Happy New Year!

I want to share my New Year’s message with the world. I hope that you will find it invigorating and uplifting. I hope that this message will inspire you and that you will share it with everybody to inspire them.

Happy New Year from Japan! I hope that 2016 will bring you everything that you want, and that you can achieve everything that you set out to do in 2016.

I hope that all you aspiring writers to be/authors to be will be able to publish the book of your dreams, and has it reached the highest success you could possibly imagine. 

To the actors and performers and people in the entertainment industry where I originated from, I hope that you get all the team roles that you want and all the dream jobs out there. I hope that you are able to work continuously throughout the year.

To everybody else who works in different industries. I hope that 2016 things if you success and achievements.

To those without jobs or looking for work I hope that you find the job that you want.
To those fighting in a different country, I hope that you survive and I able to return to your families. To the UK soldiers thank you for what you do and your service to the country.

To the homeless and anybody that I have missed, may I wish you happiness and joy and that you have everything that you want in 2016.

Happy New Year love from Rei Link. 

  

Fever – Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee gave everyone a fever when she sang Fever those many decades ago. Her smooth vocals slide over the song with ease. 

This is a recording of Rei Link practising Fever. Fever was made into a classic by the late great Peggy Lee. Today was the first time for Rei to practise this song. She sends it as a thank you present. Her blog is still small, but the more people read, then the more will be inspired. 

An early Happy New Year. 

Please listen and enjoy. 

 Fever (Peggy Lee)

Merry Christmas

Christmas has arrived. I had to be a Scrooge and cancel my trip to see the person I love in Florida because of immigration making a big mistake and lying to me. 

I would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas! I hope you get what you want from Santa … and that’s a lovely day with the people you love. I certainly wish that to you all.  

To the person I love … I’m sorry I can’t be with you. We never expected this to happen. We will rearrange our holiday again. Merry Christmas. 

 

3 Days Until Christmas

‘Twas the eve before the flight to Florida. An author that goes by the name of Rei Link travelled to Shinagawa. She had to collect her new visa extension. 

It’s cold but clear. The queue for the bus is five miles long. She’s had no breakfast. She might faint. 

She arrives at immigration. Collects her visa. Goes back to the station. Goes to Shinjuku and mails her Christmas presents to the U.K. She then changes yen to USD. 

She then goes to Ogikubo. She works. She runs a Christmas party for toddlers. She prepares for the first week back in January. She leaves the school and goes home. 

She eats. She checks she has everything for her holiday. She checks in online. She celebrates. She showers. She sleeps. It Twas the night before the flight to Florida.  

 

4 Days Until Christmas

  The best thing about work Christmas parties and work new year parties in the U.K. is that it’s optional to attend. In Japan it’s written in as a company rule to attend. It’s nostalgic. 

II’m not a party lover and I despise work parties. I have to socialise with people I don’t consider my friends, whom only have the work colleague status in my life, and whom I know nothing about except for perhaps a dietary requirement or how many dogs they have. The chit chat is idle. That was what yesterday’s party was like. Due to my holiday they moved the party so I had to attend. It was purposely done because I had no choice but to miss the Halloween party. 

I dislike it when the parties fall on the weekend. It makes me feel like I’ve lost a day off. I prefer to keep working life and personal life separate. I prefer to treat my colleagues as my colleagues. I understand that company relationship is good for morale, but it’s only good if you’re not required to attend, but have the option. I suppose Japan is different. They have a strong work ethic. They believe work is more important than personal life and family. 

6 Days Until Christmas

Got the best Christmas present ever! Flights to Florida, a big Christmas bonus, work visa extended, and 10 days holiday with my boyfriend.  

Advice from an author – not everyone will like what you write. So long as you like it, then that’s what really matters. 

 

7 Days Until Christmas

Do you have that turkey or goose yet? Normally in my house in the U.K we put on a huge spread on Christmas Eve. We invite family and friends, and we have a big party! Normally my brothers get blind drunk, and my sister tipsy. My dad can’t drink much, and me and my mum are completely sober. My auntie get so sleepy on the few glasses of Brandy. She doesn’t drink much, but you could say that Brandy was her main vice when she did have a tipple. 

We also cook a lot. Mom had me making canapés one year. That was tedious. She went off to work 

  

  

  

  

  

  and left me with a recipe for a bunch of canapés. I had to make 50 in one day. It was ridiculous! I had no help whatsoever. I also had to make the gingerbread house (which I normally do every year, as I am normally a very creative person) and a cake. That year I decided to make a 3-D snowman cake. She also had me making a low diabetic ginger ale drink.

Monty -my dog – is no help. He either guards the sausages or falls asleep in front of the oven. It means nobody can cook when he does that. 

Nobody wants everyone has arrived we eat and drink and be merry, so to speak. We normally have my cousins children come over, so after everybody has eaten I normally gets out my spinning plates and let the children play with those. For them that’s the real perk of going to this Christmas Eve party. 

This party has happened ever since I was a child. Dad calls it piri-piri night because he likes to make his famous Piri-piri chicken. He makes a normal one and a spicy one. That’s what the adults come to eat really, I guess. 

Last years party was very quiet in comparison to all the at the potties. And actuality, dad actually forgot to give out the invitations. So everybody – that is to say on our friends not including our families – didn’t actually turn up because they had made other arrangements. They thought that the party was not happening last year. 

What do you do for Christmas eve?

Advice from an author number 17 … Or it was 18? I lost count. It must be the Christmas spirit going to my head. My advice is before sending your book to the publisher, make sure you have written your plan, written a first draft, typed up your book, printed it off, proofed it, made changes, add those changes to the manuscript on the computer, make edits big and small, overwrite, ask someone to proof it for you, add in the changes that they have added, crosscheck everything with your plotted plan to make sure you have all the key points in place and all the secondary subplots in place, read through it again and make any more changes that you want and do any rewrites that you need, print of the requirements for the publisher, do any cover letters, and submit your manuscript script.