Who Will Become My Husband??? :P

You know what girls around this age talk about when they meet after a long while? It's about work, private life...especially marriage! However I really don't feel I'm mature enough to get married; I still feel like I'm just a girl...I like playing around, shopping, want to be pretty...I'm sometimes irresponsible, feel like I'm thinking only about myself, and regret about it again and again...lol. So, I'm still just a girl. But talking about such a topic is fun. Actually, when I met some of my uni friends the other day, our conversation came alive with the topic. It is interesting, because when I was a kid, my present age looked so adult and mature, but now, About my friends who are used to be around me haven't got married yet because maybe we are walking kind a similar way (like going to an uni, work...etc.) but there are a lot of girls who already got married and even have a kid however they are younger than me! Living with a guy that you love the most will be so enjoyable but I can't imagine me doing that now. I don't think that I can become a wife or mother yet. There are some reasons.

Firstly, I can't do housework...err, of course I can, but I can't do it efficiently since I don't do it at home. I know I have to do but, you know, living with families makes me feel I don't have to do...Secondly, I can't afford to do other things now. I started working in this year, and don't have any space to care about other people seriously.Although I'm feeling like that now, just talking about our ideal marriage or talking about other people's love is fun. For example, about my ideal.

1. The guy has to be smart in some degree and he has to listen to my opinion and take care about it; I don't want to go out with a guy who pushes just his plan every time.
2. The guy must not be just sweet to me; when I'm doing bad, he shouldn't just spoil me. I want a relationship that both help enhancing each other.
3. The guy has to be serious about relationships; I hate guys who sleep with a lot of girls.
4. The guy has to have a stable job, and earns money enough to do something +α beside our normal life; I don't wanna be busy with just to live day by day).
5. The guy has to let me manage all of the money of us; of course I won't waste it!
6. The guy and I have to have a similar sense about spending money and educating a kid.
7. The guy has to do housework as well; I really don't want a husband who can't even cook.
8. The guy has to take me to a trip a lot since I want to go!

There are much more, lol. Do you think it is a lot? But I think marriage is life, not a goal. So we have to spend time together in the rest life (hopefully..). If it doesn't work well, maybe I have to think about divorce. Of course I haven't experienced it, but such a thing looks troublesome sometimes especially when it involves matters about children and money.

I want to have a stable life. But just being stable will be boring. I also want to have an exciting life sometimes. As a same thing can be said about a bf. Girls want their mind to be peace, on the other hand, they want to have thrilling things (not a big one!) too. Of course it's just my opinion but I think maybe a lot of girls are feeling like that. So we want a nice bf/husband who is not just boring but also being reliable :) Lastly, I'm not interested in a wedding reception as much as other girls. Girls says they want to wear pretty wedding dress and want to be blessed by everybody in their wedding party. But about me, It is okay if I can take a nice picture at a photo studio in a pretty dress. I'd like to go on a trip rather than making such a great party if I have money to spend on a big party. I wonder if someone wants to become a husband of such a weird girl :P~ But I know that myself have to become close to my ideal before requesting a lot of things to my future husband :D

Candies For Throat

I caught a cold recently. When I woke up, I noticed that my throat hurt and my voice sounded strange. I felt like my throat itself was dry in some part, and it was hard to keep breathing for a long while without swallowing my saliva. In such a case, what helps me is のど飴. Most kinds of them have some menthol in it, and eating the candies let our throat keep moisture. So I don't feel uncomfortable while working because I kept eating the candy :P

The two sticks of candies in the picture are my most favorite ones. VC-3000のど飴 is a lemon flavor and the other one 梅のど飴 is ume flavor. I love ume flavor very much. I like drinking ume juice~, eating picked umes, and ume jellies too :) They are so yummy. Ah, you might know, ume onigiris (the rice ball that has a picked ume inside) are so yummy, and you can get them in convenience stores so easily. I heard that it is said, eating a picked ume in the morning is good for the health since it is said that it has 6 good effects.

1. A picked ume helps you with recovering from tiredness.

2. A picked ume prevents you from getting arteriosclerosis.

3. A picked ume removes activated oxygen from your body.

4. A picked ume relieves your constipation.

5. A picked ume removes your hangover.

6. A picked ume prevents you from getting food poisoning.

Thus, a picked ume's so useful. I know that an ume candy doesn't have such effects...but still love it when I get a cold and feel uncomfortable about my throat :P

Hung Around Ueno Park

As I wrote before, I love museums. Last Sunday, I went to National Science Museum in Ueno park with a couple of friends and a girlfriend of one of them. I'd known about the museum since before, but hadn't been there. The museum is much bigger than I expected and there was a lot of things to see. The museum is constructed of two areas, one of them is a Japanese area, and the other part is an Earth area. Since there are a lot of information's in hole of the museum, I looked it was not enough to see everything in a day. I really thought that I can spend whole a day there. I heard that the museum in Toronto that I went before was the 5th biggest museum in the world, but for me, the museum I went was as much great as it. Histories, science, plants, animals...everything was there. The area that amazed me the most is an area in the Earth area where a lot of stuffed animals were. Anyway, I thought the museum was pretty good because it costed only 600yen to enter the museum once however the scale is large. (And if you want to come again in a year, you can buy a year ticket either and it costs only 1,000yen!)

