Half the year is gone! How has 2016 been to you so far?
For me, days are happy and fulfilling and I’m constantly doing and learning new things. I feel alive! :D And a mid-point check at my 2016 goals also indicate I’m well on track! I just need to play more. Lol. And drink more water. Omg, this one is just so difficult. My body inherently craves very little water so I don’t remember or care to drink. I might need to hire someone just to force feed me water o_O
I’m also very into sewing now, so I’m making headway in the “be moderate and focus” goal! :D
At the moment I can think of only 3 things that would make things even better:
1. A bigger place
Do you know how much space a sewing machine, ironing board, A2 cutting board, pattern-making and cloth-cutting takes up??? THAT’S RIGHT. SPACE THAT I DON’T HAVE. I can’t even use the floor cause Milk Tea will come and kaypoh -_-
Also, more space for the 3 of us, as it’s been a bit of a squeeze for some time now.
2. The energy and focus to blog more
I feel guilty sometimes for not writing, but then my inner voice is all “Haiyah, not like there are people waiting for you to update anyway” and I put it off. And the more I put it off, the easier it becomes to continue doing it the next day. And the next.
It’s not that I have nothing to write about (lots actually!) but that there are so many other things I can do instead that are bring me a lot more joy…
BUUUUT. July is a special month – 2 birthdays in this household! – so to commemorate this month, I’ll put in super duper extra effort to write more. I CAN DO THIS. *flex biceps*
3. Striking the lottery
What? One can hope!!! And while we’re at it, first or second prize please.
— —
Back to the title of the post, I closed out the last day of the first half of 2016 memorably.
I was out grocery shopping and was about to head home when I saw Fu’s message that he’s also just reached the station. I swiftly drove over from the supermarket and went into a roundabout just before entering the path to the station.
I glanced at the backview mirror and my stomach dropped.
There was a police car behind me.
And police cars do not patrol all the way into the station.
I tried to ignore it (don’t make eye contact and it’ll go away, right?) and as I stopped the car to let Fu in, a policeman ran up and rapped on my window.
DAMNITTTTTTTTT.
I lowered the window and was still holding out hope that maybe he just wanted to tell me that there’s a piece of newspaper stuck to my trunk or something. No such luck, sigh.
He told me I violated traffic rules because I didn’t stop at the roundabout :( I feebly tried to argue that I did slow down. I really did! Briefly…
But apparently it was way too brief because he said I was going at least 20km/h. Sigh.
Honestly though, Japan’s roads are pretty badly structured and has COUNTLESS stop signs. If everybody stopped at every single one, nobody would ever get anywhere.
It’s really down to luck. I just have to be extra careful, especially during month end since they’re probably try to meet their quota or something -_-
And because Fu treats every encounter with the police as if it’s some kind of consultation session (see his own session here), he also asked if we get caught a second time, is it the same price? Yes.
No matter how many times, is it the same price? Yes.
OY, HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU PLANNING TO GET FINED?!!
And Fu continued with his questioning barrage and asked what constitutes “stopping”? Zero km/h? The policeman said “If possible, zero is best.” Then Fu replied “If not possible?” LOL. This boy is like a 問題児. So many questions!!! The policeman laughed and said “If it’s 1 or 2km/h, we’re not going to stop you.”
They thumb-printed me for the document, gave me a tissue to clean my inked finger, and even took back the tissue to dispose of it. A+ service or what?
There’s my ticket there. First ever. Whee. And I don’t have any new offences in the next 3 months, then the 2 points deducted will be put back, good as new. The 7,000 yen won’t come back though.
I’ll say this though, this was what Fu told me afterwards: When you did that turn into the station, I thought, “Wah! So 帅 (cool)!”
Wanna look suave? The price is just $70. *flips hair back and speeds into the sunset*
*gets slapped with a second fine. by the same policeman.*
