September 22, 2019

Sunday - Sunny then rainy

I slept in again today. I didn’t mind too much as it was Sunday and we had no plans for the day. I went downstairs and F was eating with his mother, so I wasn’t too worried about things. 

A little later he came upstairs and we talked about where to have lunch. I suggested Hyakkenbori, the restaurant on the lake in the University area, and that’s where we went. F doesn’t always like the place, but he’s nuts! He had today’s fish and liked it, I had chicken namban which became ochazuke with the addition of some tea later on. That was surprisingly nice. Every time I get sick of Japanese food, something reminds me that some of it is really good. Ochazuke is basically tea or soup poured on rice. It can have veggies or pickles in it too I think. I kept back some of my chicken, a lot of my rice and it was just yummy. I was very happy after I finished. F and I talked a little bit during the meal too, which made me happy. He didn’t spend the entire time on his phone. We discussed last night’s movie which lets you know how much we liked it!

After lunch, F went to get his hair cut, so he dropped me off at S-Mall. I did a little hacking around and picked up a few things at the hundred yen shop. I looked through other stores as well but didn’t get anything. F called me when he finished and we met at Doutors and had a nice beverage each. 

We picked up a bento for K. Neither of us felt like having dinner yet, so we went back to the house, gave K her food and then came upstairs. F had a rest on the bed, I did some computer stuff.

Around 7:30 we went out again. F did his patented, "You pick the place” bit to me, so I thought about it. Then he actually suggested a few places. One of his was sushi from the good place. I suggested sushi from one of the not so good places. It had recently been renovated and I wanted to see what was new.  We went to Kappa Sushi.

We had to wait a few minutes, but it was less than 5 I’m sure. We were seated at a table and had a bit of a surprise. It isn’t Keiten Sushi anymore, the sushi isn’t revolving now. We had to order it. On the other hand, that meant it was fresh and hadn’t been going around in circles for hours. We had a few plates of sushi and also some non-sushi dishes like french fries and chicken nankotsu. We both thought it was much better than it used to be, so we might go back again. Yay!

After Kappa, we came back to the house via the conbini. F went off across the road to check on the sign that was on my bus stop. I’d been worried that the red sign was saying that it was going to be taken away, but actually, it said that the schedule and the price were going to go up in October. They are raising the GST in October. Boo to that. Still, it is cheaper than a taxi, even if it isn’t as convenient. 

We came back to the house and relaxed a bit. F set up the bread maker for tomorrow and we both took showers. I watched a little TV, F watched stuff on his phone before trying to go to bed. 

There is likely going to be a typhoon go through here tomorrow and we’re probably going to stay fairly close to Tsuruoka. We might go to a laundromat or we might just stay in and eat the bread that F makes. Come back later and see what we get up to, or if we get blown away!  Until tomorrow….

September 21, 2019

Saturday - Warm & sunny, rainy late evening

I slept in really late this morning. I was quite surprised. I had gone to bed late last night, but I managed to sleep through most of the alarms that I had set. F was up, but still in his pyjamas so I didn’t feel too bad about it. He ate something with his mother and then came back upstairs.

F and I went out for lunch. It was a bit late, a few minutes after 1:00pm.  If we were lucky, I thought we could make it to the place I had in mind before their last order.  But first…we had to go to the bank. And then we had to buy gas for the car. And then it was past 1:30.  I wanted to try a newish place near the station. We parked and walked over to it. We went upstairs but couldn’t see the entrance to the restaurant. There was no-one in the hotel lobby to ask either, so we left. I suggested looking at the izakayas in the station building. One had had lunch today, but we missed their last order. I finally suggested Foodever and we tried there.  I ended up at Yaku again and ordered gapao rice for myself, 30 seconds later, F came over and did the same! 

Lunch was good. I really enjoyed it and I think F did too.  After we ate, I had a little look-see through the souvenir part of the building and ended up buying a little something for my brother in law.

Next up I suggested getting a drink, so we walked back to the car and drove off. F wanted to try Starbucks but I told him that it would be crazy busy. I don’t know if the store was, but the parking lot was. There were cars trying to find places to park and enter into the drive-through so F just drove out. We ended up at Komeda coffee.

We had iced coffee (F) or iced tea (me) and the cake set, so it was rather nice. We spent a bit of time there, but around the hour-mark, we left.

We went over to MaxValu and picked up bentos for our dinner.  We were thinking to just get a bento for K, but I found some nice stuff for me, and F for him, so we decided to do that too.

