Jeanna @ The Dish asked me if I had a chance to try the Prickel Pits that she sent along with all the other candies from the evilbottomlessbagofsugar (from the All Candy Expo).

Embarrassingly, it has taken us forever to finish Little One's nursery. We found out I was pregnant last Spring and we started planning the baby's room then. The baby's room is now furnished with a beautiful crib I received at the baby shower (Mrs. Hollywood threw for me) that I wasn't able to attend because I was on hospital bed rest for my second trimester of the pregnancy. All of the ladies on my Mom's side of the family (aunts, cousins, cousins' girlfriends, cousins' wives, etc) pitched in and got us a beautiful crib that turns into a toddler bed and then later on, a single bed. I'm a frugal practical gal and like the idea of Little One being able to use the crib as a toddler bed later on.

Anyway, Little One is now five months old and her room has just been completed. In our defense, she was born almost three months early, I was on hospital bed rest for weeeeeeeeks before she was born, our house was undergoing renovations and Little One and I spent two months in Toronto while she was in the NICU at Mount Sinai Hospital.

I was on MSN with one of my ESL students in Japan last night. He needed help with an essay. Don't worry, I've already asked my student if I could blog about this and he thought it would be pretty funny!

I had just finished editing his essay and we were just chatting about how he was doing with school, work, life, etc.

Me: What's new where you are?
Hiroyuki: I was played a tennis last day.
Me: Oh! You played tennis yesterday? I didn't know you play tennis!
Hiro: Oh. Yeah. I played tennis yesterday. I've played tennis for I was teenager.
Me: That's great! I love tennis. Did you win?
Hiro: No. Shunsuke kicked me inside my @$$!!!
Me: (chuckling) Oh! He "kicked your @$$".
Hiro: I'm sorry. I mistaked.
Me: It's easy to mix things up sometimes. English idioms, slang, colloquialisms and phrasal verbs aren't always easy.
Hiro: Thank you for your helping. Oh! I mean thank you for your help!

I don't usually teach slang to my ESL students, but they often feel it is necessary (especially when they are conversing with other English speakers in "every day English" or when they're watching a movie or TV show). I forwarded this to Hiroyuki:

kick @$$
verb (inf=to kick @$$, kicks @$$, kicking @$$, kicked @$$, kicked @$$)

1. (context, US, slang, idiom) To be very impressive.

The Mega Man X soundtrack really kicks @$$!

1. (context, US, slang, idiom) To beat someone at something.

You will kick his @$$ at tennis!

1. (context, US, slang, vulgar) To beat someone in a fight.

You will kick his @$$!

I thought it was pretty funny that I had this conversation with Hiroyuki and discovered that I am the lucky recipient of this award:

Me? A kick @$$ blogger??? Autumn's Mom thinks so! :) Thank you, Autumn's Mom! I think you're pretty awesome yourself! For those of you who haven't checked her out yet, AM is one of the coolest chiquitas on the net. She's a great mom and she has an amazing sense of humour. She also recently got married to the man of her dreams.

I am supposed to share this award with 5 bloggers I think are kick @$$ too. Since AM already tagged J, Ms.Mamma, and Starshine, I guess I can't pass on the award to them. So many great blogs and great bloggers out there! It's tough to choose just 5!

How could I not pass this award onto Jeanna?! She has a wicked sense of humour. Her posts always crack me up. She is witty beyond compare. She also posts the most amazing photos of...CANDY!!! Jeanna's also got a heart of gold. I love this gal!

Uncivil is another kick @$$ blogger! Though he hasn't been posting much these days, his posts and comments always make me laugh. He wants you to think that he is uncivil, but he really is a big softy! xo

Although I'm not sure if Diesel digs the awards thing, I'm passing this onto him. Diesel is quite possibly one of the funniest people you'll ever read. Always funny, and often controversial to some (errr...to those who get offended easily, that is! I recall one reader getting upset with the idea of grown-ups paying teenagers to dig trenches for work. Isn't that what working is though? You do the work and people pay you!), Diesel's blog is worth checking out. Now, since I'm talking about the man himself...Diesel also has a book out. Check it out!

Don Mills Diva always writes a great post. She is another kick @$$ blogger. She's a mom, she's a wife, she's a writer, she's a diva...and she is super cool and super savvy. I really enjoy Don Mills Diva's posts. She has a gift for writing. Go ahead and see for yourself!

