Going, going, gone!

Sunday is the last day we have to sell up our old stuff in Coral Springs and hand in the keys.

So on Saturday the pressure was really on to get rid of our remaining huge objects, the things we couldn't feasibly bring over to our new place to sell later on. In that category we had the king-size bed, wooden entertainment centre, coffee table & bookshelf.

Countless advertisements placed in local classifieds and the internet had not been fruitful, only full of fruits, who would call and then try to sell us THEIR stuff, either that or crack on to Kentaro.

We had even tried posting signs around the place but they aren't too visible on the huge roads here. Then Kentaro had the great idea of converting a huge old plastic table into a sign by painting our details right on to the table top. Well, that plus me sitting out on the road worked a charm, and we had loads of people traipsing up the flights of stairs to check out our junk.

The little bits & pieces were gone in seconds and before we knew it we had buyers for the bed and entertainment centre. Of course a lot of people came and said they would be back later but never returned. We didn't let these people take any goods before payment with one surprising exception. A Broward County Sheriff's Office employee came by in his black BMW to snap up my racketball rackets but was short a bit of money and said he would come back to pay the balance in 5 minutes, which he did not. May his rackets malfunction and bop him on the head!

We're heading back there this morning (Sunday) to sell the remnants. Gotta remember to put on sunblock before sitting out on the road. My tan lines from yesterday's effort are horrendous!

New place rocks

Now that we've tidied up a bit and Kentaro's claustrophobia has abated, we are beginning to enjoy our cozy new beach abode. We have a little swimming pool if we don't feel like getting sea-salty, and the fun fish watching at the intracoastal waterways brings out the kids in both of us. I can leave our place and walk to the left or the right, guaranteed to be blessed by sea breezes and views of exxy, trendy houses and the occasional happy family on vacation from Canada. The tourists will increase in numbers until the 'winter' season here, by which time this place will truly be rocking. There are many hotels and apartments around catering to Florida's standing as Snowbird Central, USA. The demographic is already different to Coral Springs, with the average beach-dwelling Pompanoian 20 lbs lighter and 3 shades tanner than their Walmart-loving Coral Springs cousins. We'll have to adapt again to our surroundings and shed the layers of fat we put on as an attempt to fit into our old environment.

Had my locks sheered

Nothing drastic. Just a wee snip snip of the nasty split ends which have started to plague me of late. My last haircut was December 05 in Sydney, at the lovely salon I have gone to since I was 18. Back in the disposable income days I could afford to spend upwards of $150 to plonk myself down on the salon seat and lap up 3 hours worth of streaking and blowing. Today I am in a different position and chose to emphasise the extreme contrast by getting my locks tended to at the cheapest place around. Today I got my haircut at Walmart after picking up pizza dough, tomatoes and an avacado. My lock sheerer was one Ms. Sherlock who has lived her life oblivious that she was predisposed to her calling through name. She was an outstanding example of Walmart's human resources, impressing me with her dazzling wit and snipping dexterity. For the bargain price of $12.50 I had my tresses butted at with dull scissors whilst being hypnotised by my hair artist's belly swaying gently over her knees. She had problems understanding my responses to her small talk which was made clear to me when she exclaimed "Oh your Japanese fiance can speak Japanese too?" after listening to my conversation on the phone. All in all it was a good experience and I will consider going back to Walmart in another 8 or so months when my split ends are threatening to mutiny.

Consignment shops and travelling skirts

There is a plethora of 'consignment' shops in South Florida. I had to double-check with the owner of one to make sure I understood the system. You give them your junk, they sell it and give you a percentage of the proceedings. Fair enough. With our upcoming move it seemed the right time to offload clothes, bags, shoes and jewellery for which I paid an arm and a leg to ship from Australia. Some of the stuff had been shipped from the country of its birth, to Australia, to Japan, back to Australia and then to Florida. Have you travelled more than my Klimt-design 3/4 length denim skirt? (Sorry mom, but out it goes!)

This is how much this skirt has travelled though it's painfully obvious how many continents I have completely missed so far:



Click here to make your own map!

