July 14, 2025

Monday - Hot and Sunny with dark clouds

I woke up this morning a bit later than usual, but went downstairs. I came back upstairs and went back to bed. To be honest, I turned on the AC as it was already 28 degrees in our room and I was drenched in sweat. 

I slept a bit, F came upstairs for a bit and then left. He was waiting for the priest to come, but he didn’t. Somewhere around noon we went out to have lunch. F assumed the priest wasn’t going to come after all.

We went to F’s friend’s restaurant and had the lunch of the day. It was huge. Seriously huge! We had stewed fish, sashimi and a pork and bean sprout stir-fry. And then there was the miso soup, rice and pickles too. We also got some mugi-cha and after we were given some iced coffee so it was a huge meal!

F wanted to go and see his doctor and I didn’t want to go back to the house. I wanted a day out. F very nicely dropped me off at S-Mall and then he went back to the house to get ready to see his doctor. 

I did a bit of window shopping and a bit of actual shopping too. I discovered that two of the major shops in the mall will be closing this month to do renovations. It’s a bit strange. The mall is already so small, without the grocery store and the drugstore, why would people go there? I bought a few things at the grocery store. They are trying to sell off all of their stock at the moment!

I had an ice cream at Baskin Robbins and that was lovely. Following that, I decided to do a bit more shopping. I was in the drugstore when my phone  rang. I answered but there was no voice. I assumed that F must have finished and was on his way to meet me. I found a point halfway down the hall where I could see the doors and meet F.  I only had to wait a few minutes before I saw him walking into the mall. We waved and met up.

We went into Doutor and had an iced coffee each. Mine was decaf, but was good anyway. We spent some time talking and also on our phones. Finally, we made a plan for the rest of the evening for us. I  suggested doing our shopping soon and maybe getting a bento for K. F was okay with that. 

We left the mall and went to my usual grocery store. I went shopping and bought quite a few groceries. We got a bento for K and stuff for lunches and breakfasts. I picked up quite a few dinner ingredients as well. We checked out and as I was packing, realized that F hadn’t bought K something for her breakfast tomorrow! He went and got her something and went through the checkout again.

We came back to the house and I unpacked the groceries. F got in my way, but wasn’t too bad for a change. He got K up to eat her bento and just after that, the doorbell rang. It was the priest!

He came in and did his stuff at the butsudan. I was in the kitchen ignoring the whole thing. The priest left a few minutes later and then F gave K her bento and some miso soup. 

We left to go and have our dinner. We wanted to go to the restaurant in Kushibiki so we drove out there. I was worried about the time, we were leaving a lot later than we originally planned. It turned out I was correct. The restaurant was closed when we got there. 

We tossed around a few ideas and then F suggested Misono. I like it, I don’t love it, but it was fine tonight. We went there and F had a tempura rice bowl and I had the chicken cutlet without rice and miso soup. Mine was very nice, F liked his too.

On the way back to the house, we stopped at a drugstore to get some slippers. K’s slippers have fallen apart and she is still wearing them. We found her a nice pair and then decided to buy our toilet paper at the same time too! 

We came back to the house and I discovered something bad. I’d left K’s breakfast on the table as I assumed that her bento would be enough, and it was now gone. She’d eaten two extra onigiri that were for her breakfast. Yikes. F was planning to go out and get something else for her, but I said why not give her Wednesday’s breakfast sandwich for tomorrow and he can pick something up on the way back to the house tomorrow. He decided to go with that idea.

I went upstairs and turned on the AC. It was 8:30 or so and it was 31 degrees in our room. I had to run the AC again. It is still hot in here, much later.

I think I had a short nap and then F came up to the room. I decided to go and take my shower so I went downstairs and did that. I came back to the room and watched an episode of Murderbot. It was the last episode! It was good, but a bit sad in a way. I enjoyed the series a lot. I’m happy to hear that it has been renewed. Yay. 

I turned off the TV and then got stuck into my computer stuff. And now I’m here. It was a good day. It was nice to get out and spend time by myself and do a little shopping, even if it wasn’t too much. 

Tomorrow I’m back to cooking dinner and trying to survive in the hot house. Wish me luck with that! Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow…. 

July 13, 2025

Sunday - Hot and Sunny

I woke up fairly early this morning. I think F saw me move and then woke me up by grabbing my hand. I wasn’t too impressed! I went downstairs and then came back to bed. I looked at my phone for a while and then went back to sleep. Later F went downstairs to make brunch for his mother. He was supposed to go and get his hair cut this morning, but instead took his mother to the temple. He made arrangements for the priest to visit the house tomorrow or something. 

