‘Money, money, money, must be funny, in the rich man’s world’.  I believe even if someone isn’t a fan of Abba, he/she may still have heard this piece of lyric. Gosh, wouldn’t we all love to be rich or financially free.

We’re already in the month of September, and Summer is slowly slipping away. We’d usually start turning on the heaters sometime in November. But the weather has already started to turn cold lately that we are contemplating on turning on the heaters a wee bit earlier. Which means that we need to spend money on the heating much earlier too.

Also, since we are going to the weekend house in the country more often these days, there too we have to spend money. On the house basically. New vaccuum cleaner (so that we don’t have to carry the one from home all the time), install an electric heater (burning wood for heating has become too troublesome - plus not too eco friendly I think), install some cellular shades for the windows perhaps, and also some tools for the garden.

Not to mention now that the Ipod touch 4 is out, I need to get it. LOL All of which needs money.If only money grows on trees, I’d happily be a money tree planter. Wouldn’t we all now?

We just came back from  the weekend house. No internet, no computers, no television. Other than enjoying the outdoors, the only thing I could do was study. We’ve finally approached the last lesson in the Genki I book. So I revised back all that we’ve learnt so far. I even made myself write the kanji characters over and over. I’ve learnt 100 over kanjis so far, but the only ones that I can remember well are only about 101. That’s an achievement I think, for someone who is having a hard time learning them.

Kanji is pretty intersting to learn. And I believe, the more characters you learn, you will realize that some characters are just a combination of 2 or more of other kanji characters. The more you see them often the more easier to remember. (Just like most things.)

Other than writing over and over on paper, I also have the “Tadashii Kanji Kaki to Rikun” for NDS. It is a DS game application that is targeted for the Japanese students who are learning to write. There are hiragana, katakana and kanji writing drills. At first it was a little bit difficult to navigate through since it is only in Japanese. But once you get the hang of it, this game can be a real good tool for learning Japanese writings.

Well, 101 kanjis down 2000 over more to go. Learning a language can be an uphill journey, but with the right motivation, and proper tools, the climb would be a lot easier. Hopefully, in less than 10 years, I will have my own custom business cards as a private Japanese language teacher. :p Well, that’s my ‘dream’. Now, I’m still on the journey to achieving that dream.

It’s like going nowhere. I mean my Japanese studies. 1 class a week, with studies less than an hour a day. I know that I should do more than this. When I read about people going to Japan to study the language and yet came back doing only slightly better than before Japan, I’d think about what are the chances for me. Someone who never been to Japan even. Sometimes I do wonder whether I should try living in Japan. Well, not in this lifetime I suppose. Getting diamonds is a lot more feasible to me than moving to Japan.

How does one create a Japanese immersion environment?

We did this little exercise in my Japanese class a week ago, asking each other about our future plans. What we’d do with our Japanese when we can speak the language one day. Interestingly, I haven’t thought about it thoroughly. I’ve no serious thought yet on what I’d do with my Japanese. (If I manage to speak it yet) Well, it be interesting to be a translator or perhaps a teacher also. 

It is nice to know that no matter at what stange in life you are in, you still can re-invent yourself. There are so many people going back to medical assistant school to become health care assistants, language schools to increase job opportunities, get a phd for a promotion etc. As for me, I’m learning Japanese for….. Hmm. Need to have a clear set of goal. For now it is between a translator and a teacher.

Hopefully, I will be able to figure it out in the near future.

I have been in a formal Japanese class for about four to five months now. With only one class a week, we are only going to finish the first Genki book on our next one or two classes. Then we’d go to the second book.  Though the sensei told us that our pace of learning is pretty good despite our one class a week, I still feel as if we aren’t going as fast.  But considering that it is difficult to find a Japanese class conducted in English along with a class mate, I’m grateful for the class.

Besides that there is also one site that I found recently to help me with my Japanese studies when I’m at home.  Especially for my Kanji. Check out japanese-language.aiyori.org. Aren’t you glad that you are a language learner living in the internet age? I know that I am in a better position learning Japanese compared to my father who had only the short wave radio to tune in to NHK radio for Japanese lessons. Heh, the net really does open the borders all over the world. I can read about Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina plans even when I’m not even living in North Carolina. Learning Japanese without going into classrooms is easier too.

Check out the website! I highly recommend it.

Two weeks, no Japanese class. I either have to catch up on my own or try to make time for extra classes. With school out, I don’t think the second option is viable.  I have whole of Lesson 10 from the Genki book to learn on my own. It isn’t that hard but with all the going ons right now, sure is tough to pick up the book and study.

We did spend time in Nograd for a few days. Although I brought all my books, hoping to be able to sit and study, but it turned out we were either going around visiting places or I have to wash, clean, and cook. Only time I could sit down and open a book was when we had one last evening there. However, I was too tired from all the walking and working that I couldn’t concerntrate. Not an excuse, a reason, a reason. Good thing I had the ‘Let learns Japanese’ on my media player so that I can’t watch some Japanese lessons few minutes before I go off to sleep. Vacation supposed to be relaxing and all that, but seems like we were all tired out by bed time.

Nevertheless, the short holiday was nice. Saw some people setting up a large portable pool which gave us an idea. Perhaps we will get ourselves our own portable pool for next summer. Those pvc pools and pool pumps are becoming more affordable nowadays.

Due to bad weather, we had to change plans again. So yesterday we went to see some sharks at the big aquarium. It’s where we can see all sorts of underwater animals and a few other tropical animals.

As usual, I took many pictures and videos with my FZ 28.

When ever I watch videos taken with my camera, I feel glad that I had taken the time to read all those camera reviews before buying. I only had one compact camera prior to this. I would love to try a DSLR camera, but I think starting with a prosumer camera would be better for me who doesn’t know much about photography.

My husband had his two weeks holiday approved and we had already used up one week. Staying at home. We cancelled Croatia. He had a mole in the middle of his chest that had to be removed. So the past few days he was at the doctor - check up, reffered to, and finally the small surgery. Waiting for the results to come in within 2 weeks time. Hope it isn’t something serious.

Now depending on his ability to drive, we will go to Nograd county for a week. A weekend house located in a village somewhere up North of Budapest. Plan to just have quiet evenings in the garden, read books, and barbeque in the evenings. Well, just hope that at least this would work as planned.

This is a picture of the sky I took a couple of days ago. The sky was so blue and filled with white puffy clouds.

It has been really warm these past few days that we would only go out in the evenings when it is cooler. For me, being in the summer months is like going through a quick weight loss program. All because I drink more water because of the heat so tend to eat less too. Or perhaps it is true that one would lose appetite in hot weather.

I don’t mind losing weight but I do mind the heatwave. Sometimes it can be pretty unbearable. The only comfort one would have is the thought that it would only last a few weeks.

One of the few websites that I frequently visit is Yahoo Answers. Ask questions and help people by answering their questions. I came across a question asking, how come skinny people have cellulite. Well, I used to be one of those people who thought that only chubby and obese people have them, until I saw a skinny friend who was having it as well. Interesting.

I believe many people don’t really know what cellulites actually are, that’s why, just like how I was, they only related cellulite to fat people. Cellulite is actually collections of fat that push against the connective tissue beneath the skin which makes the skin looks lumpy. Though of course chances of having cellulites is higher when one is obese, but being skinny does not mean the person doesn’t have any body fat at all.

Factors that contribute to whether or not a person has it or how much or how visible it is are genes, age, amount of fat in body, gender and thickness of skin.

So I suppose that explains why they use slim models to promote cellulite cures on commercials. Since it isn’t impossible for slim, skinny people to face cellulite problem as well.