To the beach

We will be leaving Coral Springs at the end of the month and relocating east to Pompano Beach. This move is brought about by a few reasons, the biggest being that CORAL SPRINGS SUCKS! It is populated by the type of people who loiter at Walmart and we are sick of the sirens and random explosions from illegal fireworks and car exhaust pipes.

Our new abode is fully furnished which means that we are madly trying to jettison our junk before we move. Over the weekend we created a series of colourful fliers and posted them at the garbage drop-off points at a few local apartment complexes. The first people who entered our apartment were taken with Kentaro's 3-panelled geometric painting and his buckskin couch and before we knew it we were $500 richer!

Last night we sat on the floor with our plates placed precariously on the big orange kayak and dined on ribs and corn, our weekend favourite.

It will be a great relief to sell our stuff and move to the new place which is a 'turn key' meaning that that's all you have to do and you're up and running. All utilities are set up for us and included in the rent, which is much cheaper than what we're currently paying. AND we're a 2 minute walk from the beach, and on the other side, the intracoastal waterways. We will be sacrificing one bedroom and one bathroom for this but hopefully it will be worth it. Not to mention easier if/when we decide to blow this US popstand and never look back!

Happy 4th of July!

Boom! Smack! Pfffffft Pow Pow Pow!!!!!!!!

Today we were blown away. The people watching at Fort Lauderdale beach was top rate. With mouths agape we were treated to a mind-boggling display of bikini-clad American bodies in all shapes and sizes. My favourites were the 2 drag queens dressed in American flags who hovered too close on their roller blades to 2 policemen. One of the policemen was startled when his vision was obscured by a giant prosthetic bosom and yelled out, "Stay away from me!" only to have one of the queens snap back, "Nooooo, YOU stay away from MEEE!!"

And the fireworks - well we left before the public show but have been enjoying all the backyard launches all evening. I had no idea how seriously these people take their fireworks! Tents were erected on all major roads selling fireworks imported from China from $1.50 for the little fizzers up to hundreds of dollars for the big bangers. According to the news reports it is legal to SELL these fireworks but according to Florida State law, 'anything that flies or explodes' is illegal to launch... Ummm perhaps the 5 million residents of Florida failed to watch those reports...

Your cheeks will ache after this one...

Japanese toilet humour

Happy 34th Anniversary!

To my two and only.

Oh what a wonderful week!

It's fun to go to work one day and be asked, "How was your week? Anything new?" when you are able to reply:

"Yes actually, I tracked down a long-lost best friend from 17 years ago!"

Kathy was my best friend in Guam and the main reason I didn't want to leave. I don't remember crying at any time during the farewell proceedings except for when I had to say goodbye to her. We had shared the essential bonding experiences for 9/10 y.o. girls, ie stuffing men's shirts with pillows to create pretend boyfriends, dressing up in kimonos and dancing to the soundtrack of 'Disney's Electrical Parade', and the ultimate experience, watching 'Beaches' enough to feel like it was made for us. After you do those things with somebody it is very difficult to leave them.

She also left Guam and moved to Florida and we corresponded for a while but it gradually petered out.

Many times during the past 17 years I have wondered what she was doing and where she was. Then when I came to Florida in February I googled her name until I was blue in the face, and even called a few false leads to no avail.

Then last week I realised there is a much easier way to track down a human. Peoplefinders.com will charge you $9.95 to retrieve somebody's telephone number with no questions asked! Alright! I gladly forked out, and the next thing I knew I had reestablished contact with Kathy!

She is as cute and wonderful as ever and is still in Florida (though at the end furthest from me, a good 10 hour drive!) so we are making plans to meet up in the future.

Yay!

Typhoon Lagoon!!!

On Sunday after feasting on a $3.99 all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet where the quantity of donuts made up for the quality of the scrambled eggs, we heaved our bloated bods into bikinis and boardshorts and headed to Typhoon Lagoon. For 4 hours we were crushed, plunged, jetted and gushed by all kinds of waterslides until all we could do was drive to the nearest sports bar and get stuck into a dozen wings and a bayou & bleu burger. Whew!!!

