How to Cook Chayote

Last week, I cooked chayote for my first time. I found the recipe from Japanese Cooking site, Cookpad. I am going to share the recipe with you.



simmered chayote and pork

Ingredients
 two chyatos (cut the chyatos into bite size)
 half pound of ground pork
 1 teaspoon of salad oil
 1 teaspoon of grated ginger
 1 pinch of salt
 1 pinch of black pepper
 1 cup of water
 2 tablespoon of sake
 2 tablespoon of soy sauce
 1 tablespoon of mirin
 2 teaspoon of hondashi powder
 2 tablespoon of potato starch
 1 teaspoon of sesame oil


1. Heat oil into a pan over high heat, and fry grated ginger and ground pork.
2. Add chayote into pan when the meat is fully cooked and continue to fry them.
3. Add water, sake, soy sauce, mirin, and hondashi. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Then, turn off the heat. Add potato starch with two tablespoon of water, and quickly stir up them.
5. Add sesame oil.
6. Enjoy!



         This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking 

Physician Formula Eye Cream Review

Today, I received an e-mail from my sister. She told me that she had gotten red irritations by using Physicians Formula Hydrating Eye Cream, which I gave to her when I visited her in Japan.

Physicians Formula Hydrating Eye Cream

After she applied this eye cream, it produced redness and swelling. After that, her skin of eye tails started peeling. I searched reviews on this products, and I knew that some people have had experiences the same problems.

My sister and I have used Physician Formula Aging Intensive Wrinkle Corrector Eye Cream before, and we both love it since it truly hydrates around eye area. The only small complain was that applicator was useless, but we didn't care about that.

Physicians Formula Aging Intensive Wrinkle Corrector Eye Cream

Because of that, we had believed that their Hydrating Eye Cream was also excellent. However, it disappointed our expectations. :(
These days, I haven't seen their eye cream at any drug stores. I was wondering why they disappeared, but today I thought that their eye cream had been removed since it needed to be renewed because of some negative reviews. :(

Uniqlo Haul

When my husband and I traveled to Japan about three months ago, I bought some clothing at Uniqlo. I know it has been a while since we came back to the U.S., but I'd like to share with you what I got there.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I really wanted to purchase white jeans and a skirt there. However, when I was in Japan, I hesitated to purchase anymore clothing because I had purchased a lot of clothing with great deals in the U.S. last year. Then, I realized that getting jeans at Uniqlo in Japan was a good idea because I could get jeans shortened for free at Uniplo, so I could buy jeans with my perfect size. :) 

Uniqlo Skinny Fit Straight Jeans

These white jeans were originally 3990 yen, but they were on sale for 2990 yen. These day, I have often worn the jeans, and I am glad that I purchased them in Japan. The white color is perfect for spring outfit. I love them! :) When I took them to a cashier, they nicely asked me if I needed to get them shortened. It took 20 minutes to shorten the jeans for free. That's why I love Uniqlo.

When I was in Japan, I couldn't find any skirt at Uniplo. I think that it was because most women in Japan preferred to wear pants during winter due to extremely cold weather.

However, I found another great deal because of cold weather. I purchased two belly warmers. They were originally 990 yen each, but they were on sale for 490 yen each. :) I have never seen a belly warmer here, but in Japan, it is pretty popular among women and old people during winter. Because if your back is chilled, you are more likely to have backaches. That's why people with backaches want to protect their back from cold weather, and so do I. :)

On the way to Japan, we stopped by Shanghai. My husband bought a long sleeve plaid shirt at Uniqlo in Shanghai. I forgot how much it was, but I think that we purchased it with a great deal. Surely, he loves it.

     Here is my entries related to Uniqlo.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Uniqlo

     My entries related to Japan Haul can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan%20Haul

Madi Diaz - Nothing At All

I listened to the song, "Nothing At All" by Madi Diaz, today. I have known this song through NikkiPhillippi's Youtube video. Her Youtube channel is my current favorite. :) I like the back ground musics of her videos.
I'd sometimes like to study English with using lyrics. It expands my vocabulary skill in a fun way. Once I fully understand the lyrics, the song reminds me of the vocabulary every time I listen to the song.  

