October 22, 2026

Thursday - Cold and cloudy in Yamagata, Cold in Tsuruoka

Well, I’m back at the house. Why is it that when I came back, I sort of wished that I didn’t come back?

Okay, well, I’m hoping to do this quickly as I’m really tired again and need some sleep. I did get to bed a little earlier last night, so getting up this morning wasn’t as painful as it could be. I went downstairs for breakfast and then came back to the room. I finished packing, got almost everything put away and then had a quick little nap. It was a good idea. 

I left the hotel around 11:00am. That was my check out time. I went over to the station area but it was cold. The rest of the trip I’d been able to just wear my fleecy vest, but today it was windy and I realized that I would need my jacket out of my suitcase. I found a quiet corner and opened my suitcase and took my coat out. Luckily, my coat was easy to get to. I relocked my case and took my suitcase and backpack over to an electronic locker and locked up my stuff. 

Then, I caught a bus to the area of Yamagata that I hadn’t been able to go to yet. I got off the bus and walked back to the Lupicia store and went in. And…I heard angels singing (well, not really) and there was my favourite Christmas tea, finally on sale! Today was the first day!  I bought some Decaf Carol and also picked up one pack of decaf tea of another type. 

I left the store after paying and then walked back to the bus stop and found my bus stop. When the bus came I rode it back to the station. I spent a bit of time wandering around the station building. I had another Rooibos Royal Milk Tea at Tully’s and finished reading my book on my phone. It was really good, but didn’t end quite how I hoped. It was still good though.

I decided that I’d go and have lunch so I went back to Capricchosa for lunch. Today I had their lunch set, so I had steamed chicken and veggies pepperoncino. It was good. I added on the salad and also had drink bar. 

After I finished my meal, it was nearly time to go for my bus. I wasted a little time and then went to get out my suitcase, and my backpack. I bought a small bottle of water and then joined the line to get on the bus. 

When the bus came, I told the driver I had a suitcase and he said something. Turns out someone else had a case too and the driver had told me to put it in the cargo area for myself. Hmm. The other person helped me with my case and I thanked him and “Sumimasen”ed him and got on the bus. I found a seat and got out my iPod. 

I listened to Gowan most of the trip back and then a few songs by Falco. I haven’t listened to albums for a while so it was nice. F did try to phone me when I was on the bus, but I didn’t take his call. I texted him that I was still on the bus. 

Back in Tsuruoka I told the driver I had a suitcase and he basically told me to get it out myself. Okay then. I did, but felt a bit odd about it. Many years ago I got told off very strongly by a bus driver for opening the hold under the bus and putting a suitcase in it. He ranted for a while at me. 

I went to the washroom and got a text from F. I told him I was in the ‘loo, then when I came out, saw him coming in to use the men’s room too. We went to have a drink at Doutor which I paid for as F left his wallet in the car.

Then, F wanted to buy food for dinner but not bentos because he made rice at home. Sigh. We ended up at a grocery store and bought a few side dishes. I told him it wasn’t enough food but he thought it was. 

We drove back to the house and then we went in. I got to carry all of my stuff myself. Oh well.  We put some of the other groceries away and then I put out the food we bought. F and K had rice and we shared the other food. I was right, it wasn’t enough for me, but the others seemed okay. 

I brought some of my stuff upstairs when I came up to replace the dish towel. Yes, of course I got to do the dishes tonight. And clean the stove. Oh, and I also made F turn on the downstairs heater. It was about 16 degrees in the room…that was cold. 

After I finished the dishes I came back upstairs with my suitcase. Unfortunately, when I tried to set up my computer, I yanked on a cord on my desk…turns out it was to my cup heater and my cup fell off it and smashed on the floor. The cup’s handle broke. Darn! I really liked my clear glass cup. 

So, I set up my computer again and I set up my CPAP so it is ready to go when I go to bed. At 11pm I watched DOC. It was okay. I’m not sure how the story will progress. It was okay though.

Well, I’m back. I’m really tired and I want to get to bed soon. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 21, 2026

Wednesday - Cloudy but warm, some rain

Today was a good, but busy day. It didn’t get off to a great start though. I woke up when my alarm went off and I got up and went downstairs for breakfast. They had onion soup on offer which I promptly spilled all over the table. Sigh.

When I went back to the room, I took a little nap then got up. Unfortunately, I was quite under the weather today and my stomach was not happy with me. I decided I’d wait a while and see how I felt in a bit. 