I got up at a decent Sunday time, dressed and waited for us to go out to have lunch. It was well after 1 when I texted F and asked if he was going to take me out anytime soon. He texted back that he was cooking edamame and would go as soon as he could! Apparently his aunt had dropped off a bunch of edamame. He was supposed to take some to his sister’s house as well, but couldn’t get hold of her.

Finally, F was ready to go out. We basically had to go to Gusto as most of the good places were already closed for lunch. I had the lemon and shrimp and avocado pasta and it was very nice. I also had a salad and the drink bar. F had the spicy grilled chicken but as usual didn’t like it that much!

After our lunch we visited Yamaya where I bought the 1 thing I promised F that I would buy and he bought a lot of stuff! 

After that, we visited a Daiso and I picked up a few things for myself and my nephew’s visit. F got a couple of things too. 

When we finished at Daiso we went back to the house and vegged for a while. I watched a lot of YouTube and then F made dinner for his mother. I also texted my nephew who has arrived in Tokyo. He was on a train so I guess he was checking that he had my number and that he’d be okay in Japan. I’m sure he will!

We went out after K got her dinner. We went to China House and I enjoyed the meal. I had the yurinchi set meal and I asked F to split a fried rice with me. He did. He had another chicken dish, but one with vegetables. His was okay but he felt it was too salty. It was a bit salty. 

After our meal we went to the grocery store to get a few groceries. F picked up stuff to feed his mother and I got coffee creamers for my tea! I also found a jar of mango chutney on sale and got that too. Yay. I’ll enjoy that with my sandwiches for the rest of the month.

We came back to the house and I signed up for a point card on line. It was a bit difficult, but I managed by using the translation app on my phone. 

I watched an episode of Gotham. It was a really good one again. I’ve really enjoyed this show so far. It’s well written and the characters are quite good too. I’m not quite finished the first season, but I’m getting close. 

That’s about it for me for today. Since midnight I’ve been working on my computer stuff. F is off work tomorrow too as he is expecting the priest to come. If he show up in the morning we might go out for a nice lunch. 

Oh, and I should advise you all that since my nephew will arrive up here on Friday, this blog won’t be updated between Friday and Sunday night. I’ll probably be back on Monday night next week. I’ll be back tomorrow too of course, but I’ll be out and about next weekend. 

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

July 12, 2025

Saturday - Hot and Sunny, cooler in the evening

I woke up this morning around 7:30 again. I went downstairs. F was still in bed sleeping and I came back to bed and was quiet for a while. He woke up just after 8 and went downstairs to cook breakfast for his mother and get her ready for her Day Service. 

I slept on for a while and then F came back to bed and we snoozed for a bit. Around 11:30 we started talking about lunch and what to do. I had suggested going to Fujishima today for lunch. They have reasonable lunches in a nice setting. Today we got the table by the garden window which was lovely to have while we ate. We both had the same meal, the ginger pork one. It was pretty good.

After lunch we headed back into Tsuruoka and were going to go to Komeda for coffee, but I wanted to buy a birthday card first. We decided to go to Hachimonjiya first. We drove over there and I bought a couple of birthday cards. Then, I thought we were still going to Komeda, but F suggested that since we were outside Starbucks, we might as well go there! So, we did. I had a decaf iced coffee and F had his usual frappucino. It was nice to sit inside in a comfy chair and watch the world go by.

We were going to leave, but then F remembered he wanted something for his car. We went over to the drugstore and he found his cleaning stuff. Then I suggested a couple of munchie things for me and then he got some for himself. Finally, I suggested a cooling wipe packet for my nephew who’s arriving next week. F got himself one too!

We went to 3 of the 4 businesses in that area. The only one we didn’t go to was the hot yoga place! I think that’s pretty funny.

We went back to the house and I went upstairs and turned on the AC. F was downstairs waiting for his mother and possibly doing something with his fish. 

Later on, we talked about when to leave for the mall. We decided that we should leave around 7pm.  I was on my computer and did a few things that I usually do around that time of day. F went downstairs to cook dinner for his mother and then when he was done, we got ready to go out.

We drove out to the mall, found a decent parking spot and then went in. We bought our movie tickets and then went over to get our food. F had the okonomiyaki and yakisoba pack and I had a bibinba. Mine was great. I got my free drink for having my movie ticket so that was good.