We came back to the house, but F and I weren’t hungry yet and K was still okay, so decided to wait a while for dinner. F and I came upstairs and relaxed for a while. I got some of my computer stuff done for the day.

We ate around 6:30 and things were nice. We all had different bentos but I put out some spring rolls that I had bought today and the rest of my eggplant stirfry so we got that finished up too. Yum. F and I did the few dishes and then came upstairs again for a little.

We left for the cinema around 8:00pm. I told F that it was too early, but he didn’t listen!  We got there rather quickly, bought our tickets and then had to wait. He was all for buying our drinks and popcorn right away, but I made him wait. I didn’t want to eat it before the movie. 

We went to see Ad Astra and both of us really liked it. It was slow but quite enthralling. And, having Brad Pitt as the lead wasn’t a bad thing either.  I’m not in a hurry to see it again, but I really did enjoy it.

After the movie, we came back to the house and came upstairs. F said on the way that he was tired so I expected that he’d go to bed right away, but he’s still up doing his phone/YouTube thing. I can’t really talk as I’m doing my computer/blogging thing!

I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. I’m hoping that we’ll have a bit of a lazy day in a way. We are expecting a typhoon in the next couple of days so need to keep an eye on the situation. 

If all goes well, I’ll be back tomorrow night with another scintillating report from my corner of the internet. Come back and read it if you like.  Until tomorrow….

September 20, 2019

Friday - Cool and sunny

I managed to get up at my usual time today and I was able to stay up too! I watched the news and it was all about the Canadian Prime Minister’s 20-year-old photos in black and brown face.  What was he thinking?

I had a very quiet day today. I barely saw K at all today. I did laundry this morning and hung it up in the room. 

I managed to get my videos from the last week watched, it took a while, but I enjoyed the videos a lot. 

I did dishes before 4 pm, so I could watch the news at 4pm. More about Prime Minister Trudeau.  

Around 5:30 I went downstairs and got started on dinner.  K came in after a bit and asked when F would be back, I told her at 9:00pm.  I tried to tell her that I was cooking for the two of us.

Tonight I made a stir-fry with eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini and the last of the nira. I made a sauce to put on it at the end as well.  I cooked the chicken wings at the same time. I plated things for K and me and put it out on the table for us. We had a nice meal and she said it was good twice, so I tend to believe her!  

After we finished eating, I cleared the table and washed all the dishes. I had done a little cleaning while I was cooking, but it was hard to get a lot done. I went upstairs when I finished and I had just sat down when F called to say he was finished work and coming back. 

When he arrived we had a nice reunion and then I went down and heated up his dinner. He ate and said he enjoyed it too.  

I did the dishes again, luckily there weren’t that many, and told F to go and relax. I think he took his shower.  I went upstairs and in a few minutes took my shower too.

I live such an exciting life!

F is off work until Wednesday next week, so I hope we manage to stay in good humour with each other this weekend!  We might go on a day trip, you never know.  

Come back later if you like and see what we get up to later. Until tomorrow….

September 19, 2019

Thursday - Cooler and a bit muggy

I woke up this morning and looked up at the clock and was shocked. It was practically 10 o’clock. I had overslept!  I don’t know how or why, but I had slept through my alarms. I threw on a few clothes and went downstairs to use the washroom.  On the way out, I got waylaid by K. She wanted me to clean the windows in the door.  Okay…. I ran upstairs and put on proper clothes and then went and did her washing.  I thought I did an okay job, but I saw K outside washing part of the door later on…that I had already washed!

I really had a quiet day today. I was in shock about oversleeping so did things that I needed to do. I did hear the doorbell in the afternoon and K didn’t answer it so I ran down and got the door. It was F’s sister, checking on her mum.  Her mum was in the washroom so couldn’t open the door.  

I had a yummy lunch today. I had taken a couple of bagels out of the freezer and I had one today. It was amazing. 

F was a little late tonight, but nothing like he was on Tuesday. He phoned and asked about dinner. He wouldn’t suggest a restaurant so I told him I’d think about it and when he got here I presented him with a list of 5 places of various budgets and types. He picked one and that’s where we went.  It’s frickin’ simple, why doesn’t he do that with me? He keeps harping on how I never like the restaurants he picks. There is a reason for that. They are almost all the really crappy ones with horrible food or places that I have told him I’m not going again because of the above!

We went for udon and had a good meal. K and I had the same dish, udon with a tempura disk, F had simple udon.  I liked it and I think it was quite reasonable.