Lyrics

If you want to call, don't
Don't come crawling up to my back door
We've tried that before

If you think I will, I won't give an inch
'Cause you'll take me miles from home
Now you're on your own

I got one foot in front of the other
All I know is what I know
And the one thing left that keeps me together
Will get me over or won't change nothing at all

If you're wondering, no
I haven't thought about you
Since this afternoon

If you're just stopping by, go
I got so many interesting things to do
But not with you [boo-whoo]

I got one foot in front of the other
All I know is what I know
And the one thing left that keeps me together
Will get me over or won't change nothing at all

I couldn't be more over you
[Instrumental Break]

I got one foot in front of the other
All I know is what I know
And the one thing left that keeps me together
Will get me over or won't change nothing at all (x2)

I got one foot in front of the other
One of us does not like the other
One of us is not like the other





   Today's Vocabulary
・ not give an inch : 全く妥協しない、一歩も引かない
・ take a mile : さらに要求する
     ex) Give him an inch, he'll take a mile. : やつに甘い顔をするとすぐにつけ込んでくる。／寸を与えれば尺を望む。◆【直訳】彼にインチを与えるとマイルを持っていく。
・ you're on your own. : 

1. 一人でできるさ。／もう一人前だね。／自分でできるだろ。

2. あなたは自分の好きにしなさい。

An In-class Essay Exam Is Coming Up Soon

I am going to take a midterm exam, which will be writing an essay in class, coming up next Wednesday. My writing teacher taught us how to manage your time and organize your essay during the exam. He didn't mention how long it will be, but I don't think I can finish it in time. It's because the last essay took me a week to finish up my rough draft. I guessed I spent over 24 hours for it in total. :( It was very hard for me to organize the essay. It was difficult to match the thesis statement, conclusion sentences, topic sentences and example sentences. I am little nervous to take an in-class essay exam. :(

Today, I asked my classmate if she would take any class during summer. She told me that she would take two classes. She wants to take next level's writing class in summer next even though she knows summer classes are very hard since they are shorter. A month ago, our writing teacher advised us that we should avoid taking that class in summer. I was impressed by her determination. She said, "We have only three writing classes to transfer to UC. That's all." I wanted to take the next level's writing class, but I should clearly not take a writing class anymore because my goal is not to transfer to a UC. However, I sometimes ask myself why I am taking writing class now. I used to enjoy writing essays and found a liking for it. I wanted to improve my writing skill more and more, but now I don't enjoy writing essays because it takes too much time. Because my writing and reading skills are still weak, it is very hard to keep up with my writing assignments... If my goal were finishing the next level's writing class (That used to be my goal though. ), I would motivate myself. Anyway, I will make a great deal of effort for my current writing class. I hope I will finish it with a good grade! I have been getting good scores in this class so far, so I can do it! :)


  

My Fingers Hurt

While I was cooking for dinner, I accidentally cut my fingers. :(  I need to type with only the right hand now...

Pharmacology Textbook

I studied for NCLEX today. I think I need to improve a lot of medical knowledge, especially in pharmacology. Today, I ordered this textbook from Amazon.com. Because it has a lot of illustrations, I think I won't be bored by this textbook. :) When I find it difficult to study for something, I always try to use easier textbooks at first. If I understand the easy textbook, I will find a liking for it. Then, I move on to a more difficult textbook. A textbook which is shown small specific detail is also good for some people, but I prefer to study visually at first.

I hope I will like it. :)

My Spring Vacation Ends Today

My spring vacation ends today. During spring vacation, I made a great deal of effort for my English assignments and my nursing study. I have 9 more weeks to finish my writing class. I think this semester will be the last class for me at my college because I need to study for nursing more than English study from now on. I will keep up my study until this semester ends.

