April 22, 2013


Monday - Sunny and warm, windy

A good day.  I got up this morning under protest!  I was in Sendai, in our hotel and I was finally sleeping well.  Still, checkout was early, so I decided that I had to go for breakfast with F.  

We ate, and then met up with our friend and discussed what to do.  We decided that we'd drive to the shopping area down town and separate for a bit.  F and I went back upstairs to finish gathering our stuff and our friend continued walking with her little one.  

We checked out and met up with N.  She decided that since her baby was asleep, she'd keep him that way, and would walk to the station area, while F and I would drive the car over there and park, and do some shopping for us.  That was the plan, so we went with it.  F and I finally found some convenient parking, and then we did our shopping.  I got a book and a magazine, plus a lot of postcards.  Yay.  

We met up with N again, and went back to the station.  We had lunch in our favourite gyutan restaurant and little M was very good, for a very long time.  After lunch, we walked through the station where I bought gotochi cards for Miyagi and mailed off a card.  

We finished up by having a last Starbucks before we hit the road.  Because of the shopping we'd done, we didn't have to pay much for parking, so that was nice.  We headed out onto the highway, and made good time for home.

Unlike the trip to Sendai, the roads were clear and not busy.  There was no snow on the road and as the weather was great we didn't have the same worries we did on the way there.  All of us except F (of course!) had mini naps along the way.  We came back to our apartment, N and F transferred the baby seat back to his mum's car and they headed off to their home.  

 F and I relaxed for a while, I checked email and such, and dozed a little at my computer.  Around 9 we headed out for dinner.  I let F go to his local Chinese restaurant and we found that they had a new set that made me happy. I could have 4 dishes for 1050 yen.  Two half portions of main dishes, plus a side and a dessert.  That was nice!  F had ramen, while I had chicken and a veggie stir-fry.  

We came home and I put together a loaf of bread for the morning.  I'm making the herb bread again.  I added a little more herb this time, so we'll see if it'll work.  

That was about it.  I finished the scarf that I was (re)making for F on Saturday just before our trip, so I worked on my next UP (unfinished project).  As I thought, the size wasn't great, but I think it'll do.  And that was that.  F went to bed a little while ago, and I'll try and get there soon too.

We had a lovely time.  Yesterday when we left Tsuruoka it was pouring here, but practically blizzarding in the mountains. It was horrible.  However, due to F's driving and the good highway, we made it to Sendai in time to see meet everyone.  I was quite amazed to see that so many buildings I knew have been either knocked down, or completely renovated in Sendai. It's a little shocking!

The five ladies from Tohoku who could come did, and we had a lovely meal in the Indian restaurant.  The food was good, the company was better, and it was nice to meet our newer members to the area.

After lunch, some ladies wanted to shop, but sadly M wasn't interested, so we split up.  N & I met up with F and went to our hotel.  We checked in and then decided that we wouldn't get together in the evening.  

F and I walked to the other side of the station and did some shopping.  I found the now rebuilt E.Beans and found the Junkudo and their English book section.  I picked up 3 books that I "had to have" and will enjoy reading them over the next while. I bought a lot of postcards for postcrossing, and then we finished the night off with a lovely tea latte at Starbucks.

We went back to the hotel and watched Rock of Ages on the in-house movie system. It was fun, but being in a hotel I couldn't blast the music the way it deserved to be!  It was quite adult, more than I expected.  Tom Cruise was quite good as a Bret Michaels wannabe, and showed that he can sing too.  I'd like to see it again because I'm like that, not sure if other people would want to bother.

And that's about it.  It was a great trip and we all enjoyed ourselves.  Tomorrow I'm back to work and my week begins.  Night.

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