Family Time is Best

昨日長い一日。
朝から台風来ちゃったなのに、CYNET/CloveruファマリーBBQ行って来た。今年、TequilaとRumが禁止したから安心でした。笑。
夕方からTaitoの海の家でKeisonライブ。雨が泊まってくれて、サンセット最高でした。
Taitoのlocalsみんなファマリースタイルで遊んで来て、本当にピースな感じ。夏は千葉でしょう。

Long Day yesterday. Despite the hit of Tyhpoon number 9, Kuni and I braved the weather and joined our CYNET/Cloveru crew at Yoshi's house for our annual Korean BBQ party. With no Tequila or Rum on the menu thanks to Chie, everyone was able to get nicely sloshed without the nakedness. Fantastic.
In the evening, the rained went away and we were treated to a beatuiful sunset whilst listening to Keison play live at the Taito Beach House. All the locals were out with their familes, chilling and enjoying good times. Chiba is the place to be for summer.

Yaki Niku Chiba style

Our Family

Papa Yoshi and the rest of the CYNET/Cloveru crew

Summer Live-This is the life.

Moving onto the beach house / Taito海の家

Beautiful Summer Sky, Taito, Chiba

Keison & Kaz chillin Live

With legendary Aussie surf film maker Dick Hoole, and legendary Chiba surf photographer Kamio san. Family Style.

Uncle Sho retires early....

Hot Hot Hot

もう暑いね！夕方まで毎日犬達と留守番。外暑いから。もうやだ！！！
赤ちゃんが2500gmなっちゃったから、早めに生むと頑張っています！毎日灯台まで散歩して、海も入って、いっぱい動いているなのにまだまだみたい。
昨日クニと73Rファマリーと御宿花火大会に行った！最高でした。日本の花火本当にきれい。オーストラリアで花火高いあまりないし、チョコバナナとかかき水とかもないね！日本のほう大好きです。今年までクニと仕事のせいで花火大会一緒に行ってないけど、先週も一宮の花火一緒に見たから嬉しい。
来週ママがオーストラリアから来るから本当に楽しみ。花火見せてあげたいね。

It's so bloody hot, me and dogs are house bound until the evenings every day which is driving me crazy! The baby is 2500gms now, ready to be born although the due date isn't for another 4 weeks. I'm doing the lighthouse walks, getting into the ocean, and trying everything I can to speed it up before the baby gets too big!
Last night Kuni and I went to the Onjuku Fireworks Festival with the 73 Riders crew. I love these festivals in Japan. Choco bananas on a stick, shaved ice in fluro cups, and the prettiest fireworks right there on the beach front. Because of work, Kuni and I haven't see fireworks together until this year, and now we've seen 2 festivals in 1 week! Lovely.
Mum comes over from oz next week, can't wait to see her. Hopefully we can take her to see some pretty lights in the sky.

My Nappy cake from Tomo!
ともちゃんが作ってくれたおもつケーキ！可愛い！

New Makapu'u Dress, 35 weeks
ニュー マカプ ドレス, 35週間妊娠

Hot Dog
暑いアイちゃん

the Boss
ボス

Playful Ai
遊んでいるアイちゃん

Always sleeping on my belly..I think she knows what's in there.
いつもお腹の上に寝たい。赤ちゃんがいると分かっているみたい。

On my lighthouse walk, trying to get the watermelon out. Blue in Makapu'u.
スイカ出したいから、灯台までの散歩。ドレスはもちろんマカプ。

Mumma Surfin

You can keep the surf away from the mumma but you can't keep the mumma away from the surf.
It's hot and there's swell, so baby or no baby, I'm out there on whatever I can ride.
It's amazing how much fun you can have for 800yen ($8)...