Organizing Our Garage

My husband and I have started organizing our garage. We haven't finished it yet, but it looks better than before. We have a lot of belongings, and we realized that choosing our new apartment with a garage was the best decision for us. We put together some storage shelves, and put away many belongings. We will continue to organize them next week too. I hope that we can have sufficient space to park our car in our garage soon.

My iPad nano Was Found Dead

Last week, my iPad nano was dead. :( I found my iPad nano in my washing machine after finishing laundry. Apparently, I left it in my pocket without realizing it. I used it during working out at my apartment gym everyday, and I usually put it away in a basket on our kitchen counter after coming back home. :( I usually check all pockets of clothing before doing laundry, but my husband doesn't. I was going to do laundry that day, but I didn't because I needed to cook for dinner at the time. It was my fault though. I was disappointed in myself, but my husband gave me his used iPad touch, which he no longer uses. I am afraid to take it to the gym because I can't guarantee that it won't happen again. Instead of watching podcast, I started watching individual TV that's attached to the equipments at the gym.

Don't Hesitate!

Today, I finally finished reading a 200-page book. Yay! I used to think I would never finish reading an English novel since I don't even read a Japanese novel usually. :)  However, I was required to do it because it was a part of my class assignment. I was really nervous and hesitated to read it because I had known that my reading skill was very weak. At first, reading the novel made me stressful, but I have read it for 8 days in a row anyway. As I read it on, I have noticed that I have been reading it faster and faster and that I have started to enjoy reading it. I feel like I accomplished a huge task. By reading an English novel, my self confidence has clearly grown. It has become evident that I can overcome my difficulties if I try and make a great effort for it. Don't hesitate. I can do it! :)

CVS Haul - L'Oreal

I went to CVS to buy L'Oreal products two days ago because my $11 CVS ExtraCare Bucks would expire next day.

I purchased Youth Code BB Cream for 11.99, which was originally $17.99, and Revitalift Triple Power Eye Treatment for $19.99, which was originally $25.99. These were $31.98 in total. In addition, I used a $2 off CVS store coupon for purchasing $5 more any facial products and two $3 L'Oreal manufacture's coupons. These came out to $23.98. Because I purchased $30 more L'Oreal product, I got a $10 CVS ExtraCare Bucks. I also submitted to the $10 L'Oreal Mail-in Rebate Offer. It will end up being $3.98 plus tax for the BB cream and the eye treatment. :)   I think these were great deals. :)

I was glad to purchase the eye treatment because I needed to stock up on some eye cream. I believe that moisturizing around eye area is very important for preventing aging process. That is why I use eye cream twice a day. As all girls know, eye cream is usually very expensive, while it is packed in a small package. I always try to buy it only when it is on sale. I'm looking forward to using it!

I have already used the Youth Code BB Cream twice. The color perfectly matches my skin tone. Comparing to Misha BB Cream, it has a light coverage which naturally makes my skin look healthier. :)

Catch Up Evertything

     I have been reading a 200-page book since six days ago. Now, I am reading on 150 page. I have noticed that I read it faster than before. :) I have read about 25 pages a day for six days in a row. Six days ago, I needed to divide the reading down to three portions because it took many hours to read 25 pages and I became very tired from reading it. However, now I am able to read 25 pages and write down some details on my note for two hours or so. :) I think I am getting used to it.

     That's why I have little spare time now. Since we moved into our new apartment, I have been very busy for my study and haven't had time to organize my belongings. Today, I finally put away my belongings, which had been placed on the floor for two weeks (haha). Now my apartment is organized well. Yay! :)  However, we haven't organize our garage yet. It seems messy huge storage now. Hopefully, we will get started organizing this weekend. I would like to catch up on my study and task in this spring break.

