HONEYMOON in Tokyo and Hokkaido!

Why JAPAN? - Why not?

It was our first time being in Japan together.
We've covered Matt's home town and my second home town.... so it's almost a mission to visit my place of birth registration.




















Also, it was cheap to fly to Japan. Thanks to air miles - so romantic.
In fact, it was cheaper than the inbound (Tokyo - Chitose - Tokyo)




And it's nice to meet friends
of course.











Here's the special blog on our 10days trip in Tokyo and Hokkaido (Sapporo area).
http://hokkaidotokyohoneymoon.blogspot.com














There's lot about food - so it may look like a remake of Japan Hour or a food program... well.... but it's a pleasure.
Hope you leave a comment if you have time! Thanks!

よろしくね！

Happy Birthday to Matt

One celebration to another, Matt quietly turned 31st on September 1.
His closest friends in Singapore (George, Calven, Monty) treated him (us) for dinner at Tanglin Club.

Just Married!

Woo Hoo! I'm married to this cutie!

We tagged along to Daichan's quest for the famous Ramen-ya in Singapore.
I'm relieved and proud to hear him saying "duh I can do better than this" after we've tried the popular ones. Ramen happens to be one of Matt's favorite Japanese food. He's quietly listening to the master here...
Nozomi-chan left that day and we had our last drink. Actually, it was the hardest drink after the whole boozy week. Nevertheless, I am so happy she came. Love her!
Matt's dad, mum, Paul, Lucy and Ned went to Bintan after the wedding.
This is the picture we took at the dinner when they came back and soon after this they flew to UK.
Paul, Lucy and Ned came left the week after.

WEDDING DAY!

Thanks most of all to Matt with his organization skills, even though he had 500 things going on at the same time, he managed to pull of such a wonderful wedding and enjoy himself.

And of course to our Family who came all the way from Jakarta and UK, stopped what they were doing back home and planned their trip all for our wedding..... And especially to Dad, who gave the opening speech.

Then our friends.... really made the effort to come and enjoy themselves - exactly what we hope for them.
And Masano-san has captured the joyful atmosphere very beautifully and naturally here.... http://picasaweb.google.com/mattandnaomi2008/MattAndNaomiSWedding23rdAugust2008

We truly are grateful for all the people who came - it was the BEST.

Cheer Leaders Invade!

Hen's night of course.
And I wanna thank all my girl friends who are so supportive, even on a Thursday night.








































Aww...I think I lost my phone again....!

Wedding invitation - designed by Emi

Wedding Week

Thursday August 21st - I had a Hen's night with my girlfriends from Singapore.
10 cheer leaders hopping from bars to clubs with a mini bus, is worth a whole new blog but I don't have any pictures.
At the same time Matt was having his Stag night. I can only assume it was as good as mine.
But loosing my phone was very unnecessary.

Friday August 22nd - After both the parents met for the first time and had dinner at Lei Garden, Matt and I had few more drinks at Harry's Chijmes with Matt's mum and dad.
Nozomi-chan arrived from Japan and joined us there.

Matt's best friends (Vicki and Jim - the couple who are also the Best Man and Best Lady, Kiwi and Ginge) arrived and we started celebrating.
As you can see, Matt is really having a good time here.

Playing make up

With Yusuke - this new flatmate of Keith's place is new to Singapore and new to us but he fits with us like it was meant to be! Good cook, creative, open to anything and volunteered to be the photographer for the wedding! Fantastic!

As for Keith, need I say more?

Durian Frenzy

It started off with a Durian ice cream.
Matt ate it but was still making the face.

After a year, I got him a Durian from Carrefour which costed $20 a packet.
Didn't like it.

But one day he came home and got me a Durian.
He discovered how to buy the right Durian at the right time and he's absolutely into it now! More than me!

The Wanderers

Went to cheer Matt at Yeo Chu Kang Stadium where his team "The Wanderers" and few other teams were having a tournament.

This time, it looked like they were really encouraging the WAGS (wife and girlfrineds) to come and cheer the boys. And the best way they think they can get the girls to come was to have Champagne and sparkling wine! And they succeeded. Well, at least I did go!

How did Matt's team do? Not bad I think. Oh well! It was a very sunny hot day and he did well!

Jakarta Hen's Weekend (Last Day)

Went to see Monas (Suharto's last erection) and made a quick stop at Cafe Batavia for a real coffee. Everyone seemed to like the place, reminded me of tourists at Long Bar, Raffles Hotel.