We went back into the cinema and waited for either a big line to form at the concession stand, or our movie to be announced. We bought our popcorn and drinks and then went to the cinema. Today we saw Superman and it was fun! It’s been a long time since a Comic Book Movie actually felt like it was fun. I was happy because Nathan Fillion was in it and he was quite funny in this. 

After the movie we came back to Tsuruoka. On the way F asked if I wanted to go to a convenience store. I didn’t really, but would go if he liked. He decided not to go, but then tried to turn in when we passed the last 7-11! We didn’t go. 

Back at the house, F set up the rice cooker for his breakfast with his mother and I went upstairs. It was too late for my TV show, so I just watched some YouTube. It’s been a quiet nice. It’s actually cool enough that I don’t have to turn on the AC tonight. Well, strictly speaking, I turned it on and then turned it off 3 minutes later when I realized I didn’t really need it!

That’s about it for me for today. I really don’t know what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

July 11, 2025

 Friday - Hot and sunny

I woke up this morning as I was freezing. F had left the room and had turned on the air conditioner for me. Well, it was working really hard and I was cold. I woke up and decided that I should take a trip downstairs. I grabbed my glasses but they caught on something and fell into the gap between my bed and side table. The one I haven’t cleaned between in ages. I grabbed my glasses but they were covered in dust and cobwebs. Bleck. I cleaned them off as best as I could and then went downstairs and washed them. I used the ‘loo and then came back upstairs and went back to bed. I watched some videos and then fell asleep again.

I got up fairly early today and then dressed. I went downstairs and then came back upstairs to my room. I grabbed my laundry and took it downstairs and put it in the washing machine. Then I went into the kitchen and put my breakfast together. I brought it upstairs to eat. 

I hung up my laundry in the room and then started my movie de jour. Today it was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. It was…okay. It was all about the wedding between Edward and Bella and then what happens after the wedding. 

I went downstairs to grab my lunch and brought it up to the room. I watched an episode of Matlock and enjoyed that for the most part. I ate lunch and it was very good too. 

F called me after 5:15 and said he was on his way. I went downstairs a little bit earlier today to get a start on dinner. I made pasta with a lemon olive oil sauce and we also had salad and sliced precooked chicken. F and K got mini tomatoes again too. 

I got dinner on the table very close to 7 pm and we were finished fairly early. I cleared the table and then washed the dishes. I listened to a couple of podcasts, but I didn’t get my movie one finished as I didn’t have that many dishes!

I went upstairs around 8:30 pm and then just crashed on the bed under the AC for a few minutes. An hour later I went downstairs and took a shower. 

I came back up to the room and started watching the second part of Breaking Dawn. It was….okay. The film had too much of a “It was all a dream” thing going on. I didn’t like that bit of it. Some bits were funny, some were exciting, but really it was just a bit meh. It finished and that was a good thing. It’s been interesting rewatching all of these movies so close to each other. I’ve realized that they are better than I remember, but they really aren’t great. I place the blame at the original novels which were not very good. She had a few good ideas, but the execution in the novels isn’t done well. 

I turned off the TV and got stuck into my computer. F fell asleep somewhere along the way and I should get to bed soonish. 

That’s about it for me. I’m hoping that we’ll go and see a movie tomorrow night, but who knows. We could also go on Sunday as F is off work on Monday. We’ll see!

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

July 10, 2025

 Thursday - Hot and Sunny

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I hadn’t heard F leave this morning so that was nice for me. I made a trip downstairs and then came back up to the room. I sorted some laundry and then went back to bed for a snooze and a bit of video watching. I woke up a lot later and got up. I dressed and then went downstairs with a load of towels. I put them in the washing machine and then went into the kitchen and made my breakfast. 

I came upstairs to eat my breakfast and while I was there I put on Eclipse, the third movie in the Twilight series. I found it on the video on demand  area of my Japanese cable station. It was okay. It wasn’t my favourite but there were quite a few scenes of Jacob running around shirtless. It was sunny and had a bit of Bella having to chose between the two guys. I like Robert Pattinson as an actor, but I wouldn’t have picked him in this film so far! There were also a couple of cool fights in this one.

I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch. I ate it upstairs and watched an episode of Bones. It was one from the beginning which was fun to watch. I’m not sure if I saw all the early episodes. 

F phoned me after 5:15 and said he was on the way back. I changed my clothes and went downstairs to start dinner.

Today I made chicken drumsticks with some cucumber sticks and hummus, bibinba rice, salad and macaroni salad. I thought dinner was good, but the kitchen was so hot today. It was rather horrible. 

