The fabulous destiny of Fredosan

That is it! i finished with my career as a recruiter yesterday and i am starting with my new company today!
it is going to be double pay for the next week or so....I am going to enjoy that very much.

cheers

Hey hey hey!
today is bank holiday in Japan! what I am going to do?
well, i want to try myself to gardening.....no not for flower; grass maybe as long as i can put it in my chocolate;-) (well, yes i don't smoke so i have to find out other ways)
Anyway, today I paid a little visit to the local B&Q (you can do it if you B&Q it...i miss it very much) and i have bought pots, seeds, grown up plants and the rest. why did I do that? well, my friend Mister E is in the business too and i think it is and will be a very good feeling to eat my home grown tomatos and cucumber. it is a trip back to the source and what is really important.....food!
Now one thing came up to my mind as soon as i took a step back to enjoy the view of my masterpiece. if it is a successful experience; i will enjoy probably one or two meal out of my three pots; so what would it take for me to sustain my yearly needs....I guess more than my balcony's space!
well, i will keep you posted about the progress of these veggies.
I can say that today was a good forward day.
I hope you enjoyed yours too.

I know i have not said much for a while but i am alive.

Hey have a look at the pics i have done for you.

 Parking is not an issue in Tokyo

Sunday sunbathing cancelled

 Our new monster called Marron!

 Portrait
 Cat in Chinatown Yokohama
 feeding not so wild birds

 I wish i could shake that chain hard!!

See you soon.

As you don't ignore it; we have been in Japan for a few months. when i say we it means my sweetheart and I. Unfortunately, the family is not complete. when we left England; we had to leave behind us our two little pet friends. Our unique project since the day we came to Japan was to be reunited with our firends.
Unfortunately, the process wasn't getting anywhere due to regulations imposed by the Japanese government related to Bird flu.
Basically, the UK suffered a couple of case of Bird flu and the rule is that before we can import our birds to Japan; the UK had to be free of the disease for 90 days. this date should have come in June.
We then proceeded in finding out what were the requirements for the import. simple, the birds had to undergoa pre-export isolation for 21 days and be checked by a vet. easy enough. 
As we got deeper in our searches; we found out that pre export isolation was something quite difficult to achieve. the birds had to be isolated in a mosquito free environement protected by screens and insect killers products and devices.
When we left; I asked Mister E if he could take care of our birds for a few weeks. he accepted  with no problem. if only we knew these few weeks would turn into months...
He has done so much for our birds that we will be forever grateful.
Of course i could not ask him to transform his house into a bunker for the pre export isolation; so we had to ask if the vet could do it.
Yes, the vet could do; but when? we had t find out when the birds would be flying.
we then contact British Airways but they  told us that we couldn't book a cargo ticket if we don't go through a pet travel agent!!! here we go for pet travel agent search. aksing for quotes and not receiving answers. Days, weeks have passed. we get an answer from them:£630 for the flight.....well, we love our birds. we are ready for this. but one thing is not right; so we wish to amend our quote and to this day, we haven't received any answer from them. it is probably one of these company that has too much income that they can afford to loose a £630 deal! i don't actually remember the name of the company but i would not bother.
Then the vet we have contacted says that it would be difficult for them to execute the pre isolation tasks on time!!!! OK, any other vet in the audience?
we found one close to Mister E house. at this point we are at the end of september and nothing has moved forward. one thing is positive England has been free of Birdflu for way more than 90 days.
We then ask our new vet if they know a pet travel agent? they recommend a company called JET SET PETS http://www.jetsetpets.co.uk/  . Gill is the lady who takes care of it.she is great. They have made the effort to deal with the Unknown route to Tokyo for our pets and came with a very good quote: £439. They have been dealing with our requests in a timely manner. they have provided us with a great service. if you have to take your pet on holiday or like us if you relocate your pet; use them. JET SET PETS.
Finally everything is falling into place. we are the 18th of september and the birds are going to the vet for the 21 days isolation.
I am sure it has been a difficult moment for Mister E and family as we know how charming are these little beings. 
We have a flight booked for the 14th of november and the birds are at the vet. we can celebrate!!!
during the isolation we manage to pay everybody; vet and pet travel agent. this is all done and we are joyfully counting the days prior reunification. the export health certificate has been delivered by the British government on the 12th of november......Champagne!!!! in about 48 hours we will be all together after months waiting! 
It is in the morning of the 13th of november that we had a terrifying news. we are 40 hours prior take off everything is ready. A case of bird flu has been declared in the UK. of course some test have to be performed and we don't know yet. if it is a low pathogenic strain of the H5 virus; it will be OK. we hope, we are on the phone to the Japanese government . they will let us know as soon as possible.
We are playing with time here; if they make a decision whilst the birds are flying; they will have to accept the birds. there is hope.
we are on the 14th of november, 15 hours prior take-off, the results of the tests confirm the highly pathogenic strain of the H5. disaster! by then the Japanese government has not taken any positions. 
It is 11 hours prior to take-off that we receive a call saying that all bird import has been suspended with no negotiation possible. they don't care about the bird being isolated from everything for the last 21 days.
It is all finished.
Our best friends will never come to us. we are extensively sad about this but we take it as : c'est la vie.
We have learnt from this experience that time is important. there is a song saying " what difference a day make?". if you have to do something, don't delay saying it will be fine. do things today, we don't know what tomorrow will be made of.
Just a couple of links for you to know our little friends; you will understand how lovely they are:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHltmUiSbqY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xoo3iar6kZU.
We will love them forever and we know that they have found a good home now.

To Our Chibi chan and Apollo chan
May our love be with you forever.
 

Hi everyone,

long time no see. the turbulent time of moving in a new place and a new job is finally behind me; therefore i can concentrate on telling you all the good stories about Japan. I will talk to you only about the good ones as i have decided not to bother with negative things around here.
So, before i left you i promised to talk to you about rice. Here in the countryside, they get bags of rice weighting thirty kilos each.
The difference is that the rice is not actually white.....or not yet.
In order to get it white you have to take your bag to the small house down the road.

Then when you are there, you have to put the content of your bag into the machine to get you white rice.
but watch the video. i do apologize for the angle but my photograph instincts must have prevailed 

 

So, you see. if I had stayed in Europe i probably would not have known anything about these exciting activities that i can practice here. later today i will talk to you about a festival i went to last weekend.