Just a spoonful of sake makes the Disney go down...

Today we drove up to Orlando, the home of the Happiest Celebration on Earth TM, to do a sake tasting at a 'Japanese-style' Restaurant.

Folks around these parts care not about the finer details of authenticity when it comes to things oriental. Japanese restaurants are run by Thais, Thai restaurants by Vietnamese, and Chinese restaurants by - well, I haven't seen anybody pretend to be Chinese before but it could be out there. The interiors of these restaurants are as 'Asian Fusion' as you can get, with big buddha statues next to Zen-inspired water fountains and random kanji inscribed on antiqued scrolls hung from bamboo rafters. Throw in a gaudy mural of Mt Fuji and Tanaka's your uncle.

The sushi chefs will often introduce themselves with a 'Hi, my name is Got and I'm from Japan,' and show little embarrassment retracting their nationality when Kentaro questions them in Japanese. The locals couldn't care less as long as they get their Lobster Bombs, Mexican Spiders and Dragon Rolls, which are essentially sushi rolls created to suit American tastebuds. They're easy to make. You first create a normal sushi roll, and the quality of the fish doesn't matter too much because next you deep-fry it and smother it in mayonnaise and sweet sauce. "I LOVE Japanese food, it's SO LIGHT!" choruses around the room and Got smiles because he knows what he's doing.

After the tasting was finished we went to Downtown Disney and amused ourselves freaking out the Japanese tourists. We don't tend to get many in South Florida so were pleased to be able to perform our little show, in which I only speak really loud Japanese, as fast and colloquial as possible, and Kentaro only replies in English. This causes double, triple and quadruple takes by the bamboozled Japanese tourists (the other tourists couldn't care less and probably figure I'm talking Spanish), who stare at me like I stare at the tourists over 400 pounds covered in tattoos. There was one of them actually though he would have only been a measly 300 pounds, and he was covered in DISNEY tattoos complete with a Mickey Mouse shaved into the back of his head. Kentaro wanted to take a picture but I didn't want to break the camera.

***AND DEAR LORD I JUST GOOGLED FOR THIS GUY AND FOUND HIM - SO HERE FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE IS THE 'DISNEY TATTOO GUY'***

Hmmm I have nothing more to say after reading his website. Bye.

For Goodness Sake!

Over the past 4 months I have spent living with Kentaro, we have attended a number of sake tasting events at which we get to educate the American public about the wonders of fermented rice.

The people we have met at these events are usually already a bit tipsy having consumed the wine available at neighbouring booths, and typically fall into two categories: those who exclaim at the top of their lungs, ''SAKE!!!!!! EWWWWWWWWW!!!!! GROSSSSS!!!!", or those who exclaim at the top of their lungs, "SAKE!!!!!! ALLLL RIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!"

Australia tres, Japon uno!!!

"Like bananas and smurfs in a blender" *

So are the Socceroos versus the Blue Samurais in the World Cup.

What with all my Aussie friends around the world harping on about this game I thought I'd at least try to find it on the TV and wasn't hopeful seeing as we don't have cable.

But I found it! The reception is awful and the commentary in Spanish but it's not gonna stop me from whooping the obligatory war cry as I watch the game in my undies on this rainy Monday morning.

Wonder if I can get the birdies to join me... 'Oi oi oi!!!'

*Quote by Gemma of Maebashi.

Here today, Guam tomorrow

Chasing birds and frozen custard

We visited Green Cay Wetlands the other day, which is an area run by the local sewage treatment authorities but is surprisingly beautiful and just a stone's throw from where we live. A few acres of wetlands is circumnavigated by an elevated boardwalk from which you can spot the local fauna. Oh the animal watching down here is so much more lovely than the people watching! There were heaps of herons, tons of turtles, and even though we visited during daytime we were lucky enough to spot an alligator surfacing for a midday snack. 'Twas fine family fun for all.

Today we had another typical Florida day - a sleep-in, followed by a big cooked brekkie, a trip to the local veggie markets, and an ice cream on the way home. 'So thick we serve it to you upside down!' is the boastful slogan of Ritter's Glaciers. We had ours done Butterfinger style.