Dinner was okay. I was a little upset with F and K tonight. I was still bringing things out to the table while F and K were sitting there. I suggested that F start putting things on the plates. So, he did. He put food on his plate and his mother’s. That meant that when I sat down, my plate was empty and they were already eating. I mean, I did tell him to put things on plates, but why not put something on mine too?

F had texted me today to say that he was going to take Monday off as a Buddhist priest was coming to the house. I asked him if he had any plans for the day but all he said was that he had to prepare for the priest to come. I’m afraid I wasn’t too polite at that point, I think he’s wasting his time. He’s never been religious at all so what gives? He stormed off upstairs. Good riddance really. 

I finished eating and then I cleared the table and did the dishes. When I finished I went upstairs and asked F if we could go to the grocery shop. He said yes. 

I changed and a few minutes later we went.  At the grocery store I picked up a few things for tomorrow but I didn’t get very much. I did get myself a couple of snacks which I paid for with my own money!

We came back to the house and F took a shower. I went upstairs and watched tonight’s episode of Yellowstone. It was good, they found out that John had not committed suicide. They are doing some weird stuff with the episodes at the moment, I don’t really like it. Oh well. 

And that’s about it for my day. I will probably do some more laundry tomorrow and I might watch more Twilight movies, if I can manage it!

Come back later if you like and hear all about my adventures on Friday. Until tomorrow….

July 9, 2025

Wednesday - Hot and sunny, rainy at night

I went to bed early last night. I shut down my computer about half an hour earlier than normal and went to bed. F got up around the same time I went to bed and did a few things. He finally went to bed. 

This morning I woke up when F did. I even ran downstairs before he did and then when he was getting ready to leave, I ran downstairs again to take him his breakfast! I’m sort of nice some times!

I went back to bed and snoozed for a while after watching a few videos. I ended up sleeping a little late, but no matter. 

I dressed, went downstairs and made my breakfast. I brought it upstairs and a little later I started watching New Moon on the DVR. I actually liked this one a LOT better than Twilight. Although Bella moped through the first half of the movie, she became good friends with Jacob and he was very muscular and nice to look at. Edward wasn’t bad to look at either, but he didn’t take his shirt off as much! Also, they took out the washed out look of  the first movie and this film was bright and sunny.

When the movie finished, it was lunch time. I went downstairs and made my lunch, then brought it back upstairs. Since I was late going downstairs, I didn’t have time to watch a drama on the Fire Stick so I ended up watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory. It was okay.

After the news was over I realized a few minutes later that my DVR wasn’t recording. Ack! I was supposed to be recording Eclipse. It turns out that I forgot to set the DVR to record it. Luckily I found out later that I can watch it on the Fire Disk tomorrow, so that’s good. 

F called to say he was on the way back to the house. I went downstairs to get started on dinner, but I took my time. I had to turn on the air conditioner downstairs as it was hot in the kitchen.

Dinner tonight was premade burgers with French Fries, salad and veggie sticks with hummus. It was nice. I liked it, but I’m not sure if it was good for K! She did eat some of the cucumber though.

I did the dishes after dinner and then did the garbage in the kitchen. F added in his mother’s stuff and then I took it to the genkan. I went upstairs a few minutes later and did the same for my garbage in the room. I had the air conditioner on and I took a bit of rest on the bed while the room cooled down. F came upstairs and we had a nice little chat/snuggle time. 

Later I took a shower and then came upstairs to watch Grey’s Anatomy. It was quite a good episode today. I turned off the TV after the show. I tried to turn off the light for F, but he got up and went downstairs so said no. Oh well. 

Oh, and yesterday, I bought myself a new pair of chopsticks. My favourite chopsticks…well, one of them went missing a few months ago. I looked all over the kitchen but couldn’t find it at all. I got myself a cheap pair but then one day last week, one of them rolled off my plate on the way down the stairs and went missing under the stairs. F has a lot of stuff hidden under there and I wasn’t going searching in his junk for a one hundred yen pair of hashi.  Last night at the grocery store I saw a nice pair of chopsticks and decided to get them. 

Tonight at dinner, I showed them to F and he admired them and then talked about my favourite pair. I said to him that I still missed them and I had a feeling that the missing chopstick was under the stove. He went into the kitchen to check…and there it was! Of course it showed up the day after I bought a nice new pair. Still, I have my lovely chopsticks back, so I’m happy!

My favourite pair of chopsticks. They're personalized and weren't cheap! I got them at a mini-convention with friends and they are my favourite souvenir as they are practical for living here. 

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