March 20, 2009 - Friday

Colder, but clear and sunny.

I stayed up late last night, but I went to bed before my husband! I couldn't get him to wake up enough to go to bed, so I just left him on the couch.

I slept in this morning while Fumihiko took his mum off to the temple/shrine/whatever it is. I did manage to get up while he was gone, but napped on the couch. I missed the early news, so I watched it at noon. They cut it off. I really hate how NHK edits it, and then cuts it off so we can see a film of the Grand Canyon or something.

Fumihiko had seen a new restaurant when he was out with his mum so he wanted to try it out. We got there, but it was crowded. They took our number and would call when we could get a table. They called back a few minutes later and we went back to the restaurant. We had a very nice meal. We had grilled chicken with Japanese sauce (it was a little spicy, nice!), salad, soup and ratatouille, with a tiny bit of blancmange and coffee for dessert. The price was quite reasonable too. It was their first day of being open, so it looks like they might be a good place to keep in mind.

After lunch I wanted to go home and check the movie schedule, but Fumihiko just wanted to go to the mall. So, we did that. We found that a movie I wanted to see was on in 5 minutes, but I said pass. I didn't feel like rushing to get tickets, popcorn and drinks, and go to the toilet in five minutes. I hate missing part of the film too, so I think it was better not to go. We had some tea or hot chocolate in Seattle's then went off to the Across Plaza. We walked through one store and then looked through the bookstore. I nearly bought something there, but decided not to.

We headed back to the mall, got a great parking space, and then had a quick dinner at one of the mall places. Mine was fine. Fumihiko always expects too much and is disappointed!

We went to see Australia. It was okay. Hugh Jackman was great, Nicole was fine, but overall, I'm not sure I liked it. I did enjoy playing "Who was in Strictly Ballroom ?" though. I hoped Paul Mercurio would show up somewhere, but he didn't. Sigh.

After the movie we couldn't decide what to do, so we came back to Tsuruoka and went to my school to set the heater for the morning. I hadn't planned to, but today was a bit colder than the last couple of days. When we couldn't agree on a restaurant, we went to the grocery store and picked up a a few things. We came home and ate in front of the TV. I reheated some of the veggies from last night, so we did rather well. I was also happy to use up some of the food anyway.

Fumihiko put on some awful TV and was a bit peeved at me when I asked if it was the news, so I put on my headphones and tuned it all out. I have days where if I hear one more word in Japanese I'm sure I'll scream. Today was one of those days.

Anyway, things are fine. I felt much better after listening to some pop music. He's gone off to bed, and I'm blogging earlier than usual so I can get some sleep too! I have to work tomorrow afternoon.

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Just wanted to post that today we asked about at a store if the DVD of Okuribito (Departures) had English subtitles. It doesn't. Now, let me get this straight, the film wins the Academy Award for best Foreign Language Film and it DOESN'T have subtitles available? Tasagare Seibei which was nominated (but didn't win sadly) was released with English subtitles. Japanese logic rules again.

Rather than just vent about it tonight though, I fired off an email to the company. I have no idea if they'll answer or just ignore my email, but thought it was worth a shot. The DVD isn't out at Amazon in the US yet. Worst case scenario, I'll pick it up next time I'm home, but really, should I have to?

Night.