I don't know if there are many travelers' guides that have about places around Ueno park in it, but think that is interesting for foreigners too. There are a lot of museums around there, and some performers too (but maybe there's not as many as in Yoyogi park). And there is a very famous unique shopping street whose name is Ameya-yokocho around there too. On weekends, there are a lot of visitors hanging around there and in evening, you can hear fishmongers or vegetable men yelling for a discount of their items. Of course there are some people yelling from cloth stores, but I bet that they don't discount more than their normal price since the stuffs don't go bad! :P

Thumb Seeking (Seal -3-)

Takeshi was back to his town Koto-ku. It's not a big city, but it doesn't have a lot of nature too. Takeshi likes the town because he has no problem to live there.
The sun is about to go down. A school boy came out from the park with holding a gum ball and ran toward to his mother. Takeshi thought that he would go back home like the parent and child, however he didn't feel like that.
He started walking toward a direction that is different from his home, and he noticed that he was in front of the playground of his old school Nishida elementary school. He noticed that everything was unchanged there and felt nostalgia. Takeshi walked there. The playground was small.
There were some kids playing with a ball centre of the playground. Innocent voices are heard.　In the basket court, there are four kids that seem to be junior high school students. They are moving hard with a ball there. By the court, there are a middle aged guy with a dog, and he tries stopping the dog desperately that wants to jump at the ball. Takeshi smiled looking at those scenes.
There were swings, horizontal bars, and climbing poles. Takeshi sat down on a vaulting horse which was made of a tire. He breathed once, and looked at his old school again. It's almost unchanged, especially about the buildings. What changed is maybe just flower beds were made beside the building. Expect it, nothing has been changed. Hence he remembers about the past without unconsciously.

