August 9, 2026

Sunday - Hot and Sunny

I woke up this morning around 10 I think. F was still in bed and was talking about maybe getting up to feed his mother. He did get up, and he turned on the AC for me. It was around 30 degrees in the room already.  

I snoozed longer and then got up and went downstairs. I came back to the room and started to get dressed. A few minutes later, F came into the room and wanted to get going. We had decided to go to Yuza to get some nashi. Off we drove. We did need to have lunch along the way. I Google-Mapped places and one place kept coming up….Bistrot des Pointes in Mikawa. I said that to F and that it was just an idea. It’s an awesome restaurant, but not exactly cheap. However, we decided to try it. 

We were able to get a table which was lovely of them. They were planning to close early today…we were before their last order at least. We had their special lunch. It came with pumpkin soup, a main with a bun or rice and a cup of tea or coffee. We could have added on a dessert too, but decided not to do that. F had a steak for his main and I had beef cheek stew. Mine was amazing. It was so good. We both had bread today and tea as well. We really enjoyed our lunch and it was a bit hard to leave the restaurant afterwards. We didn’t want to go.

We paid and left. It was one of the nicest meals I’ve had in ages 

We drove off to Yuza and found the area that sells nashi. F had received a post card from them a couple of weeks ago reminding him about nashi being for sale. We drove up the road really slowly, but no one was selling any. We passed some trees with a lot of fruit on them and a place selling peaches, but no nashi! 

We turned the car around and made our way out of the area. F stopped at a place where he saw a man, and the guy said that nashi would be on sale in a couple of weeks, not right now! Argh!

We drove back to Sakata. We made a stop at my friend’s house and dropped off a mini-care package. I hadn’t been planning to ring the doorbell but her car was there, so I knew she was home. She was napping so I felt bad about waking her up, but we haven’t seen each other in ages. We had a quick chat at the door and then I went back to the car. 

F made a quick stop at the end of the road to mail a letter to my friend in Canada and then we started driving back to Tsuruoka. We did make a pit stop along the way and bought some drinks for the road. It is so hot and humid we need to rehydrate!

We came back to the house and relaxed for a while.  F and I had planned to take his mother out for dinner tonight to give her a break from the heat. I suggested that F make a reservation and that’s what he did. He couldn’t get the time he wanted, he could only get 7:30. Oh well. 

I relaxed, watched some YouTube and then a bit before 7 got redressed for going out. We all got in the car and drove over to Kappa Sushi. We were early so we had to wait for a while, but it wasn’t too bad. 

F and I ordered stuff when we were seated. I ordered some onion rings for everyone and a bucket of fries for K and I. She ate most of them! We had some okay sushi but K finished long before F and I did. However, I don’t think we over-ordered like we have done in the past. 

When we finished, we paid and left. We drove K back to the house and left her, then the two of us went to the gas station to fill up the car. F took it down to the point he could only drive 46 more kilometres. I can’t get him to stop playing gas chicken. 

Then, we drove over to Mina shopping area and bought our groceries. F came in with me and I wish that he hadn’t! It’s not that he’s a bad guy, it’s just that he gets in my way all the time! I’m doing the shopping, yet he put himself and the buggy next to the foods. Then he wouldn’t let me get in front of him to actually look at the food! It was very frustrating for me. I picked up food for tomorrow night. I’m having to make dinner for the three of us without any way to keep cool so I’m a little upset! 

We paid for the food and then came back to the house. I put the stuff away. I actually had to ask F NOT to put the food out on the table as it was too far away from where I was because of course, F was in the way again! 

I went upstairs and then decided to watch a movie off the DVR. I chose Constantine. It’s been years since I saw it and boy was it dark! Keanu did look good, but there were a lot of dark themes in the film. Still, I’ve heard rumours that there is going to be a sequel so I thought I’d rewatch it. Dark. Dark!

I’m now watching YouTube and doing my blogging. Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to. I’m hoping to start thinking about my column and do some laundry! 

