April 9, 2012

I planned on going to the gym this morning.....I managed to get to Starbucks!
I planned on doing chores.....Well I managed to shop online...does that count?

I have the windows wide open....no idea why...because I am freezing!
when I get up and lose the windows and doors...does that count as exercise??? Ok, ok ...just thought I would ask!

So....I was thinking...yes it happens sometimes!
I am 40 next year....so I think I will celebrate it this year.....Well if I don't all the people I like will be gone next year....Cause I don't like everyone!!! REALLY I don't.
Thinking a girls trip to Hawaii....Well it's close and we will arrive there we wont have even left Japan...if you get my meaning.....With the time difference.
...AND if we do go, we might see Dog the Bounty Hunter...I am mean how cool would that be?
Ok I hold my hands up...I love that show....

April 8, 2012

Ok….So I am ready to start blogging after our trip away….to be honest I have had no time while we have been away to even really think of blogging…REALLY!
With the 3 flights that it will take for us to get home I decided I will type while I fly……..
………Actually I never actually finished typing while I was flying….this was actually finished on Sunday morning…FINALLY!!!!!

The day before we are due to fly I take J's to the local hairdresser/salon (great guy, worked in the UK and understands what we actually want without playing charades)
Haircut, ready to leave, I take out my credit card as I have had no time to go to the bank (I needed to catch up on my soap operas and think about packing) I am informed that they don't take credit cards….HUMMM REALLY!!!!… he tells me it is ok and I can pay later…..I ask what time they close (because I have another TV show to watch and G will be home soon and I have to make it look like I am almost ready to leave)
The place closes at 7pm….ok, I can fit this in, right?…WRONG!!!! ……….it is 8.45pm and I am kind of ready to go when I remember I have have not been back to the hair dressers to pay for the haircut…..So I panic…then I called +3 who bless her was in bed, watching a movie and had not been very well….I explained my situation and +3 said she would sorted it for me. ………but when +3 tried to sort it…the place was closed next day and then +3 and family where going on holiday/vacation. So +3 called and got it all sorted…..Absolute Angel +3!!!!

G has all suitcases by the front door, everything ready….panic mode had already set in, but not as much as normal because my angel of neighbor was going in to check everything…(You see, I have a little problem…I need to check everything 20 times plus…I am always worried that something will happen…like I might not have turned the iron off and then there will be a fire…..which is a joke because I can't tell you the last time I used my iron. So even though I have not touched the iron personally and I know it has not been used that day or even the day before….I still check it is off….or I go check the windows in the rooms we DON'T use I check the taps, the shower, even the oven ….REALLY I do)
I make out I am already to go…(yeah ok!!!) then I help throw the cases outside….I pull the car off the drive and G then drives his car on the drive so it is in one of spaces next to the house. (japanese homes and parking…don't get me started!!!)
I asked G if he has my passport, yes he replied
I asked G if he has packed my headphones, yes he replied
I asked G if he had checked the oven, yes he replied,
I I asked G if he had checked the showers where off, yes he replied….so your getting my drift….
"locking the front door" G shouted….oh man….REALLY…. I am sure something will be still on…but…I get in the car…he drives my car (what is it with men driving)
…..We drive to the airport, park and head into the terminal.we checked in, went through and into the lounge..(I love G has access to lounges) I get on my phone and go straight to Facebook and check in at Haneda airport…you know like you do!
The closer we are to getting on the plane the more I start to worry…..I always worry about what ifs'…what if the plane crashes…etc.
Now I worry I will snore and keep the rest of the plane awake. I never slept the whole way to the US, but I nodded on and off….if I snored my way through the trip I have no idea…I am sure though it would not have been a problem…
I will tell you why!!!!…the man behind me must have had something in his throat for the whole flight. it seemed to start from a sniff and explode somewhere inside him (well sounded like he was with noise he was making every 2 minutes!!!!)
We arrive at LAX and spend some time just mooching about waiting for our next flight.
While mooching around we find a little place to eat…not to many people in there (that should have been a sign!) I decided I would have a kind of hotdog like G and J. So mine arrives in a YELLOW square bun…which was soggy!!!!
I look at the sausage and the gaging reflexes have already begun!!! REALLY they had….. So I think come on Wend sort yourself out!!!!…It was meant to be a sort of Italian sauce with extra flavors (can't remember what flavors)
So I take a bit off this nasty looking tray of food in front of me which…which might I add was advertised as one of their extra specials…..extra special my backside!!!! So I take a bite and it tastes vile…..the soggy YELLOW bread was may be the only edible thing on the tray….The sausage I am gathering was actually part reggae….the reason I say that is because there were red, yellow and green dots inside the sausage….I mean I have heard of preservatives ….but this was taking that a little far….
…Eventually off we go and board our next flight to Miami….We are all sat there waiting to take off….which we did EVENTUALLY!!! But the women in charge comes onto the PA system mentions it is not a full flight…she then goes on to say that if you see somebody you would like to know better then you can move…or if you don't want to be sat next to the person you are currently by you may also move….REALLY!!!!
I am thinking as she was in LA and maybe she thought that she was a comedian and that a big producer would be on the plane and sign her up…..even if there was a big producer on the plane, she had no chance…she was NOT funny!!!!
…So we arrive in Miami…we are at the Hotel by 7am…we check in and go straight to our room….(which was changed…and not because I whined and moaned…nor did G…but because of G's status with the hotel point system they gave us a bigger room) Off we went and did a little exploring…I took public transport….it was easy, close to the Hotel and it was free, but I won't be rushing to do it again!!!! We went passed the American Airlines center or whatever it is called, seen where 2 of the events would be taking place. (the basketball game and the WWE hall of fame induction)