"What's up? Why did you call me here. Isn't it okay to be the passage?" said Takeshi.
"Yeah...it was better to be the roof though," said Yumi.
It was when Takeshi was the 6th grade. He was called out to the roof by Yumi suddenly. He didn't know why she called him at all.
"Anyway, what's up? Hurry up, or else, the break will finish."
Yumi was in a fluster about the insensitive words, but said self-consciously.
"Sorry, I want to give you something today."
"Something to give me?"
Yumi nodded and put a ring that made of beads from her pocket.
"It's this."
Looking at what he was handed carefully as if he were criticizing it, he moved his mouth.
"What is this? You give me?"
In the centre of it, there were beads shaped a flower.
"I made it with Chie. If the beads circle doesn't break until you get an adult, your any wishes will come true."
"Lies."
"But it was on a book. It really said your wishes really come true."
"I see...but unbelievable."
"It's true! So, take care of it until you get to be an adult."
"O..okay. I see."
He put the ring in his pocket. It was silent for a while. When he was thinking what to say, the chime rang.
"Let's go back to the classroom," said Yumi lastly.
When he came back from his recollection, he saw the sight same as just before. The guy with a dog was gone without Takeshi's notice.
After that, Takeshi checked if his very good friends Tomohiko Igarashi and Yoshida Nobuhisa also got rings from Yumi. Both of them said they didn't. He noticed that Yumi gave only to him. Then he finally got its meaning. Such an experience was the first time to him, so he felt ashamed more than glad at that time. It's not because of it, but he made up his mind to take care of it. After Yumi was gone, the feeling got stronger again.
Takeshi's kept regretting for these 7 years. Why did he do such a thing, why did he do such a thing partly for fun...But it's too late. However he regrets, Yumi won't come back.
Takeshi was looking at the kids playing in the centre of the playground seeing old him and his friends on them. He was seeing themselves. Five of them look happy playing with a ball. Takeshi is there, and of course Yumi too. They are smiling and look joyful. If I could go back at that time...
Tears overflowed. It passed on his cheek smoothly and fell down to the ground.
"Hey you, catch the ball!"
A ball rolled to him and touched his leg. He saw a girl running toward him and got shocked. Maybe it's a hallucination but she looks like Yumi.
Or, he might just have seen Yumi in her.
"Here you are," Takeshi handed the ball to her.
"Thank you."
The girl ran to her friends.
watching at her back, Takeshi put the beads ring out of his pocket.
"Any wishes will come true," He muttered.
"Please come back."
After watching at it for a while, he put it into his pocket again and left his old school with dropping his shoulders.
He walked with heavy steps. He kept looking down and walked slowly. Even little kids overtook him.
He kicked an empty can on the road. He remembers that he had played such a game how far he can bring a can with keeping kicking it. He remembers about the time when he was with Yumi too. How far can he keep kicking the can, he remembers he has done such a game. He remembers memories with Yumi too.
He decided to go to Yumi's house because it's been just 7 years since Yumi was gone. He worried about her mother too.
Arriving at Yumi's home, he ranf the door bell. After a while, Yumi's mother Atsuko came out of the entrance in an apron. She looked that she got old after long while no see; her hair went gray and lines gained.
"Oh, Takeshi, long time no see. Have you been good?" Her gentle and mild tone hasn't changed as before.
"Hello. I apologize for my long silence."
"Yeah, it's really after a long time. Please come in."
Takeshi was called into the house.
"Welcome. So, what's up today? Something happened?"
She spoke to him from her back view, but he couldn't say that because it had been just 7 years since that time.
"Err..it's not because something happened...but..."
"Don't hesitate, you came here because it's been just 7 years since then, right?"
Takeshi didn't have a choice to tell her a lie, so he said yes.
"You are about to turn into your second year at university, and you will celebrate Coming-of -Age day next year."
Takeshi felt her wish from the words if Yumi were here, so it was painful to answer.
"Please sit down there. It's a little bit untidy, but don't care."
Takeshi sat on the soft brown sofa.
"Wait a sec, I'll bringing you some juice right now, or do you prefer coffee better. You've got look mature while I haven't see you."
Takeshi got shy to her words and smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah, but I'll bring you juice, all right?"
"Yes, thank you."
Takeshi tried not to reserve as much as possible. He has visited here a lot when he was a kid, so if he reserves, he will look just stiff. He didn't want to be like that.
"Here you are."
Takeshi received the orange juice that was poured into the glass.
"Thank you."
After taking a sip, he put the glass on the table softly and looked around the room. The room was filled with Yumi's photos. Yumi was smiling in all of those photos. What was sad was, the pictures were completely same things as he visited here last time. It means that, the time has been stopping at that moment.
"It's really been 7 years," dropped Atsuko.
"Yes, it has," answered Takeshi heavily.
"A lot of things happened in these 7 years."
Atsuko's voice sounded tired. When Yumi disappeared, her parents acted for Yumi very hard. They put posters, distributed handbills in front of the station...they did that a lot, almost everyday. However, Yumi wasn't found at all. They even went to TV stations again and again. Maybe Atsuko is reminding of those things.
"I have to say thank you to you too."
"Don't mention it, you don't have to thank me."
Atsuko looked like she was longing old days and said, "You might be the person who worried about her most. Aren't you the person too that was the most close to her?"
Actually, he was. Takeshi was close to Yumi as much as Takada Chie. He's played with just her secretly.
"You used to come here when you were little."
Takeshi reminded about those days and smiled gently.
"I did."
"You played game all together."
"We did a lot of things here."
"Yeah."
There was a momentary pause in the conversation, and the atmosphere went heavy. Takeshi couldn't break the silence.
"I wonder where she disappeared. Probably whe might be..."
"No, absolutely not!"
Atsuko looked shocked with Takeshi's words, but made a gentle smile.
"Yeah, especially I shouldn't say such things."
"Of course, probably she will be still somewhere."
Atsuko nodded again and again without words, and said, "Yes, she is alive."
It sounded like she was telling herself to believe like that with a strong tone.
Atsuko took Takeshi to Yumi's room when he finished drinking juice.
"You haven't seen her for a long while too," said Atsuko opening the door.
"Yes."
Inside of the room wasn't changed at all. Pink colour wall paper, posters of anime characters. The arrangements of stuffed animals. Things on the desk also don't look changed.
"It's been unchanged ever since at that time. For any time she comes back."
"Certainly she will come back."
"Takeshi."
"Yes?"
"Do you still have the thing and taking care of it?"
He didn't need to hear what it was, it was about the beads ring. He's shown the ring to Atsuko when Yumi disappeared.
"Sure I do."
He put it out, and showed Atsuko.
"Please take care of it."
"Definitely." Takeshi nodded strongly.
After that, what he could do is only to cheer her up. It was not a sympathy, rather he felt guilty. Atsuko doesn't know why Yumi disappeared suddenly. Today, the day Yumi disappeared seven years ago, Takeshi and his friends made sure their stories agree.
"Yumi disappeared suddenly when we were playing hide-and-seek."