Living La Vida Loca In Japan: July 2012

Showing posts with label July 2012. Show all posts

Postcrossing - Incoming

To July 30, 2012

I've only had a few postcards so far this week. It has definitely been my husband's week in the postcard department. He has received at least 5 this week!

However, because I only received a few, it shouldn't take too long to write up my lovely cards, and not too long for you to read about them. Let's get on with it!

I received this gorgeous card from China on Saturday. The sender didn't write anything on the card except for "Hello" in English and Chinese, so there isn't much to say about him.

Spring Bamboo in Jinggang

I love cards with rivers and streams like this on them. A nice card for me!

Jikra sent this card from the Netherlands. She writes that summer has finally started this week after lots of rain. She says it is great because it is also the start of summer holidays.

Amsterdam

This card has a couple of buildings that are a little shinier than the others. There is a special glossy cover over them. I think you can just see the effect of it in the scan above.

Dmitry, a 45 year old Russian sent me this card of Lake Baikal, the most beautiful lake in the world (his words!) It is a UNESCO site and is apparently one of the oldest and deepest lakes in the world. Dmitry lives in Siberia.

Baikal. Baikal Ridge

Dmitry also used some interesting stamps on the back of the card. The airplane one is very nice and I'm sure my husband is horribly jealous of it!

There you are, three great cards. What do you think?

Until the next time the mailman brings me a card....

July 31, 2012

Tuesday - Hot and sunny, humid

An okay day.

I woke up this morning to an empty apartment. I got up, grabbed the fan and set it to cool me down. It worked quite nicely.

Around 9:30 I decided to make a quick trip to the post office. I ran off and bought a special postcard, then came home and relaxed for a bit. F called me a little after ten and asked if he had woken me up. Ha! Not today baby.

I watched SATC and then a few other bits and bobs on TV. I took a nap for a while as it was just too hot to do anything. After that, I made my lunch, did a little dinner prep and then scanned some cards for myself.

I spent most of the afternoon watching DCI Banks and enjoying it. I love a good British murder mystery, and today there were two episodes on. It was also nice to see something that wasn’t completely devoted to technology. During the programme, I got a phone call from an ex-member of my women’s group. We’re trying to hatch plans for a get-together.

F came home a little after 6 pm. We relaxed for a while and a bit after 7 I got started on dinner. It was quite low pressure tonight as I had pre-cooked the broccoli, and the couscous was instant, the chicken just had to be microwaved and the salad was in a bag. It was nice to get dinner on the table quickly.

We thought dinner was quite nice and after F did the dishes. We went out to the drugstore for some important supplies (toilet paper & toilet cleaner stuff) and then hit up the grocery store for tomorrow night’s dinner. I told F I’d rather cook tomorrow night and take Thursday night off since I have a class on Thursday.

We came home and I made the generous decision to let F watch the Olympics while I watched something on my computer. I think we both enjoyed ourselves.

And that was about it. It was a quiet day, but I think I needed that. Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to. I hope to at least pop out of the apartment for a couple of minutes, but maybe I’ll take myself off in the afternoon to a coffee shop to do a bit of reading. Not sure. Come back tomorrow and see what I decide upon. Night.

July 30, 2012

Monday - Hot and sunny

A great day!

Surprisingly, I had a good day today. I didn’t think I would, but it turned out rather well.

I got up this morning and F was in the last stages of getting ready to go out. He was going to run an errand. I didn’t really want to stay up, but did. I showered and then came back for my SATC fix. Surprisingly it was an episode that I hadn’t seen before, so was glad I could watch it. F came back towards the end and wasn’t annoying. Yay.

Afterwards, I got dressed and then we went out. First we hit up city hall and got F’s paper for his taxes. No problems. Then, we went for lunch. Our first choice was closed so we were going to go downtown, when I remembered the place I went with a friend a few months ago. We tried there and had a lovely lunch. I had bacon and zucchini pasta with a fresh tomato sauce, with salad, a drink and dessert. Yum. F had sardine pasta in a Sicilian sauce. He also had drink and a dessert. I had chocolate cake, and he had peach gelato. Both were really good.

After lunch we went to the bank quickly, then the travel agency. We found out that I didn’t have to pay for my trip today, which was good because I wasn’t sure if there would be a trip or not. I also had my photo taken in a machine in the mall.

We drove out to Sakata, taking a detour for gas. We were running on fumes! F said it didn’t matter as he had gas for 18 more kilometres, but Sakata was 19 km away at that point. I told him I wasn’t pushing the car! I think that was part of the reason we had fun today, we made a lot of dumb jokes.

We went to the Immigration Office and I had my Certificate of Alien Registration converted to the new card. It was painless to be honest and the guy knew what he was doing. We were in and out of the office in about 15 minutes or less.

