Monday - Sunny and warmish
We had a lovely couple of days. Saturday was okay, it was a bit stressful though. F had scheduled himself a massage for 4 pm, and our fancy dinner was at 7 pm. It sounds like there is enough time, but for us, there isn’t that much! I hung out at the mall while F was getting his massage and by 5:30 when he showed up to pick me up. We quickly got his mother something to eat at the store and then came back to the house.
We got dressed to go out for dinner. Originally F said he was going to drive, then he said he’d take a taxi, then he said drive again when I wouldn’t let him call the taxi at 6:15 before I was dressed! We drove to Al Checciano and at first F missed the entrance and ended up in the middle of some rice fields. He drove for miles before turning around and coming back. The road was narrow, there was no where to turn before that.
Then, we get to the restaurant finally and park. F and I are halfway to the restaurant on the path when he looks a bit surprised. He went back to the car and had a look, then he motioned me back to the car. Turns out, he had forgotten his wallet. It wasn’t in the car. He was prepared to drive back to the house to look for it. I checked the cost of dinner with him and then said that I’d pay for it and he could pay me back. The restaurant has different seating times and they wouldn’t appreciate us being late.
We had a terrific meal. We had a bit of pasta with some different sauces, there was fish, both raw and cooked, some meat along the way too. F had a non-alcohol beer and I had a bottle of San Pellegrino with my meal. Since I have problems with tomatoes, we told them that I’m allergic and they prepared my meal without any tomatoes, which was amazing! (I have sensitivities, I’m not dangerously allergic to them. Some days I’m fine, some days I get an itchy reaction to them.)
At the end, I paid and then we came back to the house. F paid me back with a little bit extra which was sweet. I did think it was funny that I had to pay for my own fancy Birthday dinner though.
On Saturday night, we both stayed up far too late trying to book a hotel for me for something I am doing next month. We got it, but Japanese websites are so darn clunky. They just don’t make sense.
On Sunday, we were supposed to leave the house just after 9:00 am. F got up to go to the store to get K some food. I got dressed and finished packing up the last couple of things I needed to take with me. F wouldn’t leave though. It was well after 9:30 before he shifted himself. He got back around 10 and then by the time we had the car packed, K bidden farewell to, and then on the road, we were too late to have breakfast at the restaurant. I was so annoyed. I was ready, why wasn’t he? I really like eating breakfast out, but F doesn’t care about that.
We had our lunch and I got my cheaper dessert with it, and then finally, finally, after 11 got on the highway to Yamagata. F was driving and we started to hear a horrible grating sound from the car’s front end. There was nowhere to stop for ages, but when we finally did stop, F didn’t see anything. This has happened before, so we decided to turn around and get it checked out. We left the highway and drove back to Tsuruoka and his car dealership.
They put a temporary fix on it…basically, the amount of snow that we get in the winter had stuck in the wheel-well and cause a screw or a bolt to come loose. That made the noise. It wasn’t a serious problem, just an annoying one.
We got back on the road and made it to Yamagata around 3 pm. We had told the hotel we’d check in around 4, so we had time. I noticed a shop that sold large sizes in the distance, so we made a stop there. I had forgotten to bring a shirt to sleep in. I brought my pyjama bottoms, but not a top, so I wanted to get a T-shirt or something to put on. F found a shirt that he liked, so got it, I got two T-shirts and we were both happy.
We made it to the hotel, checked in and paid. They gave me a cake as a birthday present, which was nice! I brought it back to Tsuruoka.
We relaxed for a while in the room then went to have dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant. It was quite good and we enjoyed it a lot. We went back to the hotel, relaxed a bit more, and then took a taxi over to the cinema and went to see The Banshees of Inisherin. What a movie. It was good, some of it was funny, some of it was horrific. Colin Farrell was really good in it.
We taxied back to the hotel, stopping at the next door convenience store for munchies, and then back to the hotel room.
We had a quiet evening and even went to bed a little earlier than we do here! Well, at least I did.
This morning was quite good. We had breakfast in the hotel, which was a lot of Yamagata specialities, then went back up to the room. We verified that we had the room until 2 pm as that was the package, but no one from the hotel had confirmed that!
F rested and was supposed to take a shower, I took a quick trip over to the station to see the import foods store. I was pretty restrained there. I got myself some tea (only two kinds!) and some packets of gravy. When I got back to the room, F was surprised to see me. He hadn’t taken his shower as he thought I’d be longer. I can be fast when I want to be!
F did finally take a shower, we both took a nap and then I took a shower too. Finally we checked out just before 2 pm. We both felt very relaxed and it was just a nice stay.
We were going to have yakiniku for lunch, but then decided to go to Tendo to the mall there and have steak for lunch. There’s a kiosk that sells steak. We did that, except when we got to the mall, F parked in the stupidest place he could find, across the street from the mall. There was parking in the front of the mall, which he didn’t seem to understand about.
We had our steaks. It was fine. I liked mine, F thought it was too tough. He had the same as me, a cheaper cut, so what did he expect?
When we finished I wanted to go to the import store in the mall to check on something for a friend. F said he’d come too, but his leg was bothering him, so he ended up sitting on a bench in the mall. He said that he’d go and have a drink while I did some shopping. I told him it was a good idea, and he should text me his location afterwards.
I went to the Kaldi and looked around. I couldn’t find the things my friend wanted, but I got a few things. I bought more rooibos tea and some jams and sauces. I got a couple of coffee envelopes too. I was able to get a free bag from the store, so that was nice. F’s text told me that he was in Starbucks, so when I was done, I met him there.
I had an Opera Frappucino and got him another drink, a coffee latte. We spent a bit of time there before heading out on the road again, this time, back to Tsuruoka.
It was a quiet trip back. I slept for most of it, but rallied near Tsuruoka. We decided to check on F’s mum and went to the house first.
She was fine and asleep. She hadn’t eaten most of the food that F bought for her, which was rather sad. She did seem happy to see us. I brought my stuff upstairs and a bit later F came upstairs. We talked about going out for dinner. F immediately wanted ramen. So annoying. I asked him to drop me off somewhere else so he said he wouldn’t go out at all. Methinks someone was tired and hungry.
Finally we decided to go to Coco Ichibanya and he admitted that his stomach was upset again. I’m not sure curry was the best thing for him then, but that’s what he got. I had soup curry again and liked it, he had pork curry with fish and shrimp added on.
We just came back to the house when he finished. F was in a better mood, and spent most of the night on his computer watching videos. Then again, so did I. I did a bit of crochet with them too!
So, very long winded, but basically a 3 day wrap up. For the most part, I had a fabulous time away and it was nice to be with F and not argue…until we were back in Tsuruoka. Still, can’t have everything.
Well, tomorrow F has to go to a funeral as the family representative. His great-uncle died so he has to put in an appearance at least. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing when he gets back. You might just have to come back to find out. Until tomorrow….
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