Kokochi

My husband the ultimate romantic

This morning Dav took me out for breakfast. Then he drove me to work...I was distracted on the phone as I prepared to get out of the car, but Dav frantically tapped me on the shoulder to look at the construction zone boards that are across the street from my work. Just as I peered over, I saw 2 construction men take down and carry a big board with "Dav 'heart'"....and below where that board was, there was another board with "Mie." In beautiful spray paint!

Late last night, he had snuck over here to spray paint that! Luckily, in the nick of time, he got me to work to see it. I ran over and took pictures of the romantic evidence, telling the construction guys they were taking down a love note.

Then when I sat down at my desk, Garth IM'd me:

nibblet: hehe "dav heart mie"

nibblet: just saw this

Kokochi: hey!!

Kokochi: you did?

Kokochi: they "just" took it down

nibblet: mhmm

nibblet: really?

nibblet: who took it down?

Kokochi: and I ran over and took pictures of the boards

Kokochi: the construction dudes

nibblet: oh, this is a different one

Kokochi: Dav drove me to work...and was going to show me...but then they were hammering it off!

Kokochi: but I saw it!!

Kokochi: isn't that the sweetest?

nibblet: This is another one ;)

Kokochi: huh?

nibblet: just walk downstairs and enjoy the fresh air for a moment

Kokochi: i'm talking about across the street

Kokochi: right?

nibblet: nope

Kokochi: oh?

Kokochi: um

Kokochi: walk outside 6A?

nibblet: yah, like you're having a smoke

nibblet: or like you're with jay while he's having a smoke

Kokochi: ok, I'll try

...

Kokochi: omg!!!

Kokochi: It's right there!

nibblet: I thought I should tell you before they took the containers back in

nibblet: otherwise, I would have left the surprise

Kokochi: i didn't see it...he had done another one across the street on the blue boards around the construction site

nibblet: heh

Kokochi: :)

My beloved husband spray painted 6A's garbage container that's right outside! [oi, are we gonna get in trouble for property destruction?? oh boy]

I love my husband.

Yummy breakfast

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Sasha and Ilya

Our friends Sasha and Ilya, whom we met in Thailand, got engaged and had a party at Voda. We arrived early, so I got to take pictures of the decor that I really liked. Totally reminded me of a Tokyo bar.

I love sharing life's marking moments...more and more friends are marrying and will soon start families. I love watching all this together.

I had a great time at Vedo. A bit yuppy, but it was fun being so pregnant in a club-like atmosphere.

Early gift

Hadn't seen Ian and the family lately, so we went over to Alameda to have Chinese together. We arrived in the late afternoon, and Izumi took me shopping to some used maternity clothes shops. I have a wedding to go to in April and need a dress. And not one that looks like a smock or a potato sack. No luck, but I found one shirt. I was also going to look for slip-on shoes as it's harder to tie my sneakers now, but I wasn't smitten by the designs. Sigh. Do I have to give up on fashion?

Anyway, to my surprise and delight, Ian, Izumi, Julia, and Tyler all presented me with an early b-day gift. Included were several beautiful cards with drawings that were just adorable, but one that I think was of me was pretty scary. I got a Japanese cookbook (yay!), and a matching mother-daughter dress set that Izumi and Julia used to wear (with red converse sneakers). I remember having a matching dress with my mom, and loved wearing it together. Made me feel so connected to my mom.

I especially like a pair of super cute earrings they gave me. There's a cat, fish, duck, dog, turtle, and parrot, all dangling in wild colors. What a hoot!

I also got a little 安産 "anzan", safe-birth protector (the little dog in a box). I'm not quite ready to prepare for birth, but I'll sure keep that little dog close by.

Then we had the most delicious Chinese dinner. I know I keep saying everything is delicious, but Dav, Ian, and Izumi agreed it was indeed very good, so it wasn't just me. It was one of those big Chinese restaurants where every table is a group of 6 or more celebrating some special event. The service was excellent; they even brought out a mango pudding with a candle for me!

Popcorn at the movies

I never eat popcorn at the movies. Just not my thing to eat while watching a movie. However, when we to see Dear Pyongyang at the Asian American Film Festival, and had a light dinner beforehand, I found myself hungry just as we settled in...which was like 1/2 hour later! I was going to ride it out, but Dav got up and later came back with a bag of popcorn!! What a sweetie. I was so happy!

The documentary, by the way, was excellent. Very personal and heartbreakingly touching. I'm fascinated with North Korea, and the intertwined history it has with Japan. It was particularly interesting to see very recent personal footage of Pyongyang. It's hard to imagine what it must be like to live there day in, day out, but Yonghi Yang, the director, did an honest job of just showing how it was for her family, which is quite extraordinary. I highly recommend it.

Belle & Sebastian

Click to see video.

[I wasn't able to post to Kokochi for a while, so I'm catching up on posts]

This was from last Wednesday when we went to see Belle & Sebastian. The first time I saw them was in North Caroline a few years ago, in a small venue. This time it was crazy huge...in fact gigantic, and I could barely see them! But the music was great nonetheless. If you know their stuff, you'll recognize this snippet in the video.

I had to go sit down on stairs way in the back about mid-way as my back is beginning to bother me if I'm standing too long. Felt like an old lady waddling away to rest.

Name book

In Golden Gate Park, basking in the sun, looking at kanji for name inspiration.

testing, ignore

testing the new mail server setup--Dav Yaginumahttp://AkuAku.org/

test 3

still testing.--Dav Yaginumahttp://AkuAku.org/

test 2

testing, please ignore--Dav Yaginumahttp://AkuAku.org/