Hayley Sales / Ashleigh Mannix Unplugged Sunset Live at KULA

Billabong Japan & Surf Rock International presents:

Hayley Sales / Ashleigh Mannix Unplugged Sunset Live at KULA

【日時】7月31日（金）Friday July 31st
【OPEN/START】17時開場／18時開演 5pm open, 6pm start
【CHARGE】Free
【出演】ヘイリー・セールズ、アシュリー・マニックス / Hayley Sales, Ashleigh Mannix
【場所】Kula リゾート / Kula Resort　http://www.ku-la.jp/

Slowin Down to the Good Life

Back from endless shoot trips both overseas and here in Japan, Kuni has been getting back into the swing of home life. With less than 6 weeks to go before the baby is born, I am under semi-house arrest, having been a little too active up until now and getting the strict word from the doctor and Kuni to slow down. Being the middle of summer holidays here now, it's not so difficult to get into a routine of working on the laptop from the couch under the air con, with daytime soaps and movie breaks to force relaxation. And it's just nice to have Kuni home.

久しぶりクニが撮影トリップなくて、家のライフスタイル戻った感じ。あと１ヶ月くらいに赤ちゃんが生まれるので、私はしばらく家からあまり出かけない。今までちょっと動き過ぎしゃって、お腹がいっぱいかたくなったから心配してたけど、赤ちゃんめちゃ元気してる。ママはこれから生むまでもっと休まなきゃ。。
いつも頑張ってくれてるクニちゃんもママとベビーのヘルスを大事してるから、ご飯も庭の掃除も選択もいっぱいヘルプしてくれてる。良かった。ありがとうクニ☆

Getting into the swing of Home Life-the new work bench
手作りクニちゃん

And trimmin the bloody bamboo
庭トリッマーマン

It's funny to see how much your body changes during pregnancy, even the simple act of going out to a BBQ for a few hours with good friends is totally draining, or perhaps it was because of the amount I laughed in one sitting! Thanks to the 73R family for inviting us and giving Kuni and good excuse to let his hair down for an afternoon.

妊娠中身体は本当に変わるでしょうね。いろいろびっくりした。力どんどん無くなるね。
先週に73RのBBQに行って、久しぶり笑い過ぎして家に帰っていっぱい寝ちゃった！BBQだけで疲れちゃうね。えいじ君ありがとうございます。クニちゃん久しぶり飲み過ぎしゃった面白かった！笑う！

73 Family

Happy Birthday Kazuma Pro!!

Drunk Kuni waterbomb fight ass stance!

Feeling the baby kick

I am still making it to the beach almost every evening for a big walk with the dogs, although even that is starting to get tough. But I am not cutting the beach out of my life! So will just have to tone down the walks instead. When I got to Shida, the surf was pumping; a new swell that we have been waiting on for weeks. I called Kuni who was at home building things on his new work bench, and he grabbed the closest camera to him and came down to shoot until the sunset. Check out his blog and pics from last night at http://kunihouse.blog72.fc2.com/

まだ毎日ビーチで散歩してる。昨日、志田で最高な良い波見て、クニに電話して『波よいよ、来ないの？』って。クニが久しぶりローカルの撮影したくて、5分に向かってた。自分のブログであっぷしてるから、見てねhttp://kunihouse.blog72.fc2.com/

Finally a good summer swell at Shida
久しぶりの良い波@志田下

With the dogs on our daily beach walk, Shida
毎日夕方の散歩


Ai chan exhausted after a 3am wake up and trip to the beach with Dad for fishing and surfing

アイちゃん達も朝３時にパパと波チェックしに行ったから帰って寝ちゃった。

Time for some more movies and maybe a tim tam. Nice!

では、今日暑いから夕方まで家出れないから、これからゆっくりします。

Peace & Love
xo

It's here!

Officially the rainy season is over, and summer has settled in. The water is still a little icy here in Ichinomiya, but once your legs go numb it's all good fun! Surf has been flat, which for once doesn't bother me in the least! I'm enjoying my pregnant walks and swims every day, along with having a suprisingly busy week working!

雨も泊まって、やっと夏が始まった！一宮の水まだちょっと冷たいなのに、毎日散歩が終わったら泳いでます。波ぜんぜんないけど、私は今サーフィン出来ないから逆に波ないから海がこんでないから良かった！今月もクニと２人とも仕事が本当に忙しくて、もう７月そろそろ終わっちゃう！こわい！

最近忙しくて家に帰ったら疲れて寝てるばっかりのクニちゃん。
Tired from working too hard, Kuni

たいとビーチ。波ないから誰もいない！最高！
Taito: no waves, no people. Perfect!