We dropped K off at the house and then F and I went to get groceries. I am going to cook tomorrow. I got some chicken and some veggies that I am going to make a stir-fry from.  I also got some cream cheese.  F told me that he’s taken off Tuesday and also next Friday. I’m not sure if I’m happy about that or not. We have NO plans and those kinds of weekends off don’t go well. Sigh. He also told me in the car that he has to work super-late tomorrow night. I was rather annoyed as I wouldn’t have bought things to make a nice dinner with, I would have gone simple. That means I basically have to cook for K and I and make a plate for him. Then, I’ll get stuck with the dishes again. Not happy about that.

F and I came back to the house and I suggested watching an episode of The Good Doctor as we haven’t watched any for a while. I watched and crocheted, F watched and listened to his phone. Boo!

I tried to get F off to bed and he did go for a bit, but has just woken up and is up again. He has to go to work early tomorrow and stay late. That doesn’t seem quite fair to me. 

Anyway, come back later if you like and see what I get up to on Friday. Until tomorrow….

September 18, 2019

Wednesday - Muggy and cool, rain at night

I got up a bit late this morning because I woke up when F’s alarm went off this morning. He was already up and had forgotten to turn it off. I watched the British News and also my morning drama.  When it finished I got my breakfast and ate that rather quickly.  

I knew that my friend was arriving back in Tsuruoka this morning and had to come to pick up the textbooks I used in classes yesterday. I kept an eye out for her, and when it was around the time she was to come here, waited for her downstairs.  She came and we had a little chat about the classes and how things went.  She took the very heavy bag away from me and off she went.

I went back upstairs and discovered that The Mummy Returns was on WOWOW and I ended up watching that. It was a lot of fun, except they didn’t subtitle the Egyptian in English, just Japanese.  I had to try and remember what was going on.  It was a fun movie, not as great as the first, but for a movie with a small child in it, not bad at all.

I had lunch after a 10-minute nap. I put my head down for 5 minutes. I didn’t sleep, but I reset my timer and did it again.  

I hardly saw K today at all.  I think she might be fighting off a cold today too. Bleck.  I hope she’s okay.

The PBS News on NHK had a brief tribute to Cokie Roberts, the news broadcaster who just died. It was quite good and I felt quite sad that she’s gone. I really liked her wit on the various news shows she appeared on. 

F called around 5:45.  He wanted me to cook dinner so I said I would. I went downstairs and started cooking just after 6.  I did pasta with a lemon and olive (oil) sauce that I added a can of salmon to, a spicy cabbage stirfry and some grilled asparagus. I was alone in the kitchen for all of the prep work, and as usual, no-one helped set the table. I brought plates out and F said, “Oh, I could have brought those out.” I agreed with him.  It is so annoying that I’m feeding two people who just sit back and let me do it. 

We did have a nice dinner and everything disappeared!  I had a little mishap though, I was giving K more pasta when a strand and a big piece of salmon fell in her drink.  She said it was okay, but I took the glass off to the kitchen and got her a fresh one.  I’m a bit accident-prone around her, I’m not sure why!

After dinner, I cleared the table and as usual, F made a bee-line for the toilet. I washed and dried all of the dishes, with the exception of the last pan. F came into the kitchen and washed it and put it in the drainer. 

To say that I was annoyed with him was an understatement. He makes such a big deal of how he has to wash the dishes because I don’t rinse them, then he buggers off and does nothing to help. 

After I cleaned up the kitchen I went upstairs where he asked me if I’d go to the onsen with him. I said no. I was going to completely shut myself in my part of the room, but then I remembered that I needed some groceries! I told him I wouldn’t go to the onsen, but I needed shopping. We had a slight discussion on whether to go to the onsen first or not (of course go!). Off he went.

I stayed upstairs and watched NCIS: LA and did some crochet. I would have done the crochet at the onsen, so yay me. I wouldn’t have been able to watch NCIS though.

F came back just after 10 and we left almost immediately for the grocery store. I picked up a few things. I was still quite angry with F, but he wasn’t feeling well. He was complaining about dizziness again. Sigh. We took things a bit easier after that.

When we came out of the grocery store we were both surprised to see that it was raining.  We raced to the car and drove back to the house. I put away some of my groceries, the ones that F didn’t. I went upstairs, he didn’t.  I brought down my towel for my shower and remembered I had to put the garbage out, so sorted out the kitchen stuff. Yay me.

I showered and then went back upstairs. I suggested that F get his garbage together so he did and then I took the bag down later. He disappeared for about an hour, long enough for me to watch tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy. It was a good episode, many things happened, so the season must be ending soon.

When F did come back up I went over and we had a bonding/chatting session. It was very nice and about what we needed. He’s now sleeping a bit and I’m with you all here.

