not to miss the chance for some Vitamin D, Toshi and I skated 9km around the large lake in the city. It was a bit scary at times when the road surface became wet and when taxis were squeezing past, but overall it was enjoyable (and exhausting!)
天気が急に暑くなってきたので、昨日トシくんと一緒に池の周りで９キロスケートしました。 トシくんがすごく疲れたみたい！

Finally, a look outside Toshi's new apartment window!
最後にはトシくんの新しいアパートからの景色！

Mt. Tam Dao Motorbike Trip

Toshi and I rented a motorbike (well, more of a scooter) for the not so hefty sum of $7 a day and made our way North-West to the Tam Dao National Park for a Music Festival.
ハノイでバイクを安く借りてタム・ダオ山まで乗りました。
The Tam Dao Mountain range is approximately 70-80km (~50 miles) North-East of Hanoi, but no thanks to Google Maps' strange route, it took us about 4 hours to get to there!!! We ended up going down some dodgy narrow farm paths and Toshi was attacked by several butterflies!
グーグルマップがあんまりよくなくてハノイから８０キロぐらいが４時間かかってしまいました！
We stopped on the way for a spot of fishing.　もちろんトシ君が釣り品持ってきました！

 New aviators for Toshi ̣(left) and definitely lost thanks to Google Maps (right)

 

 Toshi's first fish in Vietnam at Lake Dai Lai!

 The beautiful landscapes of Northern Vietnam!

The weather was SO hot, though once we reached the peak of Mt. Tam Dao ~1400m high the temperature dropped. We stayed in a pretty decent hotel (a VERY reasonable $20 for the room) overlooking the valley and enjoyed a crystal clear night sky.
天気はすごく暑かったけど山登ったら気温は急に落ちた！やすいホテルで泊まったことにしてはよかったです（２０００円ぐらい）。
We enjoyed yummy grilled chicken, corncobs and sugar cane, as well as the crystal clear night sky, a bonfire and live music.
うまい焼き鳥を食べたり、きれいな星空を見たり、ライブな音楽も楽しみました。

The next day was also a beautiful day! Here are some pictures:

 Posing with our bike!

 

A video of us biking back down the mountain:

 Lake Lang Ha at the foot of Mt. Tam Dao

 

Misguided by Google Maps yet again!! This time an unfinished highway!!

*By the way, in case you're wondering, we're wearing masks as not to breathe pollution, dust, dry air and least of all bugs!