I left the room after 12 and went over to the bus stop. I bought my tickets and a few minutes later the bus came. My ride to Sendai was nice and I got off at the station stop.

Tandoori Chicken salad...so nice!

I did a bit of shopping all over the downtown area and managed to get most of what I wanted. I had a lovely tandoori salad for lunch and got my smoked paprika at a store in the station. I found some nice Christmas cards in a store, I even bought a couple of birthday cards. All I can find in Tsuruoka are kids ones. I checked out the bookstore and they have shrunk their collection of books. I was shocked if I’m honest. It was terrible. 

I checked the bus line around 6pm but it was really long and I decided I’d take a bus later. I went over to Parco 2 and checked out their food floor. About half of their restaurants were closed, including the nice Hawaiian burger place I was hoping to go. I did see an ad for another restaurant that had burgers, so I tried it. I had a smokey bacon burger with fries. It was very good. I had a cup of decaf with that, which was also nice.

After my meal, I visited the washroom and then went back to the bus stop. There wasn’t much of a line when I got there, but after a while it got bigger. I got on the bus and was lucky enough not to have to share a seat.  I didn’t snooze too much on the way back. 

I got off across from my hotel and then I walked back to my hotel. I came in and up to my room. I watched the news in English on NHK. There’s a lot of flooding in Yurihonjo, which is a city a bit north of us. It’s in Akita Prefecture. F said that it didn’t rain that much where we live. Oh, yes, F and I talked again tonight. 

I’m off to bed soon. I’m really tired and a little extra sleep would be good for me. If I’m this tired tomorrow night, I won’t be posting, I need to sleep! 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow…?

October 20, 2026

 Tuesday - Cooler and a little rainy

I went to bed rather late last night and then didn’t want to get up this morning. However, I did. I got up and went downstairs and had breakfast. It was fine without being fabulous. I think I went down a bit late and there wasn’t a lot of food left, but it was okay. 

I came back up to the room and honestly, went back to bed! I snoozed for around an hour and then got up, dressed, and left the hotel. I went over to the station and walked through the building. I went to the Kajo building and waited for the person I was meeting to finish her work. She texted me and I went outside. Now, I had told her that I was wearing a green coat, but I had forgotten to ask her what she was driving! However, we found each other!

We ended up going for lunch to an Indian restaurant. We learned that we have mutual friends and I even used to work for a while for the same company as she does! Lunch was good and conversation was non-stop. We talked so much!

Finally we had to leave the restaurant and she invited me to a second place. We went to a suburb of Yamagata city and spent more time together talking and getting to know each other. After a while we left, made a pit stop at a convenience store, and then she drove me back to my hotel. That was lovely, and unexpected!

I came back into my hotel and relaxed for a while. Around 8pm I went out again and went to the izakaya around the corner, the chicken one that I’ve gone to the last two years as well. I had some yummy food there, paid, and went over the road to a convenience store over there. I came back to the hotel and my room, then texted my husband.

F called me and we chatted for a while. Things are okay at the house but K is a bit worrying at the moment. F also wasn’t able to get a replacement part for the washing machine so he has to try again somewhere else. Sigh. He’s still sounding quite sick, the poor thing. 

Since my call, I’ve basically been watching some YouTube and relaxing. I finally fired up the water pot and have been drinking some hot rooibos tea. Yum. I’ve missed it. I’ve drunk a lot of iced rooibos, but hot is nice too. 

I’m going to try and go to bed a little bit earlier tonight as I want to get up for breakfast tomorrow and then go out so I can catch a bus to Sendai. Today was a nice, laid-back kind of day. It was great meeting someone too, and getting to know her. Yay. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 19, 2026

Monday - Cloudy and rainy, warmish

I woke up before my alarm this morning and made the executive decision not to go for breakfast! I was really tired and thought I’d rather just get out of the room earlier and go over to the mall. 

I stayed in bed until a little before 10 and then dragged myself up. I didn’t take a shower as I had planned, but then I got up and got dressed. 

I checked my time for the train and I could catch one around 11:30 if I hustled. I did! I checked out and then walked over to the station. I caught the train easily and rode it to Minami-Tendo. I got off the train with a lot of other people and walked over to the mall. In the mall I did a lot of exploring and happily a bit of shopping. I got a bit of Christmas shopping done and I even bought a few Christmas ornaments! I bought myself a new T-Shirt and a very nice blouse. They were both on sale so yay! Oh, and I bought socks!

