Tsukiji Market - Tuna Auction - LIVE!

Tsukiji Market

This morning, we woke up REALLY early (4:45 AM) to get ready to go to the Tsukiji Market in Tsukiji, Tokyo. Thanks to Annmaree and Owen for encouraging us to get out of bed so early - it was a truly unforgettable experience!
This 24 hour market sells food products such as fish, vegetables, fruit, meat and flowers. Many tourists go there each day to watch the very lively 'tuna' auctions (see next post). It is an incredibly busy place, with little vehicles zooming around with fish deliveries, old men on bicycles with big baskets full of fish, and wheelbarrows overflowing with fish being pushed by muscly blokes! Hmmmm... note the overuse of the word 'fish' in that last sentence? Well, that's because Tsukiji is the LARGEST fish market in the world! I have never seen so many fishy things. I was quite shocked by the vast quantities... and my "what are we doing to the planet?" voice screamed inside my head as I watched a seller tease and taunt a live crab, and looked into containers full of extremely undersized fish! I much preferred the fruit and veg section, where we were tempted to buy a very big box of tomatoes...
Hunger pangs struck us around 7:30 AM, and we ventured into one of the market stalls to eat sushi with rice. I had 'Maguro Salmon Don' - tuna and salmon on rice, and Ale had 'Maguro Don' - both were extremely delicious, though I still feel very guilty...

Nanbo Kokusai Mura

A few weeks ago, we spent the weekend at Nanbo Kokusai Mura, a campground and lodge for groups in Minami Boso, Chiba. We really enjoyed our time there with Marjon, and owners David and Yoshiko. The grounds are surrounded by a high 'bamboo' fence, and there is a large lawn area on which to relax and practice 'poi' - right, Marjon? Soon after arriving on Saturday morning, we were at the beach, enjoying the salty spray of the ocean, and watching all the fishermen bring in the day's catch. On bicycles we rode 5km to Rosemary Park, where we devoured tea and scones, and breathed in the woody scent of rosemary. In the evening, David prepared a delicious meal for us, and after dinner, we played a few games of billiards. The next morning, we were treated to a wonderful breakfast on the sunny deck, and after Marjon and I went for a long walk (and Ale hauled bamboo!), we enjoyed a prawn tempura and soba lunch. We were sad to leave... it is great to escape the big city every once in a while and 'enjoy the nature' ;)

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Back to School!

I survived my first week of school! I have a fantastic class (only 21 students this year), and the air conditioning is very cool :) I think I've had the 'best ever' start to a school year - yeah! This photo was taken in the beautiful new elementary library - we all look refreshed after a long summer break, don't you think? L-R: Vesna, Rose, Marilynne

Saying Good-bye!

Saying 'Good-bye' to family and friends was very sad this year as we probably won't see everyone again until 2011.

A few days before we left, we spent some quality time with Nando and Chiara at Nando's uncle's villa in Tre Colli which is not far from Calci. We enjoyed chatting with them over long breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and the time spent relaxing around the swimming pool (at another uncle's villa) was wonderful. Baru and the parrot kept us entertained, and the fantasy gypsy thieves provided a few laughs :) Unfortunately, their baby didn't decide to arrive ahead of schedule, so we are now anxiously awaiting news of his arrival into the world.

The day before we left, we had a lovely day with the family. Mary prepared a delicious lunch for us, and Antonio, Simona and Nemo were there to share it with us. We enjoyed playing with Nemo all afternoon - he really likes to have fun! In the evening, we went to Zio Gianfranco and Zia Paola's new house for dinner - pizza followed by gelato - the perfect farewell treats :)

A presto, tanti baci, Ale&Rose xoxoxo

Venice

Ah, what a beautiful city! After a rather harrowing train trip, and then some trouble to find our accommodation, we finally managed to relax and enjoy the magic of this city on water. We stayed very close to Piazza San Marco in a fantastic bed and breakfast called '3C'.

We explored the city each morning, returned to the B&B for a midday rest (so hot!), and then ventured out again in the late afternoon to further explore the winding 'calli' (Venetian for 'streets'). It is very easy to get lost, and in fact although we had a map, we preferred to get lost - it's the best way to discover things! We had fun watching the gondolas glide along the canals, marveled at the many bridges and the beauty of Basilica di San Marco and Palazzo Ducale, ate lots of excellent seafood, and enjoyed some shopping, too.

The time of day we enjoyed most was early-late evening, after all the day trippers had left the island - finally peace and quiet. There are so many tourists milling about during the day, but at night, there are only locals and tourists who want to stay and really live the city... if only for a few days :) It is an expensive place to visit, but if you consider the cost and effort involved in doing business in a floating city, you begin to understand why the prices are a little steep. Venice truly is a unique place, and well worth the visit.