Terrible Smell

We got our mattress cover cleaned last week, but it was terrible. :( I was afraid to shrink it, so I was glad to find the dry cleaner which accepted to clean it. After we brought it back to our home, we noticed the strong stench. It smelled like bleach and half-dried cloth. We placed it against the window in order to completely dry and remove the awful stench. However, the stench gradually filled up inside our home, and we couldn't stand it anymore. I thought we would need to throw it away. After discussing with my husband, we finally decided to ask the dry cleaner either to clean it again or refund us. This morning, my husband took it to the dry cleaner, and they accepted to do it again.
We hope the smell will be removed!

I Will Make a Habit for NCLEX

     Yesterday, my husband and I accomplished our 30-day challenge, which was going to our apartment gym for 30 days in a row. During our challenge, we were moving to our new apartment. We needed to move our belongings into our new apartment, and we had to do a lot of things for the moving. However, we didn't stop going to the gym. We were really tired everyday, but I am glad to accomplish this challenge from the bottom of my heart because I haven't had backaches since I started exercising even though I carried many stuffs for my moving. If I had given up my challenge, I would have strained my back. I've learned from my 30-day challenge that exercising everyday is obviously good for me to maintain my back. Going to our apartment gym has become our daily habit, and we will continue this from now on as well. :)

     I tried another challenge in the past 30 days. The challenge was reading an article out loud everyday, and I accomplished this challenge as well. :)
I have realized that reading and writing are interconnected, and reading is obviously my weakness. Before I started this challenge, I hadn't read books on my own will. I had read books because of homework and preparing for my study group. I was not an avid reader, so I made this challenge and started reading an article everyday. I think it will take time to improve my reading skill since I am still not confident with my reading skill now. When I chose an easy book, I could understand well but felt a little bored to read it. When I chose more difficult book, I read very carefully to understand the contents of the story, and I became tired. I think if I continue this, I will end up being used to it. I should continue this and overcome my difficulty.

     I think 30-day challenges are the best way to establish a good habit for me. :) I'd like to create a new habit for my next 30-day challenge! I'd like to study for NCLEX everyday. Last year, I studied for it everyday, and at the time, studying for nursing was my daily routine. I studied for it even while I was waiting for my friend and at a dentist, and I also studied during my class's break time. However, since I started taking writing classes, I haven't studied for it everyday. I know that I seriously need to study for it now because I am going to take NCLEX in 19 weeks from now. My husband told me that I should stop going to school if I am too busy by doing my homework because my current priority is studying for NCLEX more than English. I know that my knowledge for NCLEX is not far from the acceptance line, and I believe that I can pass it if I study for it as seriously as I did last year. However, I haven't started studying for it seriously this year! That is why I'd like to establish a habit for NCLEX. I think I won't have enough time to study for it because I need to make a great effort for my writing assignments. Sometimes, I do my homework all day long and often feel that it is endless. However, I will study for nursing every day for any length of time for next 30 days!  

         

I Received My New Scarf

Yesterday, I received my new scarf, which I ordered it at Fab.com on March 12. I ordered it only three days before I received it. I was impressed with their excellent shipment because it came from East Coast.

I expected the color of the scarf would be brighter than this. :(  I was little bid disappointed about that, but I was glad that the length of the scarf was perfectly long enough. :)

I wore and went to a restaurant at the same day I received it.  :)

The scarf definitely adds accent to my daily fashion. There are some basic accent colors in it, such as red, blue, and yellow. That is why I think it is easy to coordinate with many outfits. Specifically, I like the vivid red color. :)

Chinese Restaurant

Tonight, my husband and I went to Yu's Garden, which is a Chinese restaurant, for dinner. There were many kinds of Chinese meals. The way of ordering was just as same as you order at Panda Express. However, unlike Panda Express, their Chinese food is authentic, which was very impressive.

During lunch time, they offer a two combo for around $5 and a three combo for around $6 with rice or porridge.  During dinner time, they offer only two combo for $6.25, and rice or porridge for $1.25. I've gone there both during lunch and dinner time. It seems there is no difference between lunch and dinner except for the price. Therefore, I recommend to go there during lunch time. :)

I chose squid cooked in soy sauce and tofu skin with carrot and celery.