And….that’s it for my day. It actually was a good day. I’m glad that we took K out, I’m glad I saw my friend and I’m glad that we had a gorgeous lunch! Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

 

July 25, 2026

Saturday - Cloudy and rainy and humid

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. F and his mother still were in the house, but they left just after I woke up. I went downstairs and then came back to the room. I went back to bed for a longer snooze. I watched a few videos and then just as I decided to have a nap, F came in the room. It was fine, he had a nap too and we both relaxed for a while.

I suggested going over to Sakata and having Thai food for lunch. We’ve gone to the restaurant a few times and I thought F liked it. However, he grumped about it and wanted to go to the fish place at the ferry port instead. I didn’t want to go there at all. He grudgingly agreed to go to the Thai place. He said that he didn’t think the meat was fresh there. It’s interesting that he has said this about the three ethnic restaurants that I like. I am so bloomin’ tired of Japanese food. It’s boring and frankly, not very good at times. 

I got dressed and then we drove over to Sakata. I took my iPod and so we had some good tunes. For some reason, my iPod kept playing Cliff Richard Christmas songs! I skipped them…it may be 5 months to Christmas today but I’m not starting to play Christmas songs yet!

We got to the restaurant and went in. We ordered and quickly got our food. I had Gapao rice and F had Thai ramen, which of course he didn’t like. I thought mine was very nice. 

On the way out of town, I mentioned that I’d like to go to Kaldi, the import food shop, but told F that I didn’t have to go today, just sometime in the next month. He didn’t take me. He offered to take me to Don Quihote but I didn’t really want to go today.

When we got into Tsuruoka he took us to the Muji store which was fine! We bought some snacks and then came back to the house. 

I turned on the AC and stripped off my outside clothes. I spent time on my computer and relaxed for a bit. F did too until he went downstairs to cook for K. We were supposed to leave the house at 7:30 but didn’t leave until almost 7:45. I wasn’t sure we’d have enough time to go to the restaurant and then get to the cinema.

We went for udon and tempura at the chain restaurant. It was really busy tonight. Luckily, we were 3rd or 4th in line, but it still took a while. I can’t eat noodles quickly, but I did my best. We left the restaurant and then drove to the cinema. By now it was raining. We arrived at Machi-ne Kinema and went in and bought our tickets. F had a free movie ticket so it didn’t cost all that much. We went to see The Smashing Machine with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. It was an okay movie with good performances. 

We came back to the house via the new convenience store that opened. F suggested getting some ice cream and I was okay with that!

Back at the house, it wasn’t so hot upstairs, so I didn’t turn on the AC. F has gone to bed, but I’m still up for the moment. I’ll be getting to bed soon. 

I have no idea what we’ll get up to tomorrow. We might go to the Art Forum, or we might just buy our groceries. I have no idea. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

June 28, 2026

Sunday - Hot and Sunny

I woke up at a decent time this morning, went downstairs and then came back upstairs and went back for a snooze. F came into the room around 11am and suggested going over to Sakata for lunch at our favourite yakiniku place there. I wasn’t sure that we should do that, but F wanted to. I updated my app for the restaurant and a few minutes later got dressed and off we went. 

We got to the yakiniku place and almost immediately had a fight. We had a coupon for a free plate of beef but F didn’t know how to ring it in the touch panel. He asked a waiter and he explained how to do it, but honestly, I thought it was obvious! We both had bibinba and they were really good. 

After our meal, F asked if I’d like to go to the bakery near the big park. I said fine, but I thought it might be busy again. Sad to say, it was and we couldn’t find parking. We continued on our way.

F took us into to the new shopping area and we went to Kaldi (even though I didn’t really need much). We went over to the Muji store too and both picked up some treats for ourselves. I got some decaf drip coffee which is nice to have. 

We drove back to Tsuruoka and on the way F suggested that we go straight back to the house. He had a headache and wanted to rest. I was okay with that. On the way I asked him if he wanted to go shopping first, but we decided not to. 

Back at the house, I came upstairs and it was hot so I had to turn on the AC. I relaxed with my computer, F came up much later and took a bit of a nap.