When we left the building I asked F if he’d mind if I gave my friend in Sakata a call to see if we could have a drink together. I called her and luckily enough for us she was free. We made plans to meet in half an hour. In that half hour, we looked for parking, then zoomed over to the famous Warehouses where we bought a couple of postcards. Then we zoomed back to the little restaurant to meet my friend and her baby.

F had a lovely time playing with the baby, and my friend and I did a bit of chatting. I think in weather like this that it so hard to decide to leave the apartment. I know I never want to unless there’s a good reason. Sadly we had to go our separate ways after a while, but it was nice to be spontaneous about meeting up with someone. I really loved the chance.

F and I did a little shopping over at Yamaya, and while I was there I got some bad news about one of my students. She’ll be fine, but at the moment isn’t. I’m hoping that she will be feeling better sooner than expected.

We had dinner at Steak Miya on the way out of Sakata and it was quite nice, if a tad expensive. They have nice steak, but it isn’t cheap. Still, we enjoyed our meal.

Back in Tsuruoka, we went to the bookstore to run an errand for F, then hit up the grocery store for tomorrow’s dinner. We got something new to try…hope it works.

We watched a bit of TV at home and then I took over the TV and watched my stuff. There was CSI, Rizzoli and Isles, and finally Torchwood. Love that Captain Jack.

F went to bed and I’m going to go soon. It was a long, but good day. Are you still with me? Got to sleep! Night.

July 29, 2012

Sunday - Hot, humid, horrible!

An okay day really.

I woke up this morning around 10 something. F was searching the apartment for something. He was looking for the remote control for the air conditioning. I got up and helped him look, couldn’t find it either, but was too awake to go back to sleep. He finally found it, about an hour later, in the box we have for storing the remote controls. Hmm.

We went out for lunch after a bit of a finagle to decide where. We went to a yakiniku restaurant. Their food is good, but the service is BAD. Their waiters are youngish men who really don’t know or care what they are doing. F ordered a combo lunch of ramen and a mini-bibinba. He got the bibinba, plus some meat but no ramen came. He wasn’t impressed, but as they hadn’t charged him for it, he didn’t make a fuss.

We were supposed to go out for karaoke this afternoon, but then F had a brainwave. We’d go home and watch the DVR of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I really wanted to go to karaoke, but said okay. As usual, I found myself getting sucked into them. I quite enjoyed them, although I could have done without the Japanese commentary over everything. And, please…turn up the volume when lovely people like Kenneth Branagh speak.

I enjoyed watching the athletes’ procession too. I kept thinking that there are so many countries that I haven’t sent cards to (nor received cards from) that I know I have to keep on Postcrossing!

Around 7 we decided to go out to karaoke and we’d just have dinner there. It wouldn’t be healthy, but at least we’d get out to karaoke. We also had to be home by 10:00pm as I had a date with Sherlock!

We went to the cheap place we go sometimes and had a pretty good time. F had his ramen finally, and as usual didn’t like it! Bah ha ha!

We came home about 4 minutes before Sherlock, so I got comfortable and then settled in for The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was really good. I like the way that they update the old stories, they have the same general theme, but are very modern.

Watched a bit of TV after that before letting F have control of the remote. We are now watching Ladies Team Archery. I have to say that it is quite interesting! One of my students does archery at school and seems to love it, and I’ve always had a thing for Robin Hood, so….

Tomorrow F is off work, and we have a bit of stuff to do. For some reason he has to take me to city hall —something to do with taxes I think…his not mine. Then we need to go to the mall for a few minutes, and finally go to Sakata…I think. That one is still a maybe sort of proposition.

Anyway, I should go. Wish me luck for tomorrow, ‘kay? Night.

July 28, 2012

Saturday - Hot and sunny

I woke up in a panic this morning, thinking I had overslept. I hadn’t! I got up and showered. After, we tried to watch a bit of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies but I got really upset with the Japanese announcers (again!) for NEVER SHUTTING UP. They spoke over Paul McCartney for heaven’s sake.

We left for the restaurant but it was busy for a change, so we had to wait. I was a bit annoyed at F because he didn’t get ready until I was out the door. Gah. Still, we ate before the go to work time and then F dropped me off.

I got ready for my first class, taught it and it went well. We really enjoyed ourselves and she went off with her mother.

I had a couple of hours until my next class so I relaxed, did a bit of paperwork, drank some tea, read the newspapers and then twenty minutes before my next class, I got ready for it. Time came, but my student didn’t. I called her after 10 minutes, but there was no answer. Since it was her time, I stayed there until the time was up, but she never called and didn’t come.

I called F and asked him to pick me up afterwards. He did, and that’s when things started to get weird. He picked me up and asked me what I wanted to eat. I didn’t really care at that moment as I wasn’t hungry. We drove out to the mall and parked.