Then we went to my parents' for BBQ.
Stayed there the whole afternoon and rushed to the airport at 7:30pm.
What happens in Jakarta, stays in Jakarta, so I won't mention everything.
But this photo at the airport, says it.

Jakarta Hen's Weekend (Part 2)

As planned originally, we head to the spa on Saturday. But plan B was to take the girls to the girlie spa and take the boys to the "gentlemen's" spa. Turned out, the girlie spa could only accommodate 4 girls.... so I went to the "ladies and gentlemen"'s spa with the boys, which only had massage and scrub. After the brief spa, we went to a English theme pub - obviously, and waited for the girls. When the girls were done, they were looking all so pimped up and pretty! Went to have "Padang food" for lunch for some local experience, and then some went shopping while some went for swim or sleep at the hotel.

At night, we went to dinner at Loewry's. This restaurant is new and it's fully book for 1 month or more in advance. Lucky for us, Sachiko who organized the hotel also organized 20 seats for this night and there came 10 more of my girlfriends from Jakarta. Of course, they were puzzled with the event. Some thought it's my dad's birthday.

Then after dinner we went to 'East' a new mini club next to Loewry's. But it was a pre-club club, by 1am people moved elsewhere. So the remaining 4 (Matt, Matt, Brad and I) went to the infamous Stadium and danced the night away amongst the trippers.

Jakarta Hen's Weekend (plust the boys!)

I had been planning a Hen's weekend with the girls (Inez, Yayoi, Cindy and Serene) to Jakarta for a girlie weekend on July 25 - 27.
But because Rique turns 1 on July 23 and Dad turns 70 on the 25th, Takeya family was planning a big BBQ party on that weekend, on which Matt was invited.
And since Matt is in Jakarta, Brad decided to come and Matt invited Matt Adams who's new to this part of Asia to come, and since there are boys, Cindy got Alexis to come.
So there, it was a group tour, and me, the ad hoc tour guide.
We started our Friday happy hours from Changi Airport Harry's bar with beers and burger king fries and nuggets - good start.
Arrived and checked in at Aston Rasuna Service apartment at 11pm and trashed the Penthouse a bit with some of the wine we cleverly purchased at the DFS, then went to Aphrodite which was just next door, just because we could.

Yayoi-san is getting MARRIED!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
to Yayoi-san and Lasse!

They will tie a knot on August 5, 2008 in Denmark.

Yayoi-san will finish her term with Japanese school in Singapore and will be leaving to Denmark for good in April next year.
After 9 years of 'long distance' relationship, they hold a record of being the most unbelievable and unusual couple in love.
I wish Lasse and Yayoi-san a great life together!!

One Saturday

Another peaceful Saturday...
Keith and I joined Matt at Harry's where he finished watching a rugby game with his mates.
Yusuke came later with a watermelon (again).
At a bar full of drunken rugby guy (in particular Matt), the fate of the content of a watermelon ends in the stomach and the shell on the heads.

got a new MacBook!

Matt's PowerBook G4 became too full and performance was failing, especially after all the photos and songs we downloaded....
So he got a new black MacBook!
Now the two is side by side and I'm amazed to find how dark and cloudy the 2 year old PowerBook's screen is, and how bright and clear the new screen is! I didn't notice it at all until a new and better one came in!
Apple sure makes a simple and reliable system, for home use, I definitely recommend Apple.

Cat a.k.a Neko-chan leaving

Actually, we know Cat from her boyfriend - Anthony, who was Matt's Rugby mate in England, who asked Matt to look after Cat while she's in Singapore for a 4 months assignment.

Young and vibrant and at times really weird girl.
She managed to take care of herself in Singapore and we only met few times for drink and shopping and some girlie things but it was fun while it lasted.
This is taken on her last night in Singapore. Anthony visited from London for the last week she's here.
Also joined by Matt's friend from London, Matt. Yeah, his name is Matt too. But his nickname is Fluffy. You'll kind of get why.

one boozy Sunday

Cindy and Alexis invited us over to their place again on Sunday afternoon.

Who could say no to 'opening a good aged wine' and 'wanted to share with good friends, and we thought of you guys, so come over!' ...eh?

Nabe + Watermelon + Durian Party

Yusuke, the new face in Singapore cooked Nabe at Keith's place and it was Amazing!
How amazing? - I imitated and ate it for the whole week after that.
But I was doing it wrong! - only after a week I realized, he put rice wine and water 1:1! That was the secret!

Anyway, after the nabe we played games and the penalty for looser was to break the watermelon with our own head!
Only for Keith, the penalty was not water melon but Durian!