…I REALLY enjoyed the basketball game…not even the nose bleed seats put me off. The Miami heat won…
….The Hall of Fame WWE induction….holy moly…that is 4 HOURS OF MY LIFE I WILL NEVER GET BACK!!!!…I could not understand what most of them were saying…REALLY. The was one group called the 4 horse men…which I am sure if you know WWE you will know who they are…I did not as I have no idea about WWE…expect little snippets I pick up along the way…Any way, the 4 horse men appear on stage…(there was actually 5 of them …Huh???)
One was Rick Flair~The Ultimate Warrior….Again Holy Moly….All of the 5, 4 horse men talked…and went on and on and on!!! I never had an aisle so I was already in a awful mood…REALLY I was.
Mike Tyson was also inducted for some reason…like I say i have no idea about WWE…Well he come onto the stage and he mentions he has been clean and sober for 3 years….REALLY…well either he has had one to many knocks to his head or I want he had had that day….
…We also went to the WWE access event….basically a big hall with with lots of WWE stuff and picture opportunities, with a few wrestlers as well.
Well…one wrestler is Welsh and I has actually contacted him under his real name, and while we were in Miami he actually replied…REALLY!!!
We get to the event and there is the Welsh Wrestler….J went and had his picture taken with him…and said my mum contacted you…He knew who I was….REALLY!!! I then had my picture done with him…he smelt lovely..again REALLY!!! So I am now a fan when Mason Ryan is wrestling otherwise I am not interested….Only the big WWE event to go and i did not go to that…thank goodness.

