October 25, 2015

Sunday - Cloudy, rainy and sunny at times.  Windy.

A nice weekend. 

F and I came back from Yamagata City today.  We went there yesterday to go to the wedding ceremony of F’s niece.  We left here on Saturday morning, picking up F’s mother and drove to Yamagata.  We made good time and even had a chance to stop and have a break.  

At Sagae rest stop.  All dolled up!

When we got to Yamagata, we dropped F’s Mum off at the wedding venue and then drove to our hotel to check in and park the car.  That done, we walked back to the station and went to the hotel that the wedding was at.

Not the bride or groom this time.  Whew!

We had a lovely time.  There were some funny parts, but not really intentionally funny I think.  At one part, the two families were being officially introduced to each other and the person introducing me couldn’t think of how to say my name so it was a bit like he forgot it! F’s mother misplaced her jacket and we had the staff search for it, but it did turn up, probably where she left it.  

The bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome, the food amazing and the speeches were thankfully not too long.  In short, we had a great time.  

After the wedding, we had to see F’s mother off on the bus home, which took a while, then we walked back to our hotel to change our clothes.  I was dying to take off my shoes.  It was the first time that I wore them and they hurt my right foot in a couple of places.  I was so happy to be in a casual t-shirt, pants, and runners afterwards.  

I had the hot tea.  The fruit floating on top was amazing!

We popped out to Starbucks for a bit and tried their fruit tea which was lovely. We walked back to get a few munchies near the hotel and bumped into F’s sister and other niece.  We said a quick hello and goodbye and then off they went.

We got a movie card for the room and watched Big Eyes which was okay, but not terrific.  I liked quite a bit of it though. We went to bed fairly early.

I woke up at 4:00am to watch part of a memorial service for my ex-boss from college.  However,  I was trying to watch on my iPhone, it was late and the picture was so small that after about 30 minutes, I gave up on it.  I probably should have put on my glasses and sat up, but F was sleeping in the same bed, so it was hard to do that.  

This morning, we had a light breakfast in the hotel and then drove out to Kaminoyama to the new Costco.  I had signed up on-line, so we had to pay and show our ID, plus get our pictures taken.  After that, we were free to shop!

It was F’s first time in a Costco and I think he was a bit amazed.  He looked a bit dazed going through the place.  I enjoyed it however and we ended up with a bit of stuff that should be quite useful. We got some new sheets for winter, some new kitchen towels and some new hand towels for the bathroom, amongst other things.  We also got a bit of food.  I’m looking forward to some raspberries, some bagels and some sharp cheddar, amongst other things.  We couldn’t buy too much today as we didn’t take a cooler with us.  

Once out of Costco, with the car loaded up, we drove back into Yamagata and had lunch.  F chose a soba restaurant for lunch, but that was closed, so then he picked a yakiniku buffet place.  That was a good choice as they had all kinds of food and some really interesting teas in the drink bar.  My favourites were the blackcurrant and the organic green tea with mint.  Yum.

After lunch, we started the long trip home.  We stopped for postcards in Cherry Land and once along the way to take pictures of the trees but made good time.
We stopped here, but all through the mountains was
amazingly beautiful.

When we got home we unloaded the car and then vegged for a while.  We went for dinner to Nagomi and had soba.  While we were there, we were each given a type of sushi which was a nice surprise.  

We did some shopping in both the drugstore and the supermarket and then came home.  We had a lovely quiet evening at home.  


And that was that.  The two days passed quite quickly.  Up next I have to start my Journal column and start incorporating the things we bought into our daily life.  Come back soon and find out how that goes!  Until tomorrow….

6 comments:

Ryutaro Namazaki said...

You tell things well. I was nodding at the end, thinking what a nice day she had.

That brilliant autumn foliage at the end capped it. Glad you enjoyed your weekend!

Helen said...

Thank you!

Rosa said...

That blue is your color! It really suits your fair skin. Isn't it nice to get all dressed up from time to time? (F. kinda looks like an old-school movie mobster in that sharp suit and tie. LOL!)

Yay, Costco! I think it's worth having a membership, even if it is a slog to get to one. If you can order online, they also have free shipping, too. (Honest I don't own stock in Costco!)

Helen said...

Thanks! It is sort of a blue-green, it looks more green in the light, but I love it.
It was nice to get dressed up, just wish the shoes were more comfortable! I'm not sure I'll tell F that he looks like a mobster :-), but I know what you mean.

I hope so about Costco! I think F was so overwhelmed, and from what I hear, the one we went to wasn't even that busy! Next time I think we'll have more of a plan about what we get, although I think we did quite well for a first time.
I was a bit overwhelmed too, although I have been in one before so was more prepared for it.

I'm not sure if the ones in Japan do have delivery or not. There are services however that let you order from Costco and they will deliver the goods to us. I've never used them however.

As always, thanks for visiting :-)

Unknown said...

You look gorgeous on that dress. F looked very smart too. A lovely post.

Helen said...

Thank you! I really like the dress and the cardigan to wear with it. It is a comfy dress really, maybe too hot for summer though.

I'll tell F that you thought he looked smart, he'll be pleased :-)