We walked past all of the restaurants in one part of the mall, but F wasn’t interested, and neither was I. I didn’t want Japanese food, definitely no noodles and no rice if I could help it. F had said earlier that he’d like some fast food, so we walked to that area of the mall. I have a wonky ankle at the moment so it was a tad painful to walk over there. I checked the bakery and they had some nice looking sandwiches, so I said to F that I would buy some of them and eat them while he ate his food. Except, he wouldn’t buy any. He turned up his nose at everything. We walked back to the restaurant section and of course he wanted Japanese food. We went to a fish/noodle restaurant. I wasn’t impressed, but had some okay salmon and ikura on rice. Just what I didn’t want. F barely talked to me all meal.

We went to see The Dark Knight Rises and it was good. It was also quite busy in the theatre. It was one of the first times that I’ve seen that theatre that full. I really enjoyed the movie, and loved seeing Tom Conti in it. I haven’t seen him in movies for years.

We came home after the movie and we talked a little bit. F wants me to choose the restaurants all the time, but frankly, I don’t want to. More than half of the time, F will turn his nose up at the places I want to go because of course they don’t serve ramen. I think my husband is a carbohydrate addict. I wish I could get him to give them up for a month or so. But, that’s just my pipe dream, I know it’ll never happen.

We watched a bit of TV, or at least I thought we did until I realised F was listening to his computer with the earphone on. He went to bed a while ago. I’ve got him at home for the next two days so I hope we both survive it!

That’s it for me. Got to go. Night!

July 27, 2012

Friday - Hot and sunny, humid

A good day.

I got up and watched SATC this morning and it was a funny one as usual. Prom Queen, the mini show that comes on afterwards was also at the Prom this time, so it was quite exciting too. I have to work out how to tape both on Monday so that I can find out what happens!

I had a quiet day at home today. I re-watched Torchwood and really enjoyed it. I have no idea where they are going with the story. I love that! Later in the day, I decided to go out to the mall. I realised that I hadn’t eaten all day. With the humidity and heat, I just don’t get hungry like usual. I biked off to the mall around 4:30.

I had a nice sandwich in Doutors, this one was chicken and nama-ham with avocado, and a Royal Milk Tea. I didn’t really taste much avocado sadly. I started to read my Bartimaeus book and am enjoying it so far. After a bit of relaxing time, I went to the hundred yen shop and picked up a few things. I visited the grocery store, but didn’t see anything that I wanted for myself, so I decided to come home. I was home by 6:30, in time to watch Nigel Slater!

F called to say he was back and after a couple of errands, would come home. He got home around 7 and then wanted some dinner. The original plan, which I liked by the way, was to grab a few prepared things from the grocery store then come home and eat them. However, F didn’t want to do that anymore, so we went to an izakaya for dinner.

We had a nice meal with an assortment of foods. He kept trying to get me to eat deep fried foods, but I wasn’t in the mood. The only thing that we had that was deep fried was the nankotsu. I like that!

We came home after dinner, watched an episode of The Dog Whisperer and then F went to bed just as Desperate Housewives came on. I’ve only seen him once since then.

Tomorrow I have a couple of classes and we might go and see Batman after I finish work if F is up to it. I’d like to see it, but I also feel a little odd about it. Still, I don’t blame the movie for making a madman do what he probably would have done anyway.

That’s about it from me. Night!

July 26, 2012

Thursday - Hot and humid

A good day.

I went to bed early last night so managed to get up at a reasonable time for a change. I was up and watching SATC when F popped home for a minute to bring me some tai-yaki. Yum! He brought me a German Potato one and a custard one. Very nice husband!

I had a quiet day at home. I did a couple loads of laundry and then hung them up. I also took a nap for a while. I get so tired when it is this hot.

In the afternoon I read a bit of my book and ended up finishing it tonight. It was The Hunger Games and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to getting the other two parts. It was so much more enjoyable than Twilight.

F came home and we vegged for a while. We talked about dinner and finally decided to go out for Sushi. We went to Kappa tonight and it was still busy. Still, it was quite nice and we enjoyed our meal. We had many different kinds of sushi and some cold chawanmushi that was very good.

We tried to buy groceries after dinner, but there was nothing I wanted to make. Finally I suggested that we come back tomorrow and get some of the cold roasted meats that they sell. I think that would be a nice dinner.

We watched a bit of TV tonight. I watched The Listener. It’s a Canadian show that actually is set in Canada. The killer in the episode I saw came from Edmonton and they kept talking about Edmonton so I laughed at it a lot.

F watched the end of his Airport movie…this was the Concord one. It was okay, but I think we have the dvd. And that’s about it really. I was reading, F was relaxing before he took his shower. He’s in bed now and I think I’ll try and get to bed soon too. I haven’t been sleeping that well with the heat.

I hope to go out under my own steam tomorrow. I’ve been stuck in the house for the weather for a bit too long. Wish me luck with that. Got to go. Night!