Nemo

Nemo is our nephew. Born in December 2008, we finally got to meet him in June 2009. He is a gorgeous little boy, and in the short time we were in Italy, we saw him develop in many ways. The last time we saw him (just before we left), we were excited to discover that he can now crawl! We miss you Nemo, but you are always in our hearts and minds, tanti baci, gli zii a Tokyo xxoo

- There are other photos on the flickr site too - enjoy! -

Marilynne and Carol visit Pisa

My friend from work, Marilynne, and her friend Carol visited us for 2 nights in June. We had a great time exploring Pisa and Lucca together. They enjoyed Ale's spaghetti al pesto Genovese, and we enjoyed the buffalo wings they made for us (with the real sauce direct from Buffalo, New York!). Marilynne and I just had to pose for the Leaning Tower of Pisa tourist shot - lots of laughs!

Ananda's visit to Pisa

Ananda visited us in Pisa for a week or so in July, and we had a great time together. Many lunches and dinners were shared, either at home with a spot of vino, or at a fine dining establishment such as Pizzeria il Montino, Spaghetteria alle Bandierine, Nando and Chiara's place, or Banda.

Due to our lack of motor transportation, the bicycles were put to good use. We enjoyed biking around (though it was a little hot at times!), and we were especially proud of our 25km ride from Lucca to Pisa on Via Vecchia Lucchese.

Our day trip to Florence was enjoyable (once the train decided to leave!). Ananda picked up some wonderful bargains in the San Lorenzo Market, and I indulged myself by purchasing a pair of Prada shoes - they were on sale! We had some fun and games with the local gypsies, too - but we lived to tell the tale! Thank-you Ananda for making the long journey to visit us. We hope you had a good time, and look forward to seeing you soon in Australia.

Paris Summer 2009

We had a fantastic time in Paris for a few days in June. The weather was a little cold and windy, hence we had to buy cardigans and pullovers to explore the city in comfort! Meeting up with Jo and James was lots of fun. The food, the beauty of the architecture, Luxembourg Garden, and finally seeing the Eiffel Tower were highlights for me. Enjoy the photos!

Welcome back!

It has been a looooong time since I last posted to our blog. Basically, as soon as I started my Masters at the beginning of March, life ended. Work was busy too in that we moved school (that is, packed up and moved across the road) at the end of March. This last week, I have been sick with Influenza Type A - not allowed to leave the house the whole week as I am contagious. Have never been so ill - the muscular pain I experienced was incredible! I am feeling a lot better now though, and hopefully this weekend, we can run around and do all the things we need to do before leaving next Tuesday for Italia - yeah! This summer is looking to be a hot one in that we have lots of things planned - so, there should be a few interesting posts coming up :) For now though, let me tell you about DisneySEA.


Last week, Alessandro and I went with two of my colleagues and 82 5th graders to DisneySEA. It was raining... in fact, it rained the whole time we were there - from 10 AM until 6:30 PM!!! The boys were SO excited to go around in their groups and have fun to celebrate the end of Elementary School. Annmaree, Ale and I had a wonderful time exploring the park too - we were determined to go on all the scary rides - and we did!!!


We began with '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' in which we explored the depths of the ocean in research submarines designed by Captain Nemo. Next, we went on a 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' - I screamed a lot, and there is a photo which depicts my terror! The 'Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull' is an amazingly designed attraction, and with Annmaree at the wheel of Indiana's Jeep, we were safe, except at the end when a big boulder was coming straight for us and... 'Raging Spirits', with its 360 degree turn was fast and furious, and Annmaree and I had to really psyche ourselves to take that challenge! To calm down, we relaxed on 'Sindbad's Storybook Voyage' boatride - the set designs are awesome! Ale and Annmaree talked me into going on a simulation ride called 'StormRider' - I closed my eyes in order to NOT get motion sickness. Finally, the ride I said that I WOULD NOT GO ON, 'Tower of Terror' was presented to me as a challenge by a few of my cherubs, so, I took the challenge, and the photo shows my pure terror as we free fell way too many meters, and then rose again, to fall one more time!!! Everyone else around me was smiling for the camera - mad!


During the day, we also enjoyed lunch at 'New York Deli', strolled through the streets of 'Venice', and watched the show 'Big Band Beat', but mostly we were there for the adventure! When we all arrived back at St. Mary's at 8PM, there was lots of excited chattering between sons and mothers, but the teachers were yawning ;) We highly recommend DisneySEA, and we're looking forward to going again next year with the new 5R.

I Love Italian Shoes!

