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

I’m going to Hawaii on Wednesday. Right now, I’m dead tired. I actually can’t be bothered. Sorry Oahu, I know that’s slightly insulting, it’s not like we haven’t met before though. Still, I know its a temporary state of mind. I tried to practice the concept of ‘relaxing’ over the Easter break. Instead, I felt like a wind up doll, slowly being twisted up on the inside, click….click….click, as if any moment the hand will let go and I’ll go whizzing out of the control like a tiny tin man with A.D.D. I think I have cabin fever!

Okay, so let’s move onto slightly more upbeat talk. I’m actually quite a happy, positive lassy! I’m feeling creatively stifled at the moment due to my current state of sluggishness but I didn’t want my first post to be all about the joys of Aloha and reuniting with my friends from Japan. I can’t peak too early in my blogging activities!

So we’ll leave this as a bad attempt and celebrate in the joys of trying something new. I’ll be back when inspiration hits, and hopefully close to a keyboard when it does.

Until then, lots of laughs…

Amnesty