He went downstairs and made dinner for his mother. He even brought us both up some of his bifun noodles. They were darn good!

A little later he wanted to go out for dinner. He also talked about going to see the fireflies but then he left without grabbing things like flashlights so I didn’t think it would happen. We didn’t really have a plan for dinner so I suggested either a gyudon shop or a sushi place. We ended up going for sushi. 

Dinner was courtesy of Kappa-Sushi and it was fine. We didn’t have that much actual sushi, more things like fries and onion rings. Still, it was okay. F didn’t like it as usual. I don’t understand how he can dislike everything that we eat at night!

Next up, we went to the grocery store and I went in and did the shopping. I basically only got food for one night as F is taking Tuesday off. He’s got to check in with his surgeon again, the three year anniversary of his knee operation was last week. 

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries. F did some ironing and I went upstairs. I decided to watch some TV so I ended up watching some Apple TV. I watched Margo’s Got Money Troubles and then another episode of Loot. I enjoyed both of them.

I turned off the TV and got stuck into my end of day things. 

Tomorrow, I should maybe do some laundry as I’ll lose my usual laundry day. I might do some mending or some Postcrossing or….Well, who knows. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

June 6, 2026

Saturday - Warm & Sunny

Today was a pretty good day. I wasn’t sure that it would be, but it was. Woot.

Last night F had mentioned that he’d like a keisen-don for lunch today and I said that if we went to Sakata I’d be able to go to the foreign imports store for my favourite tea. Yay. So, I got up a little earlier this morning than I normally would and after I got dressed, F and I drove over to Sakata.

We went to a place at the port, it’s a food court kind of thing, mostly all of the places serve fish. F had his keisen-don, which he liked. I went to another place and had roast beef-don. It was nice, but a little small. Oh, I’m getting ahead of myself…

As we left the house this morning I told F that he’d have to be careful as his back pocket had a huge rip in it. I was worried that his wallet would fall out.  Well, as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, F discovered that his wallet was gone! Ack. He has a Tile™ in it so he could see where it was. He said it was nearby and the signal was strong. He kind of panicked though. He wouldn’t listen to me at all. I was trying to get him to find an office type place so he could ask if it had been turned in. He didn’t, but a young man came up to him and asked him if he was looking for something. They had F’s wallet. Someone had turned it in. F asked if they needed a reward, but they didn’t. 

F put his wallet in another pocket and we went off somewhere else. At another place in the port, we got some ice cream and sat and ate for a bit. Then, F dropped his wallet outside. Eye Roll!

From the port area, we went over to the new shopping area and I went to Kaldi, the import food store. I got a couple of boxes of my tea, plus another kind of tea, some decaf coffee. F picked up some bifun noodles and that’s about it. We then went to the Muji store and picked up a few more snacks and things. 

We got back in the car and F suggested going for a drink at the nice bakery near Hiyoriyama Park. I said fine, but once we got there, we couldn’t find a parking spot. We drove around a bit, but nothing. I suggested going to Mister Donut instead, either in Sakata or in Mikawa. F chose Sakata. 

We got a doughnut each and a drink. I got decaf cafe au lait, F got the regular one. We enjoyed our drinks and our time. 

We had to get back to Tsuruoka so we went back to the car and drove back. In Tsuruoka, F wanted to go to the craft/sewing store so he could fix his jeans. Not the one he was wearing, another pair. His button on the front came off and he wanted a new one. We got him one at the store. He managed to fix his jeans later. Yay him.  He also changed his jeans so he wasn’t wearing his holey pocketed ones. Double Yay!

We checked out the grocery store in S-Mall and F picked up a bento for his mother’s dinner. We paid and then came back to the house.

I went upstairs and relaxed, F stayed downstairs for a bit and then came upstairs just at the time his mother was due back. Didn’t understand that!

F and I had talked about going to the movie and he said it was okay. So, we left the house around 6:30 and drove over to the Mikawa Mall. We bought our tickets and then went and got our dinner. We both had bibinba and it was really nice! 

