Splash, dash and ponderings

Life with the Ikemizu family is never dull nor predictable. Last night Aki cooked us all the biggest steaks you have ever seen. I’m not just using that phrase as an exaggeration either. My steak was hanging off the side of my plate is was so big. The price of food here continues to astound me. We bought half a calf worth of meat trays for less than the price of my pedicure last week (which now seems kind of pointless considering I ate so much I’d be lucky if I can see my toes by the end of the week).

My Japanese memory has been fully restored after an intense 24 hours of immersion with the Ikemizu clan. I did remember the obligatory omiyage for my friends. It’s the tradition of exchanging gifts. I’d picked up a lovely drop of Brown Brothers Merlot for Aki and he in turn remembered my favourite traditional sweet cakes from Kagoshima, I was stoked. We spent most of the night on the balcony looking out to sea, conversing in Kagoma-ben, the local dialect of the town I lived in. It was so great to slip into again. It’s like having to wear a suit all day and act serious and proper, then coming home, flopping on the couch in trackie-dacks, slippers and having a nice hot cuppa.

Aki and his wife run a kindergarten named Kosumosu Youchien (Cosmos Kindergarten) which his house is also on and have recently completed some huge renovations. I spent the night oohing and aahing over the photos of the massive front lawn they now have which is bigger than some normal Western houses. A small patch of lawn is a luxury in Japan let alone enough to put a decent cricket pitch on (which I did suggest incidentally.) There is now a great paved area with an inbuilt spa, all in marble and a deck area for parties. The deck is fitted with three types of ovens and the whole area can cater for 200+ people. Now that he has completed the house and business renovations, he is moving onto his next big plan. He has decided that as he comes to Hawaii 2-3 times a year it would be cheaper to simply buy accommodation on the island. So at the moment he is shopping around for a 3 bedroom yacht which he will keep permanently on Oahu for his own personal use when he flies over on holidays. Now he will be able to sail between Maui, Molokai etc or even further should he so choose. I have an open invitation already and he is keen for me to bring a friend as soon as it is all organised. Applications will be opening soon

Today I made my long awaited visit to cosmetic heaven, Sephora! I went in with the intention to find a bright yellow eyeshadow and came out with so many glorious goodies. My favourite coming in the form of a super intense true red glossy lipstick. The makeup artist popped it on me right away and I just HAD to have it. There’s something strange that happens with a kickin’ red lipstick, people notice you. Seriously, I was less than 10 metres out the door and a random lady stopped me to comment on how much she loved my fire engine red pout. Another exclaiming how great it was to see a redhead wearing red. I was walking tall, and looking fine. I even had some homeless dude chase me down the main drag because he loved my rainbow pedicure and wanted to tell the world ‘BEAUTIFUL, I tell ya, just BEAUTIFUL!!!!’. People, make sure you are always prepared for the power of a good red lippy. It’s a wonderful thing.

Kisses from Amnesty xoxo

Hello boys and girls. Let’s name things beginning with M. Melbourne, Merv Hughes, Marriott, MAC. Well done.

So currently I’m living the 41st hour of Wednesday March 26th, with another 7 to go. Aren’t I the spoilt one with my 48 hour day!

I spent the majority of my time at Tullamarine reuniting myself with the joys of caffeine after a 48 day break. The time passed by quickly as I eavesdropped on conversations between grown men who were nearly wetting their pants with excitement over the fact that Merv Hughes was on our flight. I love the airport. That feeling of walking into a terminal, the anticipation of a journey ahead, the joy of getting away from everything, the random security test I scored (handbag and clothing tested for bomb making ingredients, woot! It was so CSI, I loved it!) You know what else I love. Airport bookstores. I always seem to gravitate towards the self help/inspiration section. You can always find some good thought provoking things (or insanely hiliarious….like the “What We Can Learn From The Dead”. Your handy 1-2-3 guide to contacting spirits and asking them how they stuffed up their lives….oh puh-lease.)

Thanks to a delay taking off from Tullamarine I got scooted straight from my flight onto my connecting one without much transit time. A quick stop in duty free to pick up some Brown Brothers wine for Aki and I was boarding Flight QF3. I was absolutely starving on the flight and due to frequent turbulance the whole flight the crew were kept seated as much as we were, preventing them from dishing out the food on a regular basis. Still, I managed to get a few hours sleep and landed in Honolulu early this morning.

After enjoying a solo shuttle bus ride to Waikiki with Zac the Frenchman Bus Driver (who incidentally had also just arrived in Oahu recently, to play soccer for a semi pro team) I checked into my accommodation and set off to find Aki’s hotel just around the corner. It’s great to see the whole Ikemizu family again. Both Aki’s son’s were pretty jetlagged much to our amusement. Taiki kept nearly falling asleep in his plate at lunch. Aki took us to The Marriott around the corner. It had a massive floor to ceiling, wall to wall tank full of tropical fish and stingrays which were being fed by a scuba diver at the time. Jetlag and two languages aren’t easy to juggle and I was becoming a little confused with my communications. I kept responding to the waiter in Japanese, even though he was talking to me in English. I can’t do two conversations in two languages at once!

I spent the afternoon walking along Waikiki Beach until it got waaaay to hot for my liking and fair skin. Hopped on a bus to Ala Moana shopping centre and picked up a TON of MAC Cosmetics for super cheap. Watch out for brand new eyeshadow looks when I get back, I got some super cool pigments. It’s now heading into evening and I’m just about to go back to Aki’s hotel to see if they have pepped up a bit since their afternoon power nap. We’re all a bit jetlagged but I just can’t seem to sit still, surprise surprise.

Don’t miss me too much

xoxox

Amnesty