Postcrossing - Incoming

To July 24, 2012
Another bunch of lovely cards have arrived in my mailbox. Sadly, many of the ones I sent have stuck in transit, but that's another post. Someday I may even write it.
Today I have 5 cards from Europe. They are all interesting and quite unusual. See what you think!

First up is this interesting card from Finland. It melds two of my interests, books and writing, so I like it a lot. The sender is a 25 year old woman who loves Japan and wishes she can travel here someday. She used an interesting round stamp as well.

This My Fair Lady card came to me from Ireland and was sent by Melissa. She lives in Dublin and moved there from PEI. I thought it was very cool to receive a card from another ex-pat.

My Fair Lady

This card came from Gerrit in the Netherlands. I don't have any other information about it. Obviously it is a historic view of a city and since it mentions Rotterdam, I'm assuming that the view is of Rotterdam!

Ola from Krakow in Poland sent this card to me. She bought a series of cards and once in a while someone is lucky enough to receive one of them. She guessed correctly for me as this person was not only a writer of science fiction short stories and novels, but quite a few movies that I enjoy were based on his works.

Philip K. Dick

Some of the movies his works inspired include Total Recall, Minority Report and Blade Runner. Definitely a good card for my author or my movie series!

Els from The Netherlands sent me this card of the detail from "The Creation of Adam". I have almost the same one on my computer as wallpaper. (Mine has the Flying Spaghetti Monster on it though.)

Els suggests that I tell my students about the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City.

The Sistine Chapel: "The Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo (det.)

She also reminded me of the film of The Da Vinci Code which she liked.

There you have it. Five great cards. Any thoughts or comments? Until next time, I'll be waiting for the postman and his noisy motorcycle to bring me some mail!

July 25, 2012

Wednesday - Rainy and humid

A good day. I slept well last night, but still had a problem getting up this morning. C’est la vie.

I got up in time to watch SATC and afterwards I was relaxing when I got a call from my husband. He invited me out for lunch so I accepted. I dressed and just after 12 he picked me up. We went to his favourite place and had lunch. I had crab chahan in a stone bowl with soup and gyoza. It was pretty good too.

F dropped me off at home and I got busy for a while. I started my dinner prep and then read the newspaper. I did a few different things around the house and then it was time for F to come home.

I started cooking dinner around 6:30 and had it on the table less than an hour later. We had garlic pork, salad, basil pasta, tofu and cream of mushroom soup. After dinner, F did the dishes and then we relaxed for a while.

Around 9 pm, we went out for a drive. We bought gas and then drove up to the mountains near Tsuruoka. We found a parking place and got out of the car. I took a couple of pictures, but there wasn’t much light.

We drove back into Tsuruoka and went to Gusto to have kakigori. That was nice and a perfect antidote for this awful humid weather.

We came home and then F went to bed a short time later. I think he’s more tired than he’d like to admit. I’m going to try and go a little earlier tonight too as I’m quite tired. It’s hard to sleep in this heat and humidity.

That’s it for me. Talk to you tomorrow? Night.

July 24, 2012

Tuesday - Rainy and terribly humid

An okay day.

When I went to bed last night I couldn’t sleep. I’d asked F to buy me some Milk Tea at the store last night and after drinking some, I think the sugar and the caffeine did me in. I tossed and turned for well over an hour, probably two. I slept in a bit this morning but I was so tired, I didn’t have much choice.

I got up, showered and watched SATC. I made myself some breakfast today. I had instant oatmeal and yogurt, that was nice. Plus, I also tried some orzo that I had bought a long time ago. It doesn’t really taste like coffee, but since it has been so long since I had any, it worked for me! No caffeine. Yay.

I did take a bit of a nap in the afternoon, I was so tired that I needed it. I got up and when it was time, made my lunch. It had been raining all morning and afternoon and the humidity in the apartment was awful. I was dripping with sweat. Yuck.

Lunch was good and I watched The Ellen Show. It was her birthday episode and there were some really cool guests on it. I know that her birthday was a long time ago, but we just got the episode.

I left for work on time but did a lot of swearing as my bike kept getting tangled in with other peoples, and there were huge cobwebs on the bikes too.

At my school I got the place cooled down and then did the other pre-lesson things I do. I did a last minute check of the lesson, some final photo-copying and then waited for my student. The phone rang at 5:00 pm and I thought it was her, but it wasn’t. It was F, calling to say he’d be late tonight. He’d forgotten I had a class. After 10 minutes I called my student and after a few more she called me back. She couldn’t come today. Sigh. We rechecked the schedule and hung up.

I did a bit of reading and then I did my paperwork. I even washed the dishes that I’ve been using recently. I texted F to see if he was done and a few minutes later he called me back.

He picked me up and we went to Cocos for dinner tonight. F had Jambalaya and I had a taco salad. It was okay, although I would have liked more protein in it.