The weather was fantastic…not to hot, but nice and warm…not humid, well not that I had noticed…
We went to two of our fav places to eat in the US…The Cheese cake Factory and PF Chang's….
So we see where the cheesecake factory was…..we drive around trying to find a space….nothing, but there is valet parking service…so G say's come on lets just valet….He was like won't cost that much….it was $6 ….REALLY. that was all…I mean we live in Japan, it seems like it is $6 a minute to park at times living here…(Yes I know not quite…but you know what I mean)…we go into the mall and start looking around as we walk to the restaurant.J starts walking into a place and we are like where you going… There is a kind of a host just outside and he ushers us in…G states how they have used EVERY space available. The menus arrive…and G looks and me and says…'we are in the wrong place' so with a lot of Hmmm sorry, wrong place…we left VERY quickly, heads kind of down….I am sure lots of people have made the same mistake….because The Cheesecake factory is right next door…the place J has started to enter before we stopped him.
We go into the correct place and we get seated straight away, order and J and myself get on the free wifi straight away….Poor G.
One of my problems is I don't actually like trying new foods…..but instead of the Asian salad I normally order (like every time we go there!) I ordered Chicken marsla….it was awesome!….So guess what we are having for dinner on Monday night…..I liked it that much I have been looking up recipes and I have found one that just might be a hit.
On the Sunday we went to PF Chang's….we love Chinese food. We always have the lettuce wraps there…(ALWAYS a hit in what EVER state we are in) …. I don't order the Mongolian beef…because I honestly think mine tastes better…REALLY I do.
So J ordered his, I order a noodle dish as did G…..J was happy….Mine was awful…the noodles were sooo sticky…not only did they stick together but the stuck to my teeth….YUCK!
G's food came out….it was a thick noodle dish…with slop on the top and bean sprouts and cucumber sticks…..I could see by his face that this might nit have been a good choice…..When he took his first fork full I KNEW it was definitely not a wise choice….While J is sat there saying I really like my food…glad we came here….Well I am glad somebody enjoyed their food!

One of the reasons we picked the hotel was location and it had a car rental place….we decided because of location we did to need a car the whole trip. except The day they went to the wrestling and if we decided to go off somewhere on the free days….
So we decided we will hire a car for an extra day….we had a day with no events and thought lets go further out….So G make reservation for the friday. We go downstairs to pick up the car like it had stated and the Valet said you need to go to the car rental desk…..so we go in and the car rental desk is a machine that looks like an ATM machine….with a Skype system….REALLY!!!! So they cant find the reservation…Eventually we get it sorted and the machine spits out VERY SLOWLY 4 pieces of paper. we take it to valet and sign a clip board and he hands over the keys….We look a round the car and notice some dents…we tell the valet…nothing to do we me he replied…hummmm ok….then off we drive….actually easy pease when the system was rolling….
Sunday we go and do the same thing…G goes and takes to the machine….The ATM machine close to the the car rental machine was getting no action because people we queing behind us because they thought that we were at the ATM…. REALLY they did.The tank was not full….but sorted that out and off we went…..came back for less than 1 hour and they wanted to charge us a fortune to park…we sorted that out….G and J went off to their event and I went and bought a few things in the local supermarket…….All great, car returned….J happy as his favorite wrestler won…(TOTAL FIX!!!!)

