Ooh la la

On Tuesday I started the day in my usual day-off-from-work routine. Big bowl of 4 cereals mixed together, coffee, genmai-cha and UPN news. I pondered the state of my lemon Ford as I watched Springer, Montel and Maury. I set out in the afternoon with the aim of taking my car to a few dealerships to enquire about trade-in deals. Honda or Toyota, baby, Honda or Toyota, that's Kentaro's mantra. It's not like I WANTED a Ford in the first place. Just seemed to check out better than the other options we had back in buying time. I drove for half an hour south, past about 50 dealerships and car yards. I made a left on Broward Blvd and drove straight into downtown Fort Lauderdale. I parked on Las Olas Blvd and walked into a bridal shop. I disclosed my budget to the staff and was directed straight to the sales rack. The wedding dress of my dreams was brought before my eyes and I wept with delight to hear the drastically discounted sale price. Well, I didn't really cry but I sure am glad that the dress shopping is already over because it's not fun to do solo!!

It's a Christos design from last season, and is 80% off because it was worn once in a fashion show.

Woohoo!

Fiance, check, dress, check...

Where I work

I work at Morikami Japanese Gardens & Museum in the gift shop. I have 30 minutes for my lunch break which is enough to time to scoff a PBJ and power walk through the gardens, which are meticulously maintained and full of Zen-factor. It's a great way to get a breath of fresh air and relax before diving back into the chaos which is the gift shop. People just CANNOT GET ENOUGH of the store's goods. There is a fantastic selection of Japanese fountains, bags, bowls, dolls, chopsticks, lanterns, scrolls, jewellery, candles, candy, toys, books, cards, kimonos and more, and the wealthy suburban matrons who frequent the store seem well-versed in how to feng-shui a house. I have never come across a shop in Australia with a wider variety of Japanese merchandise. I have also never earned such a low wage in my entire life, with every penny I DO earn going towards my lemon car, which oh by the way broke down again last week. Sigh.

*Happy Easter*

The easter bunny came for Kentaro this year for the first time, and had apparently hopped through Australia on its way to Florida because it brought a giant chocolate koala for him as well as the usual American fare. (thanks Mom)

Goma and Shio were thrilled to have a bunch of colourful new things to rip to shreds.

It was a good day had by all, with the morning chocolate pig-out followed by a trip to the beach and a buffet dinner.

Hamming it up at Costco

The great American institution of bulk-buying is epitomised by Costco, the wholesale warehouse company that now has 471 locations branching out from the US to Canda, the UK and Asia, including one 5 minutes down the road from us.

'Costco became the first company ever to grow from zero to $3 billion in sales in less than six years.' -taken from Wikipedia's Costco definition.

Kentaro and I both joined up at our local Costco thinking that we'd save a lot by buying in bulk, but have since realised that you can't walk out of the place spending less than $100 because 5kg of sliced ham, 2kg of salad, a barrel of cereal and a gallon of vitamins isn't actually that cheap. And not only can we not fit a pre-packaged 3 loaves of bread in our refrigerator, by the time we've gotten past 1 loaf the other 2 are already stale! Best stick to Walmart I guess.

(Photo taken last year at the Costco in Saipan.)

Our apartment

Here is our humble abode. The first pic is taken from the main entrance, the second with my trusty Ford in the foreground. I wonder which part of this reliable machine will need Focus this week? So far it's been the tyres, the a/c and the transmission... The third picture is the view from our front door. It's a nice little complex with a pool, tennis court, racketball court and gym. The odd thing is that this is what the majority of south Florida looks like, with stand-alone homes few and far between. But the variety you don't get from houses is made up for by all the types of people you see. It's funny to think that no matter how different we are from our neighbours, our living space is near identical.

And then there were 3...

Licenses that is. With the addition of my new Florida Driver's License which I obtained yesterday, I now have THREE licenses valid until at least 2008 in THREE different countries. I guess it's then also suitable that I look like THREE different people...

So to celebrate my super-validity and to mark 2 months since I became a born-again American, we went out for sushi!

Michelle's Wedding

I was honoured to be a bridesmaid in Michelle's wedding held at Pearl Beach this February. No less an honour could have kept me away from my Kentaro for that long! He was waiting for me in Florida while I frolicked with the girls at the Hen's Night and wedding. It was a stunning beach service but I'll let the pics do the talking!

Just the two of us!

It's amazing to ponder how my life has changed so quickly. Six months ago I was leaving Japan, enrolled in a Masters degree at Macquarie University with plans to live with my brother and study and work in Sydney. Had things gone according to that plan, I would now be one month into my degree in International Communication. My friends and family would be sick of hearing about my 3 years in Japan and I might possibly be concocting plans to go back there some day...

Meeting Kentaro has put a rosy light on everything I see in front of me, and given me so many options about where I can live and what I can do in the future. It is such a wonderful feeling to have found my partner in life, and to go to sleep deeply content every night. We make a great team. Woohoo!!!

Long-lost Laurie

One of the best parts about living in the States again is being able to see my long-lost relatives. First and most convenient on the list was mom's half-sister Laurie, who works as a cruise ship singer on the Carnival Legend which departs weekly from Fort Lauderdale.

We met for the first time in March (and calculated that it had been 13 years since we'd last met!) and the second time on April 2nd, her birthday! Kentaro and I were honoured to have her be our first house guest even if it was just for a couple of hours! She was also just in time to meet Goma and Shio, who arrived on March 31st. Painting courtesy of Kentaro's procrastinations.

R.I.P. Mushymochi, welcome to Salt and Sesame!

If I had a dollar for every time I started a blog and then abandoned it, I'd be able to buy about 4 Krispie Kreme donuts...

Mushymochi's young life was tragically cut short in October 2005 when I met my samurai lover Kentaro and wanted to express my new life with a new blog!

April 2006 finds me in Coral Springs, Florida, playing fiancee to Kentaro, sales wench to Morikami Museum (http://www.morikami.org/), and mother to Goma (sesame) and Shio (salt), our 2 new baby cockatiels. I dedicate this new blog to them!