We came home and tonight watched Airport ’75. That’s the one with Charlton Heston and Karen Black where a small plane flies into a passenger jet. I remember seeing it at a theatre in Scotland with my family! It was so bad.

F went to bed around midnight and I’m still up. I do think I’ll try going to bed earlier tonight as I have to get some sleep! That’s it for me. Night.

July 23, 2012

Monday - Hot and sunny

An okay day today. I woke up when F left this morning, then fell back asleep. I woke up later, put the fan on me and fell asleep. I woke up a lot later. Yikes. That was an accident.

I watched SATC, and did some of my normal morning stuff. I wrote a couple of postcards, cooked lunch for myself and then did the dishes. I just finished scanning the cards I was sending when I heard a “Hello” right behind me. F had made a surprise visit home. I was so surprise I screamed! I hadn’t heard him come in. I don’t know why he can’t call first like normal people.

After he left and I uploaded all of my cards to the website, I ran off to the post office to mail my cards. That done, I came home.

F came home fairly soon after. He relaxed for a touch and then we went out to the grocery store. We picked up some veggies for tonight’s dinner, plus F bought some fish for himself. We came home and I started to cook.

I made stir-fry tonight and for a change I put a couple of cloves of garlic in the oil at the beginning. It made the apartment smell all garlicky and added a nice flavour to the meal. It was a simple meal, but got good reviews.

F did the dishes, which wasn’t too difficult tonight as it was a one pan meal.

He asked that we watch Airport tonight. It was on WOWOW. I didn’t mind too much as I think it’s a pretty good movie. I watched it all, but F made a trip to the store and then fell asleep on the couch during it!

He went off to bed a while ago and I watched the rebroadcast of Torchwood and now Dirty Sexy Money. I’ll try and go to bed a little earlier tonight as I do have a class tomorrow.

Oh, today when we went to the grocery store, we saw a couple of aeroplanes in the sky. One of them was making a trail that was parallel to an old trail. It was really quite remarkable. By the time I was able to take a picture it had somewhat softened and dissipated, but I think you'll get the general idea.

Can you see the moon?

That’s it for me for tonight. I hope to talk to you tomorrow. Night!

July 22, 2012

Sunday - Hot and sunny

An okay day.

Last night, F had gone to bed very early. Well, he got up around 3 am last night and sat on the couch for a while. We watched the Actor’s Studio and then I went to bed. F came a few minutes later.

I slept in fairly late, although I did drag myself out of bed around noon today. F was watching kickboxing as always. We decided to go out for lunch a little after two and chose to go to the new Italian buffet place. It was a mistake! The food was good, but it was quite carby and even now, I just can’t handle all that starchy food, and not much protein. We did enjoy our meal, but it was a bit much honestly.

We went to the Chido Museum to see the Katana exhibit. It was quite cool this year. They were all new katana…as in made recently and the tags even had English on them. Yay. I scanned the swords faster than F as I’m not as in love with them as he is. I sat myself down and got out my fan and fanned myself. It was hot and stuffy in the room.

We left after a while, and walked around the building and looked at the lovely garden in the back. I like to see the differences if I can in how it looks. Today the pond was a bit greener than before.

After the museum, F was all set to take me to karaoke, and I had really wanted to go, but, I was still too full. I felt a little sick from eating so much and wanted to go home. We came home, and after a little while, both of us took a nap.

Around 8 I got up and then so did F. Around 9 he started talking about going out and I was all set to go when I remembered that Sherlock’s second season was starting tonight. Horrors! I couldn’t miss that. I thought I was missing it honestly, but the paper told me it was on at 10. We made a fast trip to the grocery store.

Going to the grocery store with F is not a fast thing. He follows me everywhere I go. I will leave him looking at dead fish, and go and check out the produce. He will search me out and will follow me everywhere, even when I ask him not to. I haven’t figured out if he thinks I’m going to shoplift something or if I’ll need help identifying zucchini or something. Gah. Then, when I think we’re done, he remembers something that he needs. He wanders all over the store looking for it. Or he would if I didn’t have a good idea where it was. I’ve probably mentioned as well how annoying he is when he pays for the groceries too. He stands there and acts surprised when the clerk asks for money. He grudgingly gets out his wallet and then proceeds to count out the change part of it one yen at a time. Finally he’ll pull out the bill or bills and hand them over. It drives me crazy. I don’t think he’s making any friends with the clerks either. In the old days when I had an income, I used to pay for groceries because he was too annoying. Now I just cast my eyes to the ceiling.

We came home quickly and since F put the groceries on his side of the car, he took them out. He took something else out that fell on the ground. I came round to see if I could help but he said no. Then, he flashed me with the car lights when he locked the car. And then he got mad at me for being in the way of the lights.

Anyway, got inside and saw the episode of Sherlock. It was wonderful. I think even F watched it a bit. I can’t wait for the second part.

