June 19, 2011

Sunday - Hot and sunny. Gorgeous day.

We woke up this morning in Yamagata city. We went for breakfast at the hotel and then checked out a little later. We headed into Sendai but we were quite early. We stopped at a rest area and had a gelato that was very yummy. It was also nice to get out of the car for a bit.

We drove into Sendai and were lucky enough to find a place near the Apple store where we could park all day for a mere 800 yen. We parked and then went to the nearby Starbucks for a little refreshment. I finally tried their Orange Jasmine Tea Latte. It was lovely. F thought it was too sweet, and I could have done it with a little less sugar, but honestly, it was a close call for me.

We hacked around for a bit and then decided to have lunch. We found a place in the basement of a department store that had drink bar and salad bar, so we went there. F had shrimp for lunch, I had chicken with tomato miso sauce. The food was quite good, but I had a bit of an accident. I was moving my chair closer to the table and I grabbed a join with my hand. The join in the chair opened and then closed as I sat back down on the chair. I pinched one of my fingers in the join. It was so painful. Even now, I have a mark on my finger.

We went around the Forus building after lunch. I found the Body Shop, in a slightly different place, but still has nice stuff. I got a couple of things for myself. After that, F and I went up to the top of the building on the escalator. Goodness, things have changed. There used to be a Tower Records, but it has gone now. The only store that I remember from before is Village Vanguard and it has shrunk in size, but is still there. One floor was completely devoted to Lolita and Goth fashions. I got a good chuckle at some of the clothing there, and at some of the shoppers on the floor. I can’t help wondering if they look at pictures of themselves in 20 years will they cringe with embarrassment? We went to the Starbucks that has appeared on the second floor and had frappucinos, the non coffee kind.

Just before 2:45, F and I headed over to the Apple Store. I took my precious computer in to have a check. The worker wasn’t a friendly guy really, but did know his stuff. He agreed with me that the fan was causing problems so we made arrangements to have the fan replaced. Normally they said the turnaround time would be about 3 days, BUT because we’re from across the country and can’t come back, they did it for us this afternoon. The Genius Bar guy told us to come back in 2 hours. WOW.

F and I left the store, after playing with iPods and iPads. We went for a meander down the covered mall and then decided to go to the Maruzen books near the station. We were just across the street from the bookstore, when Apple called us and said they were done. Less than an hour later! F was all set to go back to the Apple store, but my feet were getting blisters and we were right across from Maruzen books. We went to the bookstore.

We spent a bit of time browsing. F found something, I didn’t. I remembered before we were going to leave that there was a big stationary store in the same building and I needed a refill for a pen. We went up to see if I could get one. I could, so we bought that and headed back to the Apple store.

We picked up my computer, paid and then had another drink. But not at Starbucks! We went to Doutors this time.

We drove over to The Mall in Nagamachi and parked. We found a restaurant for dinner. F picked it, but I approved, so it was fine. We both had the same thing, spare ribs. They were okay. I think I’ve had better, and now I’m thinking that I should really try and cook some spare ribs at home. After dinner, we made a quick stop at Kaldi for some mayonnaise and got a few other things like tea, and then drove out of Sendai.

The road was busy and people were driving very fast. Still, once we turned into the Yamagata highway things got a bit better. We stopped once, at a rest stop and then pushed on all the way to Tsuruoka.

We bought a few groceries on the way home and then came into the apartment and vegged! We were both tired, but in a good way.

I watched Veronica Mars and then F finally got himself off to bed. He’s got a busy day tomorrow.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. Tune in and find out with me! Night.