Well, for the past week or so, I have been nervously checking my votes each day... Last weekend, I created a video for the Italian advertising campaign competition - 'I Love Italian Shoes'. The competition is one of a few presented by the online creative community 'Zooppa'. It was fun to make, and I was surprised to see that it shot to position number 2 within 24 hours!!!! It is now in position no. 4 :(

I'll let you know how I go... the competition closes at the end of this month... still many days for votes to roll in. If you have already voted - thank-you! If you haven't... check it out:

http://www.zooppa.com/i-love-italian-shoes/videos/2934

5R Ski Trip

Well, I have just returned from the class ski trip. I've spent 5 days and 4 nights in the snow with 27 of my 28 cherubs, plus two very brave parent volunteers!!! St. Mary's owns a ski lodge in Tsumagoi, which is approximately 4 hours north-west of Tokyo. The accommodation was very comfortable, the food was good, however I didn't partake of the onsen experience (bath water after 27 boys is not appealing!). When we arrived on Monday, it was snowing. From Tuesday-Thursday the weather was mostly sunny, and the boys reported that the snow was great. On Thursday night we all had a snowball fight (it did end in tears for some - hurt pride, nothing else!). Unfortunately, early on Friday morning there was some rain, so the snow was quite wet for the boys' final morning on the slopes - not good. The bus ride back to school was smooth - nobody was sick on the bus - yeah!!, and we all made it back in good health :) A good time was had by all... but I do believe that it is now time to sleeeeep!!! I do want to learn to ski one of these days... before I'm too old!

Ciao Nemo!

Christmas Magic

Christmas in Australia 2008

On December 19th, we flew to Australia for 12 days of fun in the sun! After picking up the hire car, we drove to Burleigh Heads for breakfast on the beach. Ale was very impressed with the 'big breakfast', and it was so wonderful to relax by the ocean after a fairly uncomfortable 9 hour flight!

We then drove to Brisbane, and after a quick stop at Carindale (old habits die hard!), we arrived at the Hoger residence. Mum and Dad were there to happily greet us.

Sunday was a busy day - church in the morning, followed by afternoon tea at my uncle and aunt's place (great to see my cousins and their families, too :)), and in the evening, we relaxed with Luisa, Sam, Lily, Benjamin, and Ananda, on the deck of Luisa and Sam's beautiful home in Paddington.

On Monday afternoon we drove 2.5 hours north of Brisbane to Noosa Heads. We checked into the Sheraton Noosa, and then indulged in 2 days of good food, resort shopping, and drinks at the swim-up bar in the resort pool :)

On Tuesday, Kathryn and 3 of her girls (Cassie, Ashleigh, and Brittany) visited us for lunch. We had a wonderful time together at the Noosa Heads Surf Club - great company, great view, and delicious food!

Dec. 25th
On Thursday, we drove to Kathryn's place at Sippy Downs (45 minutes south of Noosa Heads) to celebrate Christmas Day with some of the Hoger family. Lots of fun was had by all - cooking, chatting, eating, laughing... a lovely afternoon. In the late afternoon, we (Ale, Mum, Dad, and yours truly) began the long drive back to Brisbane. The remainder of Christmas Day was spent by the pool at David and Dee's place - more delicious food, lots of laughs, and wonderful company.

Dec. 26th
On Boxing Day, we drove 3 hours south of Brisbane to Ballina (in N.S.W.) to visit our good friends Ainsley and Greg. We all enjoyed a swim in the ocean (too cold for me!), Ains and I took a stroll along the beach, and then we all went to Seven Mile Cafe Restaurant in Lennox Head for dinner. On the way to the restaurant, we did the 'tourist thing' and stopped for photos in front of the famous Ballina attraction, 'the Big Prawn'.


Sadly, our visit with Ainsley and Greg was short - they flew back to Adelaide the next day, and we drove back to Brisbane via Byron Bay. Before leaving though, Ale snapped a few photos of 'Ains and Rose' by the Christmas tree.


The rest of our time in Brisbane was spent with family (Mum and Dad; my brother Matthew, his wife Annette, and their family; David, Dee, Kurt, and Sam), and our good friends Jo and James, and their lovely daughters Chelsea and Matilda.


New Year's Eve
Well, as we had to be up at 5 a.m. on Jan. 1st, our New Year's Eve celebration was not a wild one! We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Mum and Dad, and then walked around to David and Dee's place and had a few drinks and a few laughs. The following short video highlights the comic nature of the evening...



We had a wonderful holiday with family and friends, and we're already counting down the days until next Christmas when we'll all meet again.

P.S. Click on any photo - it will take you to even more photos of our holiday (on flickr)