No idea what we’ll get up to tomorrow, but I’m not cooking. I don’t mind cooking, but to not get any help at all is making me feel more and more like an indentured servant.  When we had our apartment, F and I usually did the one person cooks and the other person does the cleanup thing. Here he does nothing and I have to do everything. No one helps set or clear the table at all. I wouldn’t mind if people would just bring things to the kitchen door and I could take them to the sink. I hate having to take off my slippers every 3 seconds. 

Anyway, that’s all you get from me for now. Come back later if you like and see what I get up to next. Until tomorrow….

September 17, 2019

Tuesday - Hot and Sunny

I had a good day really. I got up on time, watched some news and then my morning drama, then I spent some time checking over my classes and catching up with email and various web things I had to do.

I had an early lunch and cleaned up afterwards. Around 1:45 I did normal things like brush my teeth and get dressed. The taxi came at 2:25 or so and off we went.  

I can’t discuss my classes in detail for privacy reasons, but they seemed to go rather well. I enjoyed the students and they seemed to enjoy me!

The teaching stuff took up most of the day. I had classes from mid-afternoon until 9:00pm.  When I finished I texted F to see if he’d come and get me.  No answer. This was a bit of a big deal as the building where I was shuts at 9:00pm.  I went outside and called him a few minutes later as they closed the building. He had finished work but was at the house. He promised to come right away. I suppose that he did, but I was waiting on the street for 15 to 20 minutes and I didn’t really like it!

We went to Gusto for dinner tonight. I enjoyed it, F, who knows.  I did offer another place, but when he sailed past both places I suggested, I got a bit shirty and made him go to Gusto! I had a bulgogi pizza and fries, F had a noodle dish that was supposed to be from Otaru, my old home.  I liked mine and shared both pizza and fries with F. We had coupons for the fries and the drink bar so it wasn’t terribly expensive I think.

We came straight back to the house and had a bit of a relaxing evening. I double-checked all of my paperwork and that the books were ready to go back to my friend.  They were so heavy to carry around today! Yikes. Glad I don’t have to do that too often. F took a shower and then went to bed. He was very tired as he’d had to work very late tonight.

So that was my big day as a working woman. It’s been a long time. I enjoyed it, but I’m not sure that I want to do it too often. I loved teaching, but in Japan, it is more of a job than a career, although some people manage to make it one of those. I never did. 

Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. I might do Postcrossing or laundry or nothing! Come back later and see. Until tomorrow….

September 16, 2019

Monday - Sunny, warm then rainy

We had a good day today too.  I slept in fairly late today but did get up around 10 am. I think F was still in bed for a while. I watched my morning drama (Pretty Little Liars…sue me!) and then channel surfed and discovered that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was on.  I watched the whole thing. In fact, F wanted to leave for lunch before it was over and I asked him to give me a few more minutes! It was fun to watch again.

We had lunch in The Grand El Sun today, which is a little funny because that is where we had our wedding ceremony. Our lunch cost a whole lot less than that did.  I had gorgonzola penne with almonds, F had sawara, a type of fish. We both liked our meals.  

After lunch, we took a quick trip to S-Mall to have the battery in F’s phone replaced. That done, we went over to Hard Off. I looked for purses for myself but didn’t get anything except a present for my sister, probably for Christmas.  

We went and had tea and pie at Aomoriya after shopping. It was lovely. I had a blueberry and grape tart, F had fig and grapes, which is what we both had last year! 

We went back to the house for a while and relaxed. F and I took his mother out for dinner to Tai, the restaurant that serves both ramen and curry. They both had ramen, I had curry. It was pretty good.

We dropped K off at the house and then F and I went out again.  I asked if we could go for coffee, so we went to Komeda and had iced decaf. It was nice, but as usual, we stayed a tad too long. After we left the coffee shop, we went to the grocery shop and picked up a few things for K. I’ll be working late tomorrow night and so will F, so we want to make sure there is some food for her.

We came back to the house where I prepared the plastic garbage to go out and later took a shower. I also worked on a few of my props for tomorrow’s classes. I still have a few things left to do, and I have to do a little photocopying too.

I watched Bake-off and then American Idol too.  The show really misses Simon!  I also don’t like the shorter format, but that’s just me.

So, that’s it for me. Our second anniversary day was quite nice. I’m glad that we didn’t drive to Yamagata like we almost planned to do. I think it would have tired us both out. Tomorrow we’re both at work, so I hope everything works out.  Come back later and see how things go. Until tomorrow….