Archive for April, 2010

I was going through some of the photos I took these past weeks in Spring. I saw that I took quite many pictures of flowers, mainly the cherry blossoms. I can’t help but feel that they are one of the most beautiful flowers that I have ever seen. I just love them.

These aren’t as magnificent as those in Japan I know, but they still are very beautiful. These pictures of the flowers are beautiful enough to print into photo cards to be sent to family and friends. Don’t you think?

One particular interest that both my husband and I share  is watching football. Though he plays football too, I only watch the game. So we are looking forward to the 2010 World Cup this June. There aren’t any favourite teams, we just love to watch the big players of the football world play. There can be lots and lots of drama on the football field.

In preparation for the World cup, we intend to get one of those cool hard drive recorder or digital recorder to replace our obsolete VCR. Got the idea when I came upon harddriverecorder.org.uk. I think it would be brilliant. We won’t have to miss any of the big matches if there are 2 important matches to see or when we can’t be at home to watch.

It was not too long ago that my husband set up a company of his own.  Apart from his work, he is doing other things to gain more income for the family. It is a rather new company that we don’t have any stationeries and business cards just yet. So I was just browsing online looking at the various websites that offers letterheads, brochures, envelopes, and business cards printing services.

I tried out printsmadeeasy.com and did a sample business card. Sure was easy to make. This one only took me a minute to complete. You see, there are hundreds of templates to choose from and you can search for the right template that suits your business theme just by searching for the keywords that describe your company. Once the template is chosen, you will be directed to a page where you can do a little bit more customizing – name, position, telephone number, email add, the fonts, colors, etc. Once this step is done, you will be directed to the page where you can place an order. The minimum amount you can order is 20 pieces and can cost as little as $2.99. I think it is pretty decent.

Well, all in all, I think even doing the designing of the card was fun too.

Although I plan to get an electronic Japanese dictionary sometime end of this year or early next year, I decided to get another paper dictionary for my Japanese studies. At the moment I am using ‘Oxford beginner’s Japanese dictionary’. It’s a good dictionary. But I find that I need to have a better dictionary with more vocabularies. Without a good dictionary it can be really difficult to learn Japanese efficiently.

At first I thought Kodansha furigana dictionary would be good for me, but thinking  of the bulk and size I decided not to get that one. I decided that the random house Japanese<–>English dictionary is for me. If not mistaken it has about 20,000 more words than the Kodansha. I just don’t like the romaji in the dictionary.

I wish just like buying weighloss product or facial night cream , there would be more choices when it comes to getting a good Japanese <–> English dictionary but unfortunately there aren’t. But at least since there are only 2 for me to choose from, I don’t have to read reviews after reviews. Well, there are pros and cons.

Just let’s see how well this dictionary is going to serve me.

I used to have very long set of hair. Black, wavy and waist length. However, I had to cut it short… really short due to the massive hair loss I experienced after the birth of my daughter. Even years later,the hair loss problem didn’t stop. However, since I am taking zinc these days I’ve decided to grow my hair long back again. They did say that zinc helps to reduce hair loss and increace the growth rate and all. Well, this is somewhat a test on how true it is for me.

Well, if it is all due to zinc lacking in my system, I’d be  happy if my hair can grow strong and healthy now. But if it isn’t then, it’s too bad. My husband has been suffering from hair loss since he was in his late 20s. But I don’t think lacking in zinc is the problem for him or most men who are balding. I’ve read something about this on hairlossformen.net. You can click here to check the website out.

I’m just glad that in this time and age we can find all sorts of important information and supplements that can help us overcome this sort of hair loss problems.

I’m taking a break from doing some Japanese studying so here I am blogging . I’ve read so much of information that I am not sure that it will even stick in  my memory long enough till tomorrow.  (-_-) Wish my brain is like a catalog printing machine that can print out important imformation into my memory box permanently even by reading something once.

I take a Japanese book that is small enough to fit in my bag everywhere I go nowadays. So that I can take it out and read when ever I have time. On the bus, tram, train, waiting, etc. I even have only Japanese music on my mp3 nowaday and watch all the Japanese related programs. What I’d do to be able to speak Japanese…..

Another friend had moved back to her home country. I’m feeling a little jealous here to be frank. Well, although I don’t think going back to my home country isn’t something realistic at the moment, but I can’t help thinking of the possibilities of going back home for good. The hard thing about moving for me is the packing, and the searching for long distance moving company that you can trust. But thinking about living where everything is familiar and people don’t treat you like a ‘dumb’ foreigner just because of the colour of your skin… perhaps all the hardship of moving would be worthy.

I’m downloading a Japanese language video course that was broadcasted by the Japan Foundation in the 80′s. It’s called ‘Let’s learn Japanese’. There are 2 seasons that consist of about 52 videos.. This time it isn’t only for myself, but also hoping to get my husband to learn some Japanese as well.

Some couple I know share the same love for Formula 1, atv racing,etc. Some share the same interest in travelling. For my husband and I, so far we haven’t found the same hobby that we both enjoy. Well, except the occasionall football watching. But that’s just about it.

So I’m trying to entice him into seeing the beauty of the Japanese language. Would be lovely to have somebody else in the house to study Japanese together.

These past few weeks I have been actively practicing my Japanese with a few Japanese people I found through lang-8 and sharedtalk. Writing short essays about daily life and thought, using what ever Japanese I’ve learnt. Althought there are times when I find it a little difficult; having to check the dictionary a lot, and not knowing how to express myself more than what I’d like to, can be a little frustrating, but I suppose it is all worthy in the end.

I even bought myself a set of  hiragana keyboard stickers so that I can type  kana.

So after a week of short Japanese essays and emails, I thought I deserved a movie tomorrow. But I forgot that tomorrow is the general elections here and we don’t have anyone to baby sit our daughter. Right now I do wish we had a home theater. Guess, I’ll be watching some Japanese dramas online again tomorrow.

Honestly, in this time and age, do people really send snail mails or snail postcards? Though you can count how many times you send postcards or snail mails in a year, but yes, people still do send postcards . I am one of those people.
Sure e-cards, e-postcards, emails are quicker ways to send wishes, greetings and messages to friends and relatives who are miles away from you, but nothing can really beat the special effect that real paper postcards can give to the receipient ( and the sender too). You can send postcards for family members for Christmas, or greeting postcards for every major celebration to show appreciation to business patrons.

There are many ready made postcards that you can buy at just about anywhere these days. Of course at the post office, then there’s the souvenir shops, and even at the grocery store around the corner. But what would make postcards more special and unique is when they are customized. Another advantage of living in this golden age of technology, you can just design them right from your computer from websites like 123print.co.uk. Choose from thousands of designs they provide to create the card you want and once you’re done you just get them to print those cards for you at low price rates.

All that said, I have to admit… I love sending and receiving postcards.