My husband chose pork kakuni and meatball with Chinese cabbage.

They definitely became the one of our favorite restaurants.



Yu's Garden

5408 Walnut Ave
Ste H
Irvine, CA 92604

For 9 Days in a Row

About three weeks ago, I started reading a 200-page novel, which is my homework and I need to finish reading by next week. I read 35 pages for three weeks, but I started over reading the novel today. It's because I was not able to fully understand the contents of the story. I started reading from the first page today, and I drew and wrote down about characters and what happen each chapter. I was able to understand so far, now I am still reading on page 15 though. In order to finish reading it, I need to read 25 pages a day for 9 days in a row. I have to read 10 more pages today... 

My Assignments

     Today, I did peer review at my writing class. I read my classmate's essay and gave some comments to her. She told me the day before yesterday that she hadn't even started writing her essay, but she finally made it by its due date. I was impressed by her work! She told me that she hadn't slept at all last night because of the essay. Haha. It's because the essay was not easy for me either.  Today, I thought reading others' essays was very interesting because we have the same writing topic, but each person writes the essay from different view point. :)
     Then, I went to one facility which is open to students who are taking language classes can be used freely. Sometimes teachers help our self study there. One teacher came into the facility, and I asked her to check my essay. I got some advices from her for my essay. It was my first time to talk to her. Until today, I thought she was pretty strict and very serious teacher because my former classmate had told me about her before. However, she taught me very kindly and praised my hard work for my essay, and I felt she loves educating students very much. I think that it is the most important thing for our life to love your job. I think people who love their job are having enjoyable and happy life. Improving their knowledge and skills for the job stimulates their lives. As a result, they will get more confidence and pride for what they are doing. :)
     Finally, I asked the teacher about my reading study. It's because I took a hour to finish reading the nine-pages story before, and after reading it twice, yet I was not able to understand the contents of the story. Then, I read it very carefully, and I drew pictures and wrote down detail about each characters at the same time. I didn't know whether or not that was a good way to improve my reading skill. The teacher told me that was good because I prefer visual study. I am going to have spring vacation next week and have homework which is reading the 200-page novel. Reading is obviously my weakness, so I need to make a great deal of effort for it.   

Fab.com Haul

Today, I purchased a scarf at Fab.com for my first time. I got a $10 credit last month, so I have been checking their site since then. :) They are selling variety of fashionable products, such as furniture, kitchen article, clothing, shoes, accessory and so on. As my experiences, popular products sell out very quickly. I was going to buy an orange handbag, but when I checked their site on the next day, it was already gone. That's why soon after I saw this stylish scarf, I decided to purchase this right away. After checking it out, it was also gone! Boy was I lucky this time? :)

Colorblock Wrap Cobalt by Saachi

This Colorblock Wrap Cobalt scarf was originally$50, but it was on sale for $23. The shipping fee was $4.95. I used a $10 credit, and I ended up paying $17.95. It comes out 64% off! I think this was a great deal, considering that the same scarf is selling for $35.99 at Amazon. :) I wear a scarf on a daily basis, so I thought this scarf would be perfect for spring and summer style for me. :)
I can't wait receiving it!

We Can't Handle All the Work

   I have been working on my writing assignment these day. I think I have spent over 20 hours on it. :(  I didn't use to spend so many hours for my essay, but now it is difficult to write an essay within a day. The more strategies for writing essays I learn, the more complicate my essays become.
   Today, I had my writing class. During the class, we were supposed to compare our homework, but no one around me (at least four students) hadn't done their homework. I was surprised about that. My classmate told me that she was taking four classes this semester, and she needed to do arduous assignments for other classes. That's why she completely forgot our class's homework. I understood her explanation because I am taking only one class this semester and can not handle my nursing study now. :(  I asked her if she had finished an essay assignment which I have been working on these day. She told me that she hadn't even started it yet. I think this writing assignment is not easy and require s a lot of time and effort. Its due date is tomorrow night, so I guess that she will be very busy from now.
My essay assignment is almost finished, and I am going to get my essay checked by my tutor tomorrow.