When I first arrived at the mall I had lunch at Pepper Steak. It wasn’t great. The steak I had was very tough and the “salad” I ordered turned out to be potato salad covered in deep fried onions and corn. It wasn’t good either!

I took a break in the afternoon and went to Mr Donut for a drink and a muffin, then went to the cinema and watched Digger, the Tom Cruise film. I hadn’t planned to see it but my favourite critic, Mark Kermode said that everyone should see it to make up their own mind about it. I’m on the not really a fan side. I get what they were planning to do but I’m not sure that they make it. It was a very odd film.

After the film I went back to the food court and ordered a Footlong sandwich from Subway and put it in my backpack. Then, I left the mall and walked to the train station. I was a little early, but no worries. I had a seat in the waiting room and then got on the train when it arrived. 

At Yamagata Station I got off the train and walked back towards the hotel. I made a quick stop at the convenience store next to the hotel, then came back to my hotel room. 

I’ve had a quiet evening. I ate my dinner, watched the Japanese news in English, watched some YouTube, called my husband and chatted for a bit and then took a shower. I never seem to get organized enough in the morning to do it, so I decided to do it tonight. 

I’ll go to bed fairly soon and hopefully I’ll be able to get up for breakfast tomorrow! I do have plans to meet up with another foreign wife in the early afternoon, so after that, we’ll see how things go. I was planning tomorrow to be an easier day since I had such a busy day today. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 18, 2026

Sunday - Warm and Sunny

I woke up around 9 or so this morning. I went downstairs and then had a little bit extra sleep. I did drag myself out of bed before 10 am today. Not bad for a Sunday. 

I got dressed and then went downstairs. F hadn’t really prepared the living room for the Social Worker’s visit so we hurried to do that. He hadn’t even told his mother that she was coming. K was bopping around in her pyjamas. F went and told her to get dressed!

The Social Worker arrived a little late today. There was a lot of traffic on the main road so she had trouble making the turn. F told her all about K’s latest exploits. The worker didn’t say much, but at least we got to tell her. 

After the Social Worker left. I asked F if he was going to feed K. He ended up giving her the leftover pasta from Friday night. Normally that would be my lunch on Monday, but I won’t be there so it is okay. 

F helped me by carrying my suitcase downstairs for me and I brought down my backpack. We got in the car and were going to go to the new Pizza place to see if we could have lunch there. F suggested a different place on the way, and I was fine with that. We ended up at Niku Shokudo. We didn’t have to wait long to get seated, and we had already ordered and paid at the door, so that was good. I had a kara-age set meal and F had a chicken cutlet with stuffed cutlets. His looked good, mine was very nice. 

We finished about an hour early for my bus, so I suggested going to the mall and going to Doutor. F was okay with that. We finally found parking and walked into the mall. F got us a seat and then I ordered. I had a cold rooibos tea, F had a coffee. 

Around 2pm I we left the coffee shop and walked the few steps to the bus station. We waited near the gate and I got myself a bottle of water and then visited the washroom again. The bus was about on time and there were a lot of people lining up. 

I got on the bus and had to go quite far down the bus to get a seat to myself. Unfortunately, I ended up sitting behind a man who had reclined his seat. That didn’t give me much room to put my backpack on my lap. I left it on the seat next to me, but I noticed a lot of people did that too.

We left the station. I waved to F as the bus went by him. We had a nice ride to Yamagata. It took a little over two hours and quite a few people got on the bus along the way. I was lucky enough not to have to share my seat, but a lot of people did.

When I got off the bus, I gave my ticket to the driver and asked him to get my suitcase for me. He said he would, but another lady got off the bus after me and she opened the cargo section. Her suitcase was right at the front, but mine was on the other side of the bus! She was nice enough to go into the cargo area and get it for me. The driver never did get out of the bus that I saw! I thanked her profusely and “Sumimasened” her a lot!

I crossed the street and checked into my hotel. They did ask for my passport, but when I said I was a resident it was fine. Yay for that. 

I’m in the hotel and I have a room at the end of the hall. It’s fairly quiet, although earlier today I heard someone getting very sick. It sounded like it was in the hallway, but later when I went downstairs I didn’t smell anything (thankfully!)

After I checked in and dropped my bags, I spent a couple of minutes getting comfortable and then headed out to the station. I did a little shopping there. I got some onion powder at the international food shop, some things for the room at the drugstore and then went upstairs to check out the new Tully’s Coffee. Last year when I came, I saw the signs that there would be one, it is open now. 