The rest of the night was quite quiet and friendly. F has to go to work in the morning and I’ll be a lady of leisure. I hope! That’s it for me. Night!

July 21, 2012

Saturday - windy and warm, gorgeous day

I had an okay day today. I got up when I had to, showered and then got ready for work. I spent a bit of time on my computer before we left for work.

F didn’t want to have “the usual” for breakfast today, so we lunched in a gyudon shop. It was okay. I like gyudon, but I wasn’t in the mood for it today.

F dropped me off at my school and I got busy. I had many things to do, and I did them all before class. Yay. When my student and her mother came, we had a great lesson. After class, I sent them off on their way and I did some paperwork and other necessary things.

I called F and he picked me up. After a few minutes at home, where I checked my email, we headed out to the mall. We got there, spent 10 minutes finding a parking space and then headed into the mall. Inside F started to look sheepish. He didn’t have his wallet. He went back to the car to check. It wasn’t there. We drove back home and he picked it up. Then, we did it all over again. I suggested that we park behind the mall, so that we wouldn’t have a hard time finding parking, but F didn’t.

We went to the travel company to ask about a trip I have to take in September. We wanted to see if it was doable for me or not. It looks mostly okay. Fingers crossed. We didn’t have to pay today AND they let us out ages after the store closed. I wasn’t too impressed with F making us so late.

We had a quick tea and a scone at Mr Donuts, then had dinner at Pacific Airy Heights. I like that place…it’s looks like it is the kind of restaurant that a person opens when they’ve dreamt of owning a restaurant all their life.

We came home afterwards, and F went to bed almost immediately. That meant that he’s been sleeping since 8-ish. It’s been a lonely night for me, but I don’t feel guilty for making him watch “my” TV! That’s really about it for me. I have no idea what we’ll get up to tomorrow. We’ll probably go to the museum for F to see the Katana display, but apart from that, I’m not sure. Come back tomorrow and see what happens! Night.

July 20, 2012

Friday - Windy, sunny and glorious!

Today’s weather was great. I went out once and it was windy and the wind made everything cool. I ran the fan for a bit in my apartment and got so cold I had to turn it off. It wasn’t humid either. Yay!

Anyway, back to the beginning. I did not get up at a great time this morning, I slept in a bit and enjoyed every second of it. I did of course watch SATC.

I had a quiet afternoon at home, did my usual stuff. I scanned some cards for postcrossing and then at 5 pm made a quick dash to the post office to mail them. I’m holding one back for tomorrow because I needed to have part of it translated for me.

F came home around 5:30 tonight. We chatted for a minute and then I got dinner started and he took a nap. Dinner wasn’t anything special, but it was fine. We had chicken, a side of pasta and salad, plus some broccolini. Everything came together nicely and we enjoyed it.

F did the dishes and then we settled in for the evening. Around 11 we watched Desperate Housewives and I did more darning on my blanket. It’s easier to darn ends in right now as I don’t have to put my blanket over my lap to darn in the ends.

Tomorrow I have a class, but after that I’m free. I think we’ll go and book a trip that I have to take in September. F wants to do it earlier rather than later and I sort of agree. I don’t have any idea what we’ll do for the rest of the weekend.

That’s it for me. Got to go. Night!

Postcrossing - Incoming

To July 18, 2012

I've received 4 new Postcrossing cards since my last update, so thought that I would show them off to you. They are quite interesting so I hope you enjoy them.

This card came all the way from the Ukraine. Natalia, a young travel agent, sent it to me. One of her dreams is to see the whole world. I think that is a great dream for a travel agent!

Barbra Streisand (1942)

She also wrote that two days before she wrote the card there was a concert with Elton John and Queen that was free and very cool.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Barbra Streisand, but I do like this card. I actually love that it is a drawing rather than a photograph.

Yoshimi in Yokohama sent me this great card. She wrote that she had never sent a card to someone in Japan before this.

She wrote that her favourite movie is Back to the Future and she loves Marty McFly. When I thanked her I told her that Michael J. Fox was born in my hometown!

Minato Mirai 21 with Mt. Fuji.

I visited Yokohama once many years ago and I think I have been in the very tall building at the front.

This fabulous Marlene Dietrich card comes from Russia. Anastasia sent it in hope that it would give me pleasure (and it does). She writes that it is hot where she lives, about 30〫C so her children can play on the lawn.

Marlen (sic) Dietrich ("World Movie Legends" series)

A great card Anastasia!

Fins in the Fiery Furnace, Arches National Park

Lejuana sent me this cool card of a place that she passed through in March. She was on her way to her father's 80th birthday, as a surprise.

She wrote that her favourite films are The Best Years of Our Lives and Roman Holiday. She said that she might try watching one of my favourites soon, Tremors!

It's a lovely card, thanks very much!

There you have it, 4 lovely cards that I like very much. I wonder what will be in my mailbox tomorrow?

Thanks for playing along with me!