IKEA BYOF Day

Yesterday, my husband and I went to Ikea because they were hosting a Bring Your Own Friends Day and were offering up free breakfast and a free Ikea blue bags. We wanted to buy more furniture at Ikea (These day, we have bought some furniture there every weekend.) , so it was a great offer for us.

We printed out coupons for these offers and got two Ikea blue bags at the entrance.

Then, we had breakfast for free. In addition, my husband has Ikea family card, so he can have a cup of coffee for free with the card every time we visit there. :)  It was our first time to eat breakfast at Ikea.

While we were looking at furniture, they also offered a free shoulder massage there. I wasn't very interested in it, so I passed the offer that time. It was exciting to look at many furniture and to think about which furniture would be perfect for our apartment, but it drained our energy. After that, we had lunch there. That day, Ikea was also offering free meals with purchasing over $100 furnishing. We didn't know they provide the same eat free offer every month.

We don't usually eat meals there, so most meals were our first time to eat at Ikea.

Najad salmon $4.99

Swedish Meatballs $3.99

Greek Salad

Chicken Caesar Salad $4.99

Chocolate overload cake $2.99

Apple Cake $2.49

We ate a lot of meals and were full. We purchased a bed head board that day. We have bought many furniture so far there and have spent a lot of money, but we still need to buy more. :)  There were still many unpacked boxes in my apartment. I hope that we will have finished organizing our belongings in this month.

We Took Our Mattress Cover to the Dry Cleaner

 My husband and I bought a used queen size bed and mattress for $150 on Japanese trading site. When we picked them up at seller's home, we found that there were some stains on the mattress. The mattress had been used for a year and half, but I think that the seller hadn't used it with a mattress pad. :( We removed the stained mattress cover and took it to the nearest dry cleaner to get the stains removed. The staff of the cleaner looked like a young part time staff, and she didn't know whether they would accept it. :(  Then, we found another cleaner and asked the owner if we could get the stain removed. He accepted to clean our mattress cover. We were really relived because we didn't want to clean it ourselves since we were afraid to shrink it. It is going to be finished on Wednesday, and it will cost $60.
 Today, we went to Ikea to buy some furniture again. We found that the same mattress with our mattress was selling at $549, and the same bed was selling at $399 there. In total, the brand new bed and mattress are $948. Considering the brand new price, our purchase was a pretty good deal. In total, we paid $265.28 ($150 for the bed and mattress, $55.28 for U-Haul rental, and $60 for mattress cleaning) for a year and half old used bed and mattress.

 Anyway, we are hoping that the stain will be removed. 

I Have Been Making a Great Effort for My Assignment...

Today, I worked on writing my essay all day long, but I haven't finished it yet. :( That's why I was not able to study for NCLEX. When can I start my study for NCLEX? My husband told me that sometimes people need to make a sacrificial decision for their life, and for me, it is time to give up one of them. I know I need to choose studying for NCLEX. :P Anyway, I am tired from working on my essay. I have to continue it tomorrow...

I Find It Difficult to Read Long Stories

I have often heard from teachers that reading and writing are interconnected, and they have been encouraging students to read books for at least 20 minutes everyday in order to improve their writing skill.
That is why recently I have been reading an article out loud everyday on my own will. I have been continuing this for 22 days in a row. Last night, I read a story which is going to be used one of my assignments. The story was nine pages long and had 750 lines. My teacher had told us, "Compared to the previous stories we have learned so far, this story is pretty long." Yes, it was a very long story for me. It took me 45  minutes or so to finish reading it out loud. I know my reading skill is very weak considering my grammar skill, and I should overcome my weakness. After reading the story last night, I was shocked that I was not able to understand the contents of the story, and I just got tired from reading it. :(  If I had fully understood it, I would have enjoyed reading it though.
Today, I read it again, and  at the same time I drew and wrote down characters of the story on paper. In this way, I didn't have to be confused from many characters. I ended up being able to understand the contents of the story. I know I can't do the same thing every time I read stories, but now I need it because it takes time to improve my reading skill. The reason why it is difficult for me to understand stories is that I don't know enough vocabularies and am not familiar with English names. As my tutor had told me before, the key to improve English skill might be memorizing sentences and vocabularies. She had told me, "if I were you, I would memorialize every single sentence in an entire paragraph." The process of memorizing is not fun, but I clearly need to try it.