Yamagata Station at night

I went and noticed that they had a Rooibos Royal Milk Tea, so I had that. It was lovely. A little sweet, as many of the Royal Milk Teas are, but overall a really nice drink. I rested, texted a few people and read a little. 

When I finished my drink, I went upstairs to Caprichosa to have dinner. They had a special on for one person. You could have a half salad, (decent size, since the full size is for two people), pasta and a drink for ¥2000.  I had a caesar salad with bacon, carbonara and an oolong tea. I was a happy camper. I paid when I left and the waitress let me know how to get out of the building. It was a good thing, as the building had closed and the way I knew was blocked!  I took an elevator down to the ground floor and then panicked when I couldn’t find my handbag. I was going to go back up, then realized it was on my back! Idiot!

I went back to the hotel but made a stop at the convenience store next to the hotel for some snacks and a big bottle of rooibos tea. I went back to the hotel and up to my room.

I set up my room the way I wanted it and put out my clothes for tomorrow. I did go downstairs to the lobby and had a “welcome drink” (lemon infused water) and to get a foot pillow. They have a great triangular pillow here that is nice for raising your feet when you sleep. I usually get one every time I come here. I probably should ask them how I can get one as I really like it!

My original plan was to watch something on streaming, but I didn’t do that. I did my usual bit of watching some YouTube and then blogging and other nightly things. I’m a little under the weather. I think I might have picked up F’s cold after all and I’m not too pleased about that. 

My plan for tomorrow is to go off to the Tendo Mall. I hope that I can get myself there early. I don’t usually manage. If I get up for breakfast I might be able to, we’ll have to see. 

So, that’s it for me for tonight. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 17, 2026

Saturday - Warm and sunny, coolish at night

I  woke up around 9am this morning when I thought that F had left with K. However, about two minutes later, he came in the room to get his wallet and car keys. He hadn’t left yet. I went downstairs a couple of minutes after they left.  I came back to bed and watched a few minutes of videos before going back to sleep. 

I dragged myself out of bed a lot later and got dressed. I went downstairs to see F and we talked about lunch. I suggested going to have banh mi again, but he wanted a Japanese place in Tsuruoka. I agreed to his place. I don’t like it much, but it’s okay. 

We went to Ten-ka-ne and got in right away. F had the sashimi donburi, I had the chicken nanbam. It wasn’t great. They’d used a ton of pepper or something on it and I didn’t like it at all. The only thing I liked about my meal was dessert! It was good. 

I wanted to buy a new lock for my suitcase. For some reason, I couldn’t get the old one to work. The first place we tried didn’t have one that I wanted. Although I don’t plan to go back to the USA, I thought it would make sense to get one that is TSA approved. We then went over to Musashi and I got one there. It was a bit expensive, but we also bought some more tissues for K.

We decided to go and have a drink at Komeda coffee and on the way I asked F if we could make a quick stop at the Yamaya near that. He said yes. When we went in, I got a box of rooibos tea. I drink it every day and I really go through it. He got himself some saké and while he was looking at that, I saw some sherry on the shelf. I haven’t seen any sherry here for years. I didn’t buy it, but I’ll keep it in mind for another time. I rarely drink alcohol, but I did quite like a little sherry on special occasions, plus I can also cook with it!

We spent about an hour at Komeda Coffee. I had a decaf iced coffee and F had his usual blend coffee. Over the time we spent there I read a bit of a book written by another AFWJ member. It’s her second one I think and I’m really enjoying it. 

We had about an hour left when I reminded F that maybe we had to get going. I asked if he wanted to do shopping for his mother’s dinner. Anyway, we decided to get bentos for dinner, so we went in and got bentos for all of us. I also got myself a nice crusty baguette sandwich for later. We paid after self-checking our groceries and then we drove back to the house. We just made it I think.

I put away some things and then went upstairs. I was surprised when F came up 5 minutes later and his mother hadn’t returned yet. I sent him back downstairs when I heard a vehicle outside. 

Around 7pm I went downstairs and suggested we have dinner. F heated up the bentos and I put out some salad. I turned down the miso soup F was making and got out the tea for the table. 

We ate while we watched the news. After we finished eating I did the dishes and then went back upstairs. I came downstairs again slightly after 10pm so I could take a shower. 

Back in the room, I watched The Hunting Party at 11pm and liked that. It was a bit creepy though. 

That’s about it for today. Tomorrow I am off to Yamagata city for a few days. I may not post every day, so please don’t miss me too much! I’m planning to take my computer with me, but hope to be quite busy during the day. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until next time!