The last morning we have a late breakfast as it is going to be a long trip home…..When the phone beeps….the car rental has taken money from account…more than the actual rental….So we call them (actually G did) they keep putting G through to the front desk of the hotel…who cant help etc…..So off G goes to the talking machine in the hotel lobby…they explain that the cars are collected every other day so it looked like that car had not been returned….G was not amused, he pointed out he had signed over the car….and the next amount was actually more than the hire…but ALL sorted….
We rush out of the hotel….take a taxi to the airport…where G was ungraded and he very nicely gave G his seat….REALLY he did…. ( J was sat next to the man who had designed the shoes J was was wearing….horrible green things)
Eventually we took off and the one stewardess was the American express rep…she talked about getting a American Express card and what it could gain you….REALLY when did they start advertizing on planes.
We then get on our next plane…. 2 flights down one one more flight to go….Don't think of that 11 hour flight wend….it has to be done…
……It did not help that the plane was MINGING!!!! the toilets were disgusting and I told the stewardess…who came and let me know she had cleaned them as much as possible….we get off the plane at Los Angles and G looks up and said this plane is the one going back to Japan….and it was….well we did have a few hours so I was hoping they would CLEAN it!
We go to the lounge….(at times like that when we can use lounges I don't mind that G has travelled…cause I do like a comfy chair) We go to the quiet area…J goes straight to sleep I go buy magazines…and and wander around
I suddenly realize I have not packed my makeup….So I call the hotel…(who's policy is to keep everything for 60 day's) I was put through to lost and found…I am sorry I am told it has not been handed in….Ok I replied I also left a suitcase in the room, maybe the person put my makeup in there….off he goes…comes back and he said nope…no suitcase….To this I am lost for words…(Yes I know it does not happen often!!!) a 28inch suitcase has not been handed in…he said we cant go into the room as it is occupied…so I state if I walked into a room with somebody else's makeup and a 28inch suitcase I would not be happy….
He kind of agreed…said may be it was all in the system…we chatted for so long he told me his wife's name was wendy….Well the outcome was he was going to send an email with his email because I had nothing to write on and I would contact hime when I got back to Japan….simple enough….YEAH RIGHT!!!! typed sarcastically
So just as we were getting ready to leave the lounge G's name is called….now we had already been told the flight was overbooked…..I am thinking they have upgraded him and I did put a smile on my face when he came back….I thought night flight just get on with it Wend…..So he never said anything but said come on…I woke J up and we headed downstairs….G goes to the desk to collect his new upgraded ticket…ARRGGGHHHH be nice wend…when he say's oh look all three of us have new tickets…..I think I managed to stop the happy tears from pouring….Never said anything to J, just handed him his ticket and when he was shown to his seat…his face sort of lit up through the blurry sleep eyes….He sat down..got out the quilt/blanket and was asleep before we took off…..Now I was dressed for comfort….The stewardess…came up to to me and said Champagne….Hummmm No…Nothing thanks…which seemed to surprise her…Not interested thank you it taste like corned beef…
Great flight, watched a few movies….slept a little…happy Wendy…REALLY I was. We get off the plane at 5am and was in the car after clearing immigration, customs and collecting the bags by 5.20am
We get home, suitcases unpacked, and put away and laundry on by 6.30am….G then notices that the hotel has taken $30 from us that actual day….So I am thinking great maybe they have sent my makeup even if $30 is a bit much…
So i call the hotel…they said they have not taken any money…my bank is wrong!!! REALLY she did. I then get put through to the lost and found department…..I explain AGAIN….(I had been told this was going straight into the system) Still had not turned up….I was like well has a suitcase been handed in…( I said we have left it on purpose, but maybe the makeup was inside the case) Still NOTHING…I was like REALLY…he said yes it's strange…so a report was filed
I then got a email from the company…I tried calling them but with different timezones….I will have to get up extra early or stay up extra late…but as those of you who know me the latter will never happen!
I called the hotel again and say look this is a joke….AGAIN I explained..I then get to speak with a supervisor and AGAIN I had to explain….even me who likes to talk had had enough of talking…..
He said well cant say what actually happened may be somebody took it…hummmm REALLY…who…YOUR STAFF???? he said he had spoken to the claims department who have tried to contact you but were unable to reach you….NO you didn't I said…firstly G's contact details are on his account…secondly the guy told me you cant take my number as I live overseas….oh no he said that is not correct…REALLY you surprise me!!!!
So I am now waiting to be contacted…as I have tried using their system…which is rubbish…let me tell you!!!!
….oh yeah and that $30 was for parking the car that had ALREADY been returned….So I stated that the hotel had taken my money fraudulently…no he said…I said you have…we had checked out and paid our bill on Tuesday and then on thursday you take money….hummmm no we had signed off….G will deal with that!!!!

Thursday I slept a little during the day….went to the club and seen Chai…who looked great in her 'colors' and we had Indian for dinner

Friday I managed to do a little shopping and do some planting of veggies..REALLY I did ….more strawberries, celery (no idea why) broccoli, broccolini, 3 types of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers mint (that taste like mint should not that funky stuff!!!) all to go with the other stuff i had planet before I went away. Then had Indian for dinner

Saturday, I managed to stay awake all day…seen Bubbles and Mr. Bubbles with his extra shinny ring….and had Indian for dinner….

It's now sunday morning…been up since 4 am and we WON"T be having indian for dinner