Jess Penner - Bring Me the Sunshine

Today, I watched NikkiPhillippi's Youtube video and found a liking for the back ground music, Bring Me the Sunshine by Jess Penner. I hadn't known this song before I watched the video. I always enjoy listing to the music and watching Youtube videos at the same time. :)


By the way, I love Nikki's lovely fashion sense since she often wears cozy clothing, and most of her clothes are affordable for anyone. :)  I think she is beautiful and pretty because not only does she have fashion and beauty sense, but she is also always smiling and looks very happy.

Jess Penner / Bring Me the Sunshine

Lyrics


Bring Me The Sunshine

you sent me a card from paradise 
with coconut trees and a turquoise sea 
a nice little note that closed with Xʼs and Oʼs 
a sweet little tease from you to me
you bring me the sunshine 
you bring me the sun 
bringing the sunshine to everyone

itʼs been a cold grey winter 
and youʼve been away so long 
youʼre sent me a smile from the clouds blew a kiss into a crowd 
I almost forget how perfect life could be
you bring me the sunshine 
you bring me the sun 
bringing the sunshine to everyone

so wonʼt you come come closer 
and share with me the light youʼve found 
this place it grows sparkles and glows when you bring your little heart around 
oh Iʼve been wishing on a wish that you would find your way back home to me 
and all the love youʼve missed because
you bring me the sunshine 
you bring me the sun 
bringing the sunshine to everyone





   Today's Vocabulary
・ tease : noun / からかい
     ex) Stop teasing. : からかうのはやめろよ。

Chayote

Today, my friend and I went to a Mexican supermarket, El Super, and bought chayotes, which are green colored squashes, for my first time. According to Wikipedia, "the chayote is originally native to Mexico or Central America where it grows abundantly and has little commercial value, and it has been introduced as a crop all over Latin America, and worldwide." I didn't know how to cook chayotes at all, but I bought two anyway because chayotes were on sale at three for 99 cent there. :)

I searched the recipes of a chayote on the Internet and found some from the Japanese cooking recipe site, cookpad. I believe that the chayote is still not very popular in Japan, but I was able to find many recipes. :)

I will try one of the recipes in near future. :)

Said Good Bye to Our Old Apartment

Today, we cleaned up our old apartment as much as possible before we completely vacated the apartment. We had lived at that apartment for four years, and I loved that community very much. I was sad when I left there. My new apartment is still messy, so I need to organize our belongings. My husband started assembling the TV board with huge storage. After he finishes it, we can put away our many stuff.

We Finally Made It

Today was a very busy day, but we finally made it. We were able to begin to live in our new apartment today.
This morning, my husband and I woke up at 8 a.m. and headed toward to U-Haul to pick up a cargo van. It was our first time to use U-Haul. They open at 9 a.m. on Sundays. As soon as we got there, five or six Mexicans approached us and asked for a work for day to help moving. We didn't need to their help this time, so we just declined it. We rented a cargo van for picking up a queen size bed and mattress.

Then, we went to seller's house, which was on the second floor. The bed and mattress were very big and heavy, but we were able to move these because my husband instructed us to move furniture properly. When he was young, he worked a part time job for a moving company. He has many experiences to move major appliances and heavy furniture.
Renting the cargo van cost us for $46.28 in total. The rental rate was $19.95. Mile rate was $12.63 ($0.59 x 21.4 miles). Insurance coverage was $10.00. Environmental fee was $1.00. We paid tax for $2.70. In addition, we filled up the gas for $9.00.