July 19, 2012

Thursday - Slightly cooler and drier than yesterday

A good day. I managed to go to bed at a decent time last night, so getting up wasn’t bad today. I showered and did my computer stuff rather quickly. I made my omelette and then left for work.

I got the school ready for my class, and then got myself ready too. My student was a tad bit late, but we had a good class when she came. After class she left and I did up my paperwork and checked her homework, that kind of thing. I finally left the school around 4:30.

I didn’t go straight home. I went to an “antique” store. I was looking for postcards and I remembered that the store had some before. They still did. I picked up a few that I liked and that didn’t have the price on them. I took them over to the cash register and asked how much they were. I thought the woman said ¥150, but now I’m not positive. It might have been ¥50 each! I decided not to get them. The shop had a funny smell to it, the one that a lot of secondhand shops have here, and I’m sure the cards had the smell too. They weren’t great cards, just older, so they would have been interesting to send to some people.

I came home via a convenience store after that and cooled off my apartment at home. F came home a bit after 5:30 and we chatted for a while. I took a nap because I was suddenly falling asleep at my computer. F came for a snuggle. His niece called to say thank you for the blanket. That was nice of her, but it would have been even nicer if she’d thanked ME instead of F. F (and I) don’t know the baby’s name. Sigh. He keeps forgetting to ask. Men.

A while later we went out for dinner to Nambayashikiri, the soba/tempura/sushi place. F wanted to have unagi or grilled eel. Of course, when we got there, it was too expensive for him, so he had sashimi and I had the chicken cutlet set. Mine was a bit meh, but he said his was good.

We came home via the drug store and the grocery store. We got a few things in both places and came home. We had a quiet evening around the apartment. I watched a bit of TV, at 11 watching Royal Pains I sat on the couch and darned in a few ends on my lovely afghan. So many more to go.

And that’s about it. I wrote up a couple of postcards tonight and I’ll scan and send them off tomorrow. They’re going to the Ukraine and to Finland. I hope they have happy, safe and fast travels! Night.

July 18, 2012

Wednesday - Hot and muggy, sunny

A good day. I got up at a goodly time this morning and showered. I came through to the living room to watch my usual SATC. What am I going to do when they take away that channel? I’ll just enjoy it till then.

I had a quiet morning, got my computer stuff done and then cooked my brunch. I had an omelette, plus a couple of the leftover fish reheated. I did dishes and noticed that F hadn’t cleaned the grill from the other night when he cooked the fish. I soaked it in the sink.

I left for work and had a quick ride to the school. It was so humid out there that I was dripping by the time I got to my school. I had to turn on the AC and cool down the classroom as much as possible before my student arrive. She got to the school on time and we had a good, if long class. When her class ended she stayed on to chat. I don’t mind a reasonable amount of time, but more than 10 minutes feels like stealing to me.

After she left, I did paperwork, prepped a class for her and checked my set up for tomorrow’s class. I had to seek out some homework for that student, so I left everything ready for her.

F was supposed to call me when he finished work, but 6 pm came and I didn’t get a call. I texted him, and he called back. He’d just arrived home, so he changed and came for me.

We went home and I started cooking right away. Tonight I made a couple of things from the grocery store. We had a chopped steak…a bit like a Salisbury steak , plus an eggy dish with a chicken-veg sauce that was surprisingly good. We also had a salad and some buns that we bought last night. F liked the meal and it was fairly low stress for me. Yay.

F did the dishes, then we ran out to the grocery store to get something for F’s breakfast. We came home in time for Sherlock tonight. That was really good. Benedict Cumberbatch is quite interesting and I must say that I enjoy Martin Freeman as Watson too. W

Also watched Grey’s Anatomy tonight, but I’m kinda over that show. I think I might just stop watching it. They don’t pay much attention to the characters I like now, and I’ve never cared for Meredith. I can always catch it in the reruns I suppose.

Anyway, that’s about it for me. Tomorrow I have a class that is earlier than today’s one, so I’d better try and get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow? Night.

July 17, 2012

Tuesday - Hot and sunny, cloudy

A good day. I got up early this morning. I really did. Quite surprised myself too. It was a good thing I did get up as F came home for a quick visit and found me at my computer in the living room. I watched SATC and then got on with my day.

I did a load of laundry and also cleaned out the food trap in the sink and the one that we’re supposed to put waste food in, but someone never does. I even cleaned the toilet today. Bonus!

In the afternoon I took a mini nap as I was really tired, then finally scanned some cards and uploaded them to postcrossing. While I was doing that I watched Anna Travis on WOWOW. I was watching it for Ciaran Hinds of course, even though he played a cantankerous old git! When the show ended I biked off to the post office to mail the cards.

I came home and F came home a little later. F had a nap and didn’t rouse himself until after 7. Grr. We drove over to Moku-Moku for dinner and it was okay. We haven’t gone there in ages, so it was nice to go again. We bought groceries in MaxValu and then came home. On the way home I noticed that my phone had rung, but I missed it.

