Learning to play bridge from scratch – Lesson 5

Hello 🌻

I learnt how to respond to the opening bid of 1 of a suite.

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The most important thing is to

To see if you have a 4 card match for your partner’s nominated suit. If you & your partner together has “the magic 8”, you have a fit.
You must respond with 6+ points.

In this case, the points are calculated as HCP + Shortage Points

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To calculate shortage points, you need to look at the non-trump suits

You will get

1 extra point when you have a doubleton
2 extra points when you have a singleton
3 extra points when you have void

Response

Your response will be (opening bid was 1 ♠️)

Pass when your points are 0-5
2 ♠️ when your points are 6-9
3 ♠️ when your points are 10-12
4 ♠️ when your lints are 13+

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This must be boring if you are not interested in bridge, but it really helps me when I write this note!! Yes, bridge is so much fun💕

My happy samurai life in London 💫

Hinata

Cute gym outfit that covers my bum nicely

Hello 🌻

Skirt leggings are the answer for my exercise outfit as they look cute & cover the bum nicely as well 😀

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I exercise twice a week. I swim once & do a ballet (barre) exercise once. This outfit is great for my ballet exercise.

I used to wear a regular sports leggings, but I felt like hiding my bum a bit, so I bought these online. They are Adidas tennis range.

Some skirt leggings are not suitable for ballet movements as they make the skirt too tight. This one is great. They don’t restrict any movement, but still cover what I want to cover😉

Tops are what I already had at home. Both from UNIQLO. The strong pink colour of the camisole bra top is a nice contrast with the black. My trainers happened to have a bit of this pink too, so they match nicely.

This is the only set of the gym clothes that I own. Since I only exercise twice a week, this is enough for me. My policy is not to buy things unnecessarily.

Exercise becomes more fun when you are wearing something you like!

My happy samurai life in London 💫

Can I get away with wearing a mini skirt?

Hello🌻

So can I?? I’m in my late 40s… Can I get away with it???

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I will not be able to wear it in few years time, so if I want to, I have to wear it now!!

So I tried.

I guess, I shouldn’t expose too much so tights & long boots are must.

Maybe OK… Better than I expected, I think.

But going up & down the stairs at the tube station, I might want to wear something on top, so I tried this.

This is actually pretty good. You can tell that it’s a mini skirt from the front, but the back is not too obvious

This long cardigan from Banana Republic is so useful. Makes me look taller, and I really love the lean effect that it can give. I I bought it either last year. or the year before.

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Anyway, my friend gave me a nice compliment. It gave me a ✨ feeling.

This was an another item from Shein UK. Only £8.99. How could I resist?

Shein UK

Of course, I can’t wear it like how the model is wearing as it will not look right on me. But it doesn’t really matter. If you want to wear something, just wear it!! Just need to be a bit creative with it. So uplifting to wear something you like😀

My happy samurai life in London💫

Hinata

Can Casoda remove Seborrheic Keratosis? Update☀️１

Hello🌻

I have decided to remove my seborrheic keratosis(SB)using Casoda.

Can Casoda remove seborrheic keratosis?

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It’s been 3 days, so I want to give you an update!

I have been putting Casoda on my SB every morning & evening after the shower. I found the normal plasters too big, so I started using these small ones.

I found making Casoda very easy. Putting it on & plastering it takes less than one minute – not as fiddly as I expected.

After 3 days, it seem to be getting a bit drier & itchy.

I’m not sure whether that’s what is supposed to happen, but having a small plaster on helps me not to scratch the part, so good.

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I will keep going for 2-3 weeks to see what happens.

More updates to follow….

My happy samurai life in London💫

Hinata

Learning to play bridge from scratch – Lesson 4

Hello 🌻

Today, we learnt how to open a bid of 1 of a suit. Yes, another session for the bidding!

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We open the bid with 1 of a suit when the cards are

Unbalanced or
Balanced but too strong (15-19 High Card Point)

To know what “Balanced Cards” mean, refer to my Lesson 2 blog https://samuraihinata.home.blog/2019/02/14/learning-to-play-bridge-from-scratch-lesson-2/

We also learnt how to decide which suite to open

Always open your longest suite first (quality of each card doesn’t matter)
When there are 2 suites of equal length (4-4, 5-5 & 6-6), open the higher ranking. (ranking goes: ♠️♥️♦️& ♣️)
However if ♠️ & ♥️ are in 4-4, open with 1❤️
With 3 suits of equal length, open the suit below the singleton

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Apparently, we just need to memorise these rules for now & they will make sense at later point.

If a hand is more than 20+points, then you are too strong to open with a bid of 1 of a suite. This will be taught in a later lesson.

It is starting to get a little complicated, but quite exciting😉

Can’t wait for my next lesson.

My happy samurai life in London💫

Spring is here🌸　Let’s wear a blouse

Hello🌻

Spring is here in London!! Well, for now…

Today, I decided to ditch my winter jumper and wore a blouse.

This is my spring purchase from Shein UK. https://www.shein.co.uk/Leopard-Print-Ruffle-Trim-Top-p-636981-cat-1733.html

What I love about this blouse❤️

Softness of the fabric
Shape of the sleeves
Combination of the leopard pattern & ruffle trim collar
No need to iron (very important!)

The jacket is from J Crew. I’m sure it is over 5years old.

I love the gold buttons.

Jeans are old too. Must be around 6 – 7 years old. I got them from Prada outlet store. I will need a new pair though😅

If wearing heels are too uncomfortable… trainers. Brown Hogan may be a bit too autumn like 🍁

White adidas is more suitable for this season. I love the gold lines on the side.