キューリも出来た！デッカ！！
A little bit of love goes a long way! Home-Grown Super Cuey!


東京で仕事の日にランチはスターバックス。先生が怒っちゃうから、言わないように。。
Nothing like a Java Chip frappa to kick off a busy morning of meetings in Tokyo. Balance that with a grainy sandy to try and keep the doctor off my back...

mmm yum

Fresh Vegies from the garden!! Yum Yum.
自分達が出来た野菜です！美味しかった！

Welcome July

How fast has 2009 gone! Amazing to think it was back in February when Kuni and I were cruizing around India searching for waves...now we are settling into Summer in Japan, still working like crazy, but most importantly, counting down the final weeks until our son is born!
Exciting times. Here's some pics from the Takanami lives of late:

Kuni shot:from his recent boat trip in North Sumatra with Taro Yamamoto

not much longer to go now...

home from Sumatra and taking a much deserved rest before heading off to Miyazaki for another shoot

Totoro chan!

Ai with her new summer cut!

Waiting Time....

あと２ヶ月に赤ちゃんが生まれて来る！今年早い！最近クニは仕事で外国に行って、私は日本で一人で頑張ってる。外国で妊娠してるのはけっこう大変。。家族が近くにいないと寂しくなる。。でも、クニのお母さんと私たちの仲良い友達からいっぱいサポートしてくれてる私はラッキーと思ってる。感謝。そして、犬達からいっぱいラブしてくれてる。嬉しい。毎日一緒にビーチで散歩してるし、私は泳いでる時に２人がずっと待ってくれる。可愛い。

こんなにサーフィンしてないのは初めてかもしらないから、それは一番ストレス！最近千葉で波もあってるからね。でも、後少しに息子とも一緒にサーフィン出来るから本当に楽しみ。
最後まで、ポサチブで頑張って行きます！


Only 2 months to go which makes me realize how fast this year has gone, yet at the same time these last couple of months seem to be dragging on. Kuni has been overseas for work so I've been plugging along by myself, which is testing for the mind! Without close family an arm's stretch away, pregnancy in a foreign country can be somewhat testing, but luckily I have had great support from kuni's family and our close friends. Not to mention the dogs, who have kept me company on our walks at the beach every day!

This is the longest I haven't been able to surf, and with constant swell hitting Chiba that has been quite frustrating...but there's not long to go now so it's just a matter of staying relaxed and positive, and soon I'll be surfing with my son!

Rasta and the Surfers for Cetaceans Crew

Good friend and motivated ocean helper Dave Rastovich emailed me this week to give me an update on the situation at the current IWC meeting in Madeira. To check out the news and Dave's diary entry, check out http://www.surferseyes.com/wp/news/

Summer is closing in here in Japan, which will bring to an end the dreaded rainy season soon, and finally the birth of my son. Working from home everyday is starting to drive me crazy; I was certainly not born with the housewife gene. With only 10 weeks to go it seems like time has flown, yet on the contrary as if time has been standing still these last few weeks. But with every day becoming more humid and the sun finally beginning to shine for more than one day at a time, Summer is indeed on its way and the days will continue to tick over.

Having so much time on my hands gives me the chance to sit and evaluate what is important, and what I want to focus on teaching my son. When I see good friends like Dave using their time and efforts for difficult yet worthwhile causes, it gives me inspiration to keep my feet moving myself. Kuni and I only touched the surface earlier this year in India, and there's lot more to be done there and all over the world, as well as at home, to help make this world a better place.

Even with all the trouble, if we can stick together and keep smiling, then it's all worth saving; don't you think?

Summer is here!

Finally the rain has cleared up...for the time being anyway. Seeing as I can't surf, I have been enjoying morning walks along the beach followed by a nice swim and body surf! Feels amazing, and the dogs get a little dip too!

しばらくサーフィン出来ないけど、最近毎朝タイトから東浪見まで散歩してる。そして、最後に海入って、ボデイーサーフィンしてる！最高気持良い。犬達も嬉しいそう。