After that, we continued to move our belongings into our new apartment and cleaned up our previous apartment.
Now our room is really messy. :P We will put away and organize stuff tomorrow.

We Purchased Furniture at Ikea

Today, my husband and I woke up earlier than usual because we needed to be at our new apartment at 8 a.m. because we had an appointment to get the Internet connection with Cox. That's why as soon as we woke up, we loaded our belongings onto our cars and moved into our new apartment by 8 a.m. After that, we went to Ikea to purchase some furniture. Recently, we have been going to Ikea often to check for furniture. In addition, we have also been checking Ikea online. It was not easy to choose the right furniture for us since it is pretty costly and we want to use it for many years. We have compared with various furniture and have discussed a lot so far. We ended up buying a sofa and a TV board today. These were unbelievably heavy and wouldn't fit in my car as we expected, so we requested Ikea to deliver these to our home tonight. Regardless of the weight or size of your purchase, Ikea provides delivery service for $59. Moreover, they will deliver between 5 - 9 p.m. on the same day of your purchase when you finish purchasing and take it to a delivery service center before 3 p.m. Considering the heavy work, we thought it was very reasonable. While waiting at my new apartment for the furniture, I suddenly realized that I may need to tip the delivery men. Because I haven't had to tip in Japan, I sometimes don't know whether or not I should tip in new situations. I quickly googled about that. Some people say that we should tip for $5 to $20 each delivery man, and the price you should tip depends on how heavy your furniture is and how hard it is to carry it into your home. In contrast, some people say that we don't have to tip since they charged delivery fee and don't expect it. We thought we should tip them since our new apartment is located on the third floor and our furniture is very heavy. The delivery men nicely carried them into our home. When they finished it, they were sweating a lot. We thought they worked really hard, and we appreciated them. After that, we packed up rest of our belongings in our current apartment. We got really tired, but we were not able to finish our moving. :P We will continue it tomorrow, but we have a very important appointment with a seller early morning tomorrow. We will rent a U-haul van early morning and pick up our bed and mattress at seller's home at 9:30. Tomorrow will be very busy too.

My Car Battery Lasted for Seven Years

Today, I searched about the average life for car battery. I found the life-span of a car battery is 5 to 6 years nowadays, but the length of the life-span depends on how you use the battery. If you use your car battery well, your battery will last longer like 8 years or more.

In 2009, I bought an used car, which is a 2006 model, and yesterday was the first time to replace the battery. It comes out that the battery had been used for seven years. I thought it lasted longer. :)

Actually, I was planing on getting it replaced earlier to be safe, but I put it off again and again since I was busy. Last week, we accidentally left the light inside the car for two days. Right after I noticed about this, I also noticed it was taking extra time to start the ignition that morning. The battery warning light was on my dashboard even though it disappeared after about 10 seconds. From that day, it took extra time to start the ignition my car in morning although there was no problem at noon. It still remained through this week. That's why I needed to get a new battery as soon as I could. I really wanted to get the job done before my car battery was completely dead.
Yesterday, I bought my car battery $74.99 plus $9 for core fee, which is refundable upon the return of your old battery, at Costco. My husband replaced the old car battery with my new car battery last night. It took him for 20 minutes or so to replace it. My husband seriously told me, "Make sure not to take this old battery to Costco because it is too heavy." He knows how serious my back condition is. These days I haven't had any backache because I have been exercising everyday, but he knows that I can potentially strain my back if I carry heavy stuff. Nonetheless, I decided to take it to Costco and carried it into the tire center anyway. It was very very heavy just as my husband said. The tire center staff kindly told me, "You don't have to carry it here. If you asked, I could have helped you. Next time, ask us first." My backache was okay (Actually, I have a little backache now though.), but my arms got really tired. Anyway, I was able to refund the core fee. I will be scolded by my husband tonight. :P Because we are going to move out our current apartment tomorrow completely, I didn't want to leave any chores and wanted to get some cardboard boxes for moving at Costco while I was there.