Santa Claus was standing there

I came across Santa,so I gave him a kiss and a hug.

But He was absent-minded.

The Dog and A Snowy Day

Opening the window,I found snow was everywhere and the world seemed brighter than usual.My sister and I were so excited as we hadn’t seen such a lot of snow.Everything covered with snow was shining in the reflection of the sunshine,the air was crisp and clear,it was the type of weather that I really like.

‘Why don’t we go for a walk?’

No sooner had our dad said that than we started to get ready for a walk with our dog.

The dog was silly and funny.I used to take a walk with him everyday.He liked being stroked so much that he showed his belly to anybody as soon as he met them.He was quite big and I was about 10 years old,so it was hard to lead him while walking,I was often pulled along strongly by him.One day I tried to drag him with a lead but he didn’t want to move from where he was,which brought us to a kind of tug-of-war.After a few-minute battle,his head slipped out of his collar and he ran away.I tried to catch him but he was flying merrily away and I was panicking.I went home by myself,crying,being anxious about his return. My parents said to me that he must be ok,but I was too little to believe that dogs certainly come back after they’ve enjoyed exploring.I waited for him anxiously at first,but was gradually getting angry,then decided to ignore him even if he did come back.

After 2 hours later,he came back home happily and showed me his belly, and I couldn’t help stroking him.

* * * * * * *

One summer’s day,we were going to go to the beach and spend a couple of days there.We had to leave home as dawn broke to avoid a traffic jam.We loaded our stuff into the car,after which,we faced the problem – my dad was struggling to get the dog into the car.

The dog hated getting on the car as he got terrible carsick.He often puked when he traveled with us in our car.He planted himself on the ground and was straining against my dad,pulling the lead.After a while,his head slipped out of his collar and he ran away again.It was very early in the morning,the town was still sleeping and we had to search for him desperately as we were supposed to leave home as soon as possible.

About 30 minutes later,we found him shagging with a neighbor’s bitch.

‘Muuuuuuuuuuuuum!!!!!’

I screamed,having seen the shocking early morning incident.

‘Oh no……it can’t be helped darling.We should wait until they finish’

She said calmly, and oh yeah I grew up at that moment.

* * * * * * *

Every time I took a step,I could hear a funny sound coming from the friction between the snowy ground and my shoes.It was so amusing to walk on the snow that nobody had stepped into.It took quite a long time to get to the park as we were hanging around on the way.Sometimes I jumped into a bank of snow and enjoyed the feel of that.While I was in the snow,I felt like I was in a different world.It was as if I had been in a hidden place, comfortably isolated, and floating at the same time in the complete silence.

The park was wonderfully white, overwhelmingly beautiful.My dad said ‘We can let him go today,cant’we?’ then took away the lead from his collar.The dog broke into a run.He was jumping and hopping around,digging the snowy ground and sniffing everywhere.We stayed there for about an hour and when our dad suggested going home,we found the dog far away from us,still wandering about.’Oh it’s not good,he’s so far away.He might run away again!’said my sister.I shouted his name as loudly as I could.

‘MuuuuuuuSaaaaaaaaShiiiiiiiiii!’

Hearing that,he faced up and turned towards me,then dashed to us like the wind with a big smile on his face.My dad had a big smile on his face too.So did my sister.And so did I. We were all together and went back home, sweet home.

I'm dreaming of a...

It's been snowing in London since last week.I think it's too early to have such a lot of snow,but anyway it's always lovely to see snow falling.Hope I won't slip over this year!(I do at least once a year...)

Such a wonderful dinner...

'Cafe Maco',one of our favourite Japanese restaurants in London,is closing down...

Toyo-kun let us know to have the final dinner there.He is a regular customer and knows the owner well,so the owner opened the restaurant only for us(12 people) last night and gave us a fantastically delicious dinner.It was such a great food that I'll put all the photos I've taken!

Kinki no Karaage(Japanese style fried white fish)

Salmon salad with wasabi and cucumber(So delicious!)

Aburaage no nibitashi(deep fried tofu with soy sauce)

Tebasaki(Japanese style chicken wings)

Fish and Genmai(brown rice)salad

Oh my goodness! Crabs! I haven't eaten them for more than 3 years!!

Eating crabs always makes us quiet. Everyone concentrated on picking crab meat.

Tori no Karaage(Soy sauce taste fried chicken)

This is one of the must-eat food in Cafe Maco!

Woooooo! Nigiri-zushi!

Hamachi(White fish),Salmon,and Tuna soaked in wine!

Soft shell crab rolls!

Dragon rolls!

LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS IKURA!!

Ikura(Salmon roe)is my favourite one but I haven't eaten this for a long time!

Ahhhhh.....awesome.

We often have Ramen after drinking in Japan.

Tonight we already ate a lot,so we didn't need to have it,

but we did!(We shared 2 bowls) And it was great...

Dessert - Black sesame icecream,Green tea sorbet and

Daihuku(Sweet sticky rice ball with azuki-bean paste)

That's all - Actually we had a couple of more sushi(I just missed chances to take photos) which the owner gave us for free...! He gave us crabs for free as well.....So,the bill was only £22 each,although we even drunk a lot of precious Japanese locally brewed sake and beer and spirits...!! Can you believe that??? This was definately the most gorgeous and luxurious and wonderful dinner I've ever had in London.We're gonna miss you,Cafe Maco...

Bracelettes Live@The Hope & Anchor

"Yeah" and "Always Do"

@The Hope and Anchor,London 12/12/09

Bracelettes myspace:www.myspace.com/bracelettes

Wish I Could Hate You

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

This is one of the songs I wrote and recorded with my computer some time ago.I don't think I will play this as Bracelettes so just put here for now.Ayako plays the guitar.