I miss this kinda TV

What with all the sleazy talk shows and nasty news reports available 24/7, it was nice to flick to Japan and remember that innocent, hilarious TV is still out there!

In my neighbourhood...

Dog snatch from gator's mouth
Sydney Morning Herald
May 30, 2006 - 1:01PM
A man took his dog for a run near his Florida home and ended up prying the pooch out of a 2.13-metre alligator.
Michael Rubin took Jasmine, a six-month-old golden retriever, and his other dog, a border collie named Frisbee, on a run at a construction site near his home.
Rubin thought the area was far from the alligators that prowl the nearby Everglades.
During the morning walk, Jasmine ran ahead of Rubin to the edge of a pond on the site. Rubin heard a yelp.
He ran to help his dog and saw her head in the mouth of the alligator. He jumped in the muddy water, which reached his neck, he said, and began beating the beast with his fist.
He said that when that didn't work, he grabbed on to his dog as the alligator started to take it underwater.
"I thought she was dead," Rubin said after the ordeal.
"But, at that point I wasn't going to let him have my dog."
Rubin yanked at his dog, finally prying her from the alligator's mouth. He then rushed her to The Coral Springs Animal Hospital, which confirmed Jasmine was treated for cuts and puncture wounds.
Jasmine was in a good condition, but quite sleepy, and was sent home with pain medication, Rubin said. Frisbee was not injured in the attack.
"She was very lucky," he said of Jasmine. "And I was very lucky."

Kentaro called 5 minutes ago to tell me to look this one up on the internet as he had heard it on the radio. I was pleased to see that SMH has cottoned on to this news even before the local newspapers. This is one of the fortunate tales, as most end in gator poo.

What flavour Pocky are you?

what flavor pocky are you?

Just had to do this quiz. Pocky was a sweet part of my life in Japan, and continues to sugar-coat my existence here in Florida as a best-seller at the Morikami.

Fugu, Iguanas and Herons, Oh My!

On Sunday we headed down to the intracoastal waters of Fort Lauderdale with our 2-seater kayak strapped to the top of Kentaro's Toyota. We always pray that the thin blue straps we use to secure it on top of 2 foam pads are going to hold. Other kayak owners seem to have much sturdier roof-rack contraptions, but we have been OK so far. It's funny to drive around with the kayak though as everyone on the road struggles to not be in front of or behind us.

Kentaro used to live right on the waterways but now that we're in suburban Coral Springs it's a bit of a hike to get there. Just getting the kayak off our balcony, down 2 flights of stairs and up onto the car is so much of an effort that we're tired by the time we get in the car.

But upon our arrival to Wilton Manors Waterways (Wilton Manors is the gay mecca in Fort Lauderdale, hence there are a multitude of trendy restaurants and nice houses), we perk up as it's a gorgeous place to spend a Sunday.

First we search for fishies and crabs (Kentaro goes around turning over rocks to find them) and yesterday we were able to combine efforts and catch a baby checkered pufferfish. So cute. Then we let him go and start our kayak trip.

We usually go on a 2 hour course with prime real estate and iguana viewing aplenty. I love just watching the huge lizards but Kentaro likes to poke them with his paddle to make them move. You'd expect such a ferocious looking creature to hiss and attack like a little raptor, but they just waddle away slowly looking for the next hibiscus bush to munch on.

Yesterday we also found a baby heron presumably waiting for its mother in a tree. It couldn't fly so was glued to the spot as we paddled directly underneath it.

We haven't spotted a manatee on our recent kayak excursions though there are supposed to be huge groups of them in the intracoastal waters. Though I am just as happy not seeing a huge dark shape looming underneath, as no matter how many times Kentaro assures me that alligators don't swim in saltwater, I figure that there's always a first. Every day here there is news of another alligator attack and I don't wanna join the statistics!

There's an alligator report on TV right now, being followed by a pre-hurricane season special report, announcing that for the next 12 days, shutters, flashlights, generators and batteries will be tax-free.

Where am I living?