KarenMEG is another really cool gal. If you think she's awesome in the blog world, then she'll knock your socks off IRL! She is a firecracker! She's cool, hip, and really, really funny! I love this gal!

Why am I so excited? I'll tell you why! Hubby and I met with my OB-GYN yesterday and everything is looking really good with regard to the baby. We are 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant today.

What's even better is that for the past few days, I have been feeling amazing! A little bit of nausea occasionally, but no more vomiting!!! My energy level seems to have gotten a boost and I'm feeling really, really good! I guess hearing the baby's heartbeat was also an added bonus!

The weather has been absolutely wonderful. It's beautiful out! It's sunny and hot...and perfect weather for taking the pooch for a run on the beach! I'm also very excited because I finally got Chance groomed! It took me four days to brush him out and get all the matted hair and burrs out of his coat. FOUR days!!! If you have ever met Chance, you would know that he is one very hairy doggy! I was able to give him a bit of a trim, but was a bit miffed when he wouldn't let me cut the hair near his bum! Yeah, I know that sounds really gross, but if you have a dog with long hair, you'd understand why I want to groom his posterior! He looks like a brand new doggy!

Lotus, you will be very impressed with me! Though I didn't do as amazing a job as the professional dog groomers do, but with saving $100 on a groomer's visit, I think I did okay. I did MUCH better than last year! Remember how pitiful Chance looked when I practically made him naked from that last haircut? Poor doggy! Surprisingly, he still loves me.

Yet another reason for my excitement? I received a package in the mail from my wonderful, amazing, very cool friend Canine!I was really surprised when I opened up the package! Upon picking it up at the post office, I could smell the aroma of mango and other tropical fruits. What smelled so good were the creams and lotions she sent me. She even packed some amazing candles that smell like strawberry-rhubarb! Remember a while ago, I posted about strawberry-rhubarb desserts? The candles totally made me think of that post! I've been craving strawberries my entire first trimester. In fact, strawberries are among the few things I could eat without getting sick. I've eaten so many strawberries in the past three months!

Canine and I once chatted about things that almost every Filipino family has in their household. Among these items are giant wooden forks and spoons and the Barrel Man. My parents had one at their house but since they moved, they have no idea where it is. Canine so thoughtfully sent one over. We've got to get my husband educated in the Filipino culture!
A while ago, I was admiring Canine's super cute Chococat compact. I was shocked to find my very own Chococat compact in the box of goodies from Canine.
Thank you sooooooo much for always thinking of me, Canine. You are so thoughtful. I love the card and the earrings you made for me too. XOXO

One last reason for my excitement? I don't have to cook tonight! On my way home from running errands and getting other stuff done, I swung by my parents' place. Dad wanted to show me some of the new Day Lilies he cross-pollinated and said that I could have some for my garden. While I was there, Dad invited us over for supper tonight. He's making General Tao Chicken! Woo hoo!
General Tao Chicken is also known as "General Tso Chicken" or "General Tsao Chicken".

It's been a while since I have posted an Engrish post! I was going through my clothes and putting away things I will not be able to wear in the next few months when my baby bump begins to show (and later on, when I become huge)! I came across a shirt I bought in Japan that made me laugh so much I just had to buy it.

I don't think I've ever worn the shirt, but the Engrish writing was just too amazing for me to not buy it. I found the next few photos via Google Images. When I was in Japan, I got a kick out of going shopping because the Engrish used to just blow me away. It was always so much fun finding all kinds of neat items in the stores, but it was the English descriptions that got me!

One of my favourite snacks in Japan was a cookie-type snack called Collon (by Glico). I just thought it was really funny that the company would choose to name a product after a part of the human anatomy. Too funny! The chocolate-filled cookies were good though...if you can get past the "collon" part! :)
Some of the American, Kiwi, and Aussie teachers I worked with used to drink this thing called "Pocari Sweat". Just the word "sweat" associated with something one would drink just turned me off. I think it took me an entire year to muster up the courage to try the drink! It wasn't really that bad. It sort of tasted like grapefruit. The drink is supposed to make one feel fresh and relaxed. I guess it can be likened to something along the lines of "Gatorade" or other sports drinks.Another drink that made me chuckle the first time I heard of it is "Calpis". When some of my students ordered Calpis at a restaurant one evening, I thought I heard them say that they wanted to drink "Cow Piss"! I immediately started laughing and was faced with a bunch of blank looks. I had to explain that I thought they had said "cow piss" and then I had to explain what "cow piss" was...and all of a sudden, it wasn't funny anymore.