My husband’s phone rang soon after we got home. My student called him because I hadn’t answered. Hmmmm. All righty then, moving on. I’m going to have a class tomorrow.

I watched the rest of Sherlock tonight, but since I’d missed the first 20 minutes due to students and late husbands, I wasn’t able to get into it that well. Double Grr.

Watched the new show Unforgettable at 11 and did a couple of rows of my big blanket. Think I might just put it aside until autumn! The weather is too hot for working on a heavy blanket, and it’s far too big to keep it off my lap. Still, I did a bit of it and that’s a good thing.

That’s about it for my day. It was okay. I haven’t quite decided what to read next, but I’m leaning in the direction of The Hunger Games. Or, I have a Bartimaeus novel to read. Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

Anyway, I must be off. Night!

July 16, 2012

Monday - Hot and sunny, cloudy

A good day. I got up fairly early this morning, in time to watch SATC. I’m not sure if F thought I was crazy or not though! I took a shower afterwards and then we thought about lunch.

I suggested Restaurant Futaba, and that’s where we went. They were quite busy so we sat at the counter. Our meals were…okay. I had boiled pork. F told me it was probably shabu-shabu meat, but it wasn’t. It was boiled pork. It was a little odd, but okay. I’m not sure I’d ever have it again though.

After lunch, F had to take his mother to visit her brother, so I asked to be dropped off at the mall. I thought he’d only be gone for a while, so I hacked around for a while, then went to Doutors and had a tea. I finished the book I was reading, The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory. I enjoyed it. I was always a fan of Mary, Queen of Scots and this novel didn’t really change my mind. I liked the play between the three different characters, Mary, Bess and George. Bess was the wife of George, the man who was charged with being Mary’s jailor. He put himself into serious debt with Mary’s needs and wants. Bess was a sensible and hardworking woman who had married 3 times, and always bettered herself along the way. Good characters living in a difficult situation. A good read.

Anyway, since my book was done, I decided to go out and shop a little more. Then, when it came to 2 and a half hours in the mall, I decided to walk home. I had just decided that I couldn’t wait any longer, when I saw F coming towards me. I don’t know why he couldn’t have phoned me. Anyway, we had another tea and then we bought a few groceries for dinner.

We came home and F got busy on dinner. It was around 6:30 when he started, and it wasn’t until 8:30 that we were able to eat. He did a lot and I really shouldn’t kvetch too much about the whole thing. He cooked a lot of fish tempura style, grilled a couple, made miso soup (instant), and cooked some vegetables in tempura as well. Dinner was better than I expected. He even did the clean-up afterwards, which he didn’t have to do.

I watched Sherlock and enjoyed it, but between the fan, the AC and the dishwashing, found it hard to hear what was going on. It took a while before my ear acclimatised itself to the fast British speaking.

Watched a bit more TV tonight and also did up a couple of postcards to get mailed out tomorrow. These ones are off to places in Europe. I hope they arrive soon.

And that is my day. I had a good one, surprisingly. Yay. F and I managed to get through the weekend without a major fight. I’m impressed. Got to go. Night!

July 15, 2012

Sunday - Hot, humid and very cloudy

A good day.

I slept in quite late this morning, no big deal. I got up, but F was more interested in his kickboxing than me, so I went back to bed for a nap. I got up a bit later and I thought the day was going to go downhill, but it didn’t.

We had a later lunch at KappaSushi then came home and F got us ready to go fishing. I wasn’t sure that things would go well, but… we drove out to the coast, stopping once to pick up some new bait. At the dock we found a good spot and I prepared to be bored. I wasn’t! We ended up catching close to 30 little fish, mostly aji. I caught one that we threw back as F said it wasn’t a good fish for eating, then a man who was doing a spot of fishing gave us a couple that he caught. So…we’ll be eating fish sometime tomorrow. F is in charge of preparing them!

We came home briefly and I changed my clothes. I’d been wiping bait off my hands on the sides of my pants, so wanted fresh pants to go for dinner. I changed, F dealt with the fish for tonight and off we went.

We went to Edoichi for yakiniku and it was quite good. It was really busy at first. It is the local Obon so many people were out with their families. It is probably also why the dock wasn’t too busy.

We came home and watched a bit of TV. F wrote a couple of postcards for postcrossing, I watched Hanna, a movie. At one point in the movie, F tried to go to the kitchen, tripped over his computer cord and sent his iced tea flying. It went all over the floor, chesterfield and the spare bedroom door. I gave him a hand cleaning it up and it took a while. Sigh.

That’s really about it. We had a much nicer day than I thought we would. Fishing was actually fun for a change. Usually we don’t catch much, but today it was almost worth going! I’ll let you know how the fish were tomorrow. Night!