The bag is always the same one …. from banana republic. The one & only😉

The spring is here💫

Hinata

Can Casoda remove Seborrheic Keratosis?

Hello🌻

I decided to try removing my seborrheic Keratosis using “casoda”

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I started getting some brown spots on my skin, both on my face & the body😢 Considering my age (around 50), maybe it is not surprising, but I want to do something about it.

I asked a skin specialist about it & I was told…

“This is a skin growth, not spots. It often happens in older adult”

I googled in Japanese and it said exactly the same thing. They actually call it “old people’s skin growth💦” Very direct name compared to “older adult”

There are several treatment options such as laser or freezing with liquid nitrogen. Whatever it is, sounds scary…..

I decided to try a natural treatment at home first. When I googled in Japanese, many people recommended using Casoda.

It is basically made of Caster Oil & Bicarbonate of soda. You just need to mix them (2:1 portion of caster oil & bicarbonate). So I bought, a bottle of caster oil.

Bicarbonate of Soda that I had in my kitchen.

All you need to do is to put a bit of the mixture on your keratosis & put a band aid over it. They recommend to do it after a bath at night before going to bed. Continue doing it for 2-3 weeks, and keratosis falls off, apparently.

Really??? That easy??? I’m not really sure about it, but I’ve got nothing to lose, so I’m going to try it😉

I’m too scared to do it on my face, so I’ll try on the one on my tummy (sorry for the photo – not very pretty, but you can see the brown keratosis).

I wonder what is going to happen, but I’ll give you an update…

My samurai life in London💫

Hinata

Let’s massage your grumpy children

Hello🌻

I have two teenage children (actually one is not quite but almost a teenager), and communicating with them can be a real challenge. They are moody & grumpy💢 It is so annoying, really.

I don’t know how a wise mother deal with this problem, but for me food & massage can be a real saviour😉 There are some dishes that my children really love so that can get them to smile. The only problem is that I can’t keep feeding them the same thing or I don’t always have the time to cook.

What alway woks is giving them a massage though☀️ Just a simple 5 minutes head or hand massage or even foot massage as long as they had a good bath & don’t smell. I love getting a massage myself, so I started giving my children a quick massage once in a while when they were about 9-10 years old. I call it a massage, but it basically is just rubbing with a bit of pressure, nothing professional.

My children love it💖 On average, I give them a massage once a week. I offer it to them right before they go to bed. They always always say “yes!” to that no matter how grumpy or tired they are, and it is such a great way to communicate with them. We sometimes talk or we don’t but it really doesn’t matter. I can tell that they are so relaxed and happy by the end of it.

I’m so glad that I started doing it when they are a bit younger so that they don’t feel weird about their mum touching their head, feet etc. It is quite natural for them. It is great especially for my daughter as her study pressure has increased this year, and I feel like I have a tool to help her rather than to annoy her all the time💦 I’m not sure if my son will still let me touch his head in 1-2 years time, but I intend to keep going as long as he is happy.

Trying have a conversation with a teenager is hard, so don’t bother, just give them a quick massage🌈 They might give you a smile at the end.

My happy samurai life in London💫

Hinata

Fortnum&Mason made me laugh

Hello🌻

I bought some macaroons & teas from F&M yesterday…

& found this crazy thing. I had to buy it!!

Asparagus shaped chocolate. What is this‼️

They were displayed in the Easter Eggs section. Why is that??? Does asparagus have something to do with the Easter???

They are so weird, but I could not resist. Too weird to ignore. So I bought them.

£17/bag. Way to expensive💦 but I wanted it.

The label says “Hand painted asparagus”. Is it really???

My husband’s birthday is next month, so I decided to give it to him for his birthday. I wonder if he will like it😉 Even if he doesn’t, he is too English to say what he really thinks so I’m sure he will pretend to like it at least – so no problem. I just won’t tell him the price.

Fortnum & Mason made me 😆 I guess that is not a bad thing.

My happy samurai life in London💫

Hinata

The best Macaroons in London is Fortnum&Mason💕

Hello🌻

It was another beautiful day in London so I went wondering around the town with the children☀️

We first went to Ippudo in Charing Cross for Ramen noodle. Their Tonkotsu Ramen is so good – feels like I’m back in Japan. But it cost three times as much as Japan💦 Oh well, this is London for you.

We strolled up to Piccadilly Circus and went to Fortnum & Mason. I love love love F&M❤️ Yes, Japanese loves that shop.

Today, we were after their macaroons (or macarons??? I never know which is correct). I love the box too.

There are other famous macaroons shops like Laduree from Paris, but I personally think F&M ones are the best!! Prices are similar (F&M may be just slightly cheaper…)

Nobody ever really talk about the macaroons from F&M, and I always wondered why?? F&M counter has macaroons & chocolates, and they are both really really good✨

They have regular flavours like chocolate & pistachio, but that’s a bit boring… Slightly unusual ones are so much better & more fun.

Our family favourite is Creme Brulee flavour. Its sweetness is just right and creamy… soooo good💖

My personal favourite is Earl Grey flavour. I love the colour green with gold flakes on top. F&M is famous for its teas after all😉

They have interesting flavours like apple 🍏 They are always introducing new seasonal flavours which is fun!

Today, we got a box of 12.

It cost £22, so not cheap…. that’s why I don’t buy them so often.

But whenever I buy them, my family goes “Wow‼️” so I get them once every few months. We all love it.

We are going to have them tonight🌈

My happy samurai life in London💫

Hinata