September 30, 2018

Sunday - Cloudy then rainy (Typhoon is coming again)

A great day!

F got up a few minutes before me, but we both got up early today. I got dressed and we left.  We dropped F’s car at the car dealership to be serviced and checked, and we went to the Cocos nearby.  We had breakfast out! It was really nice to be out and about together. 

After picking up the car and paying for that, I asked that we go to my craft shop. I wanted to see if there was new yarn or not. There was! It was yummy, but I didn’t buy any. I renewed my membership though so it wasn’t a wasted trip.

F suggested trying the new coffee shop in our city. I thought it wasn’t a great time as it was early lunchtime, but he wanted to go.  We went and checked out the new Komeda Coffee.  It was okay. I think I’d like it much better if there were fewer people in the shop. I did find the coffee to be quite expensive.  

We left and went back to the house for a while.  F helped his mother with her lunch and I came upstairs for a bit.  After a while, F asked if I’d like to go for a drive. I wasn’t too keen, but finally said I’d go.  We drove to Yuza, near Sakata.  He’d heard of a cafe near Mount Chokai and wanted to go there.  We found it, but it didn’t look that open, to be honest.  F found the way to the entrance and we went in.  It was beautiful inside.  It was very sparse but fitted with handmade furniture and pottery. It had big open windows with a lovely view of the rice fields and Mt. Chokai.  We had a cup of tea or coffee and a dessert each and it was very nice. I did have one funny thing happen though.  I went to the washroom and when I came out, I thought I heard my national anthem playing.  I thought I must be hearing things…I couldn’t see a TV to hear it from a sporting event!  It turns out the owner had asked F where I was from and played the anthem for me.  Really odd to hear O Canada when in the middle of a rice field in Japan.  Odd, but somehow very cool!

The view out the cafe window.  

Rice and Mount Chokai
Looks a lot like the prairies to me.

After our coffee/tea and dessert we left.  I’m hoping we’ll go back sometime. It was really lovely there.  

F started driving off after joking about going to a restaurant in Akita Prefecture that we like.  At least, I thought he was joking.  He wasn’t.  We got into Akita Prefecture and then he decided to call and make sure they were open. They weren’t!  I suggested either going to another place or going to the road rest area.  At the rest stop, there are a lot of cool little restaurants.  He thought it was a good idea.  

We got there and each chose a different place. F wanted ramen and I decided to have a burger again.  I added on some onion rings for F and me to share.  My burger was really good but not as good as the last time I went there. F thought his ramen was okay. 

We drove back to Tsuruoka after getting ourselves some drinks for the car. It took about an hour. F was driving quite fast, which was not a good thing as it had started to rain. We went to the grocery store to get his mother some food, and me some things for lunch tomorrow. 

On the way back to the house, F asked if I’d go to the onsen with him so I said yes. I didn’t want to go IN the onsen, but I’d go with him. We dropped off the food and then left for the onsen.

It wasn’t too busy. F went in, and I found a seat just under the TV. I didn’t want to sit there, but they’d moved my favourite chairs so I had little choice. I didn’t do any knitting after all, but I did some internet stuff. 

We came back to the house afterwards and I took a shower.  F watched a bit of TV and told me all the stuff about the coming typhoon.  The trains have stopped for a while and people all across the country and getting ready for wind and rain.

So that’s about it.  My nose is alternately running and plugging which is the only thing that kept this day from darn near perfect.  My body feels out of alignment…I’ve been sitting in a car most of the day and yesterday I walked into a seat at the theatre. I caught it with my upper thigh, gave myself a real whack. It hurts and I’m waiting for the bruise to appear. 

Tomorrow I might do some laundry or I might sleep a bit, it depends on how I feel. I do not want this cold Sam I am, I do not.  Come back later and find out how things go. Until tomorrow....