Calpis Soda did turn out to be one of my favourite drinks in Japan. It is excellent as a mixer for cocktails and Chuhai.

Scene: Enter C with a big box from the post office. C sets the box on the dining room table. She excitedly opens the box to reveal a colourful assortment of Japanese snacks and Filipino spices/mixes, as well as a card, soap and a CD.
Hubby: So where is this one from?
C: From Canine in _________! OMG! She's awesome! Look at all this cool stuff! Look at all the Pocky! Men's Pocky, Strawberry Pocky...almost EVERY kind of Pocky conceivable! I'm in Pocky heaven!!!Hello Panda chocolate-filled cookies. "New Sports Printing"
Oh, and notice the Collon in the background? Gotta love it!
Kasugai's Gummy has the taste of orange juice and comes in an attractive small bag.
I don't know where the name "Black Black" came from.
Everybody needs to have a Crunky Walking Bar!!! Do you think crunky is a little bit like "crunchy"??? Do we eat these chocolate bars when we go walking or do these bars actually walk?

Thursdays are usually inspired by Sharon, Audrey and Jane's Throwback Thursdays. This week, I decided to give a big shout out to a few people. I'll post my next Throwback Thursday next week.

Canine, THANK YOU for all the wonderful things you sent us. Opening that box made me feel like I was back in Japan! A lot of my favourite Japanese snacks were in there! I felt like a kid at Christmas! Can I tell you how thrilled I was??? Some of the items in the box filled me with memories of my life teaching and living in Japan. Some of the items just made me laugh. You know how much I love Engrish!!!

Canine, you have the coolest taste in music, food, movies...and you are a true pop culture aficionado! One last thing I must say about Canine is that she's got some mad packing skillzzz! If you need to send a care package to anywhere in the world, you need to get Canine to pack it for you. I was shocked to see how on earth she got all those things in that one box! Impressed? Yes!

Uncivil, THANKS for sending my that adorable poster collection of bulldog love. What a surprise! The one that says "Scholar" is too cute! Thank you for the really thoughtful post and for saying that I'm your favourite Canadian blogger and "the sweetest blogger on the Internet"! You are too kind! That post is just as touching as this one from Ms.Mamma!

Seriously, you guys are the best!!! Now I feel like a loser for sending you guys SOAP!!!

with Engrish!!!

My student brought some goodies from her country. As you know, I love anything with Engrish on it. Here we have some chocolate cookies that are only for girls. LOL!

"Choco Thin Thin--Slim style chocolate for girls. The smile will make happy and joyful time."
Here's a t-shirt she was wearing. I just love the writing on the shirt! I'm assuming it is supposed to read: "We can't be unaware of the evils in the world", but de unaware is just more fun!
Okay, so I have an odd sense of humour and find hours of laughter in the written word. *sigh*

1) You get a kick out of Engrish and laugh for hours about a funny sentence or word.

2) You can understand your students when no one else can :)

3) You love doing grammar activities with your students!

4) One of your favourite websites is http://www.engrish.com/. (Photo from engrish.com)

5) Your dreams are filled with dipthongs and dangling modifiers.

6) You know that "iJa Ja Ja!" means "Ha ha ha!" in Spanish, "Chusok" is Korean Thanksgiving, "Ohanami" is the Japanese cherry blossom festival and "Caipirinha" is Brazil's national cocktail.

7) You keep a book of all your favourite quotes from students.

8) Your students are some of the most important people to you.

I actually do have a book of quotes from students. I take out the book and read some passages when I need a pick-me-up :) Some of the quotes are so endearing and just so sweet. Take for example:

*"I love to eat octopus balls." *"I hate he!" *"Time flies like arrow."

*"I am confusion." *"I like to play with my boyfriend on weekends."

Umm..yeah. I know I have a sick sense of humour! LOL You gotta love that Engrish!!!

You've gotta love it! The above photos were taken from www.engrish.com . It's a site I peruse whenever I need a good chuckle! I must have a terribly warped sense of humour because I practically make myself pee in my pants laughing. When I was teaching overseas, I used to take pleasure in going to stores just to look at all the merchandise so I could show or tell folks back in Canada! Ohhhhhhhh...all the delightful things I saw (and had to buy!!) that just tickled me pink! I absolutely love 'Engrish'. Some of the things people come up with...LOL You've gotta see it to believe it! :)