We went back to the cinema, bought our popcorn and went to see Masters of the Universe. It was ridiculous and silly and fun. I enjoyed it, F not so much. He thought it was too violent, but I tried to remind him how violent little boys actually are. Anyway, I liked it. I loved the earlier version with Dolph Lundgren so I was probably predisposed to like it. 

We drove back to Tsuruoka after the movie, and went to MaxValu so F could get something for his mother’s breakfast again. I have a little problem with him going to the store all the time, but I can’t tell him not to, or to meal plan. He’s just too darn scattered and forgetful to do it. 

We came back to the house and I went upstairs. F followed after he set up the rice cooker for tomorrow. F’s in bed now and sleeping. I’ll be going to bed soon I think, it’s quite late now. 

I’m not sure what we’ll get up to on Sunday, but we’ll probably have to buy my groceries for the next couple of days too. 

So that’s it. It was a pretty good day and I had a lot of fun. I hope tomorrow is good too. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow…. 

May 12, 2026

Tuesday - Hot and sunny

Today was a day. I’m tired as heck, the sun, heat and the walking that I did, plus the slightly less amount of sleep from last night means that I’m a bit tired. 

I woke up around 5:30 or so. F was sitting at the bottom of the bed, playing with his phone. I don’t know why. I went back to sleep. 

I had set my alarm for 7:15 but in all honesty, I woke up before that. I stayed in bed until my alarm went off and got up and said goodbye to F. He left before 7:30. I got dressed, checked my email quickly and then went downstairs. I was in the genkan about to put on my shoes when I noticed the time. It was 8:17 and my bus was at 8:20. Yikes. I put on my shoes, locked the door behind me and then did a fast-walk to the bus stop. I got there, but the bus didn’t come. I thought that I might have missed it, but I hadn’t seen the bus go by. I decided that maybe I’d catch the bus going in the other way…I might be late for my train, but there would be one a bit later. I was about to cross the road to the other stop when I saw my bus coming towards me. It was about 12 minutes late. The norm is about 5-7 minutes so 12 seemed a bit much.

I rode the bus to the station. Since the bus was late, I had less time in the station. I bought my ticket then went into the convenience store and bought a sandwich, water and an onigiri. After that, I made my way over to the platform and got on the train a couple of minutes later.

I had a lovely ride over to Sakata. I haven’t been on this train in years, and I missed it. I used to ride the train to Sakata twice a week for work and I always enjoyed the scenery. In Sakata, I got off the train and had a washroom break. I ended up missing the bus that I planned to catch, but Google Maps told me that I could catch the next one in about 10 minutes. It worked out for me as the bus deposited me in a place I knew, so it was easy to make my way over to the Immigration Office.

When I arrived, I freshened up as I was a tad sweaty, then went into the office. I was the only person there and was basically done in about 25 minutes or less. I have my new Zairyu card. Yay! Unfortunately the picture is horrible but I refused to try and have my picture taken again so I’ll deal with it!

I texted my Sakata friend to let her know that I was finished and she texted me to say that she was really busy for a while. I let her know that I would walk back to the City Hall and if there was a coffee shop along the way I’d chill out for a while. Well, there wasn’t, but there was a nice chill out space in the city hall, so I grabbed a table and an iced cocoa and relaxed and read a bit on my phone. There was a cafe section and I got myself an iced tea and a couple of sweet treats. 

My friend let me know that she was free for a bit, so she picked me up at the parking lot and we went to a bakery near the big park. The bakery is next to the building that was used in the movie Departures (Okuribito). I grabbed some bready things and then ordered myself a katsu sand, a tonkatsu sandwich. It was big! I ate too much, even though things were amazing. I actually had to have the waitress wrap one of my goodies as I couldn’t eat anymore!

My friend had to leave as she had to go back to work. She did offer to drive me to Mikawa later in the day, but we discovered that there would be a bus in about 45 minutes so I told her I’d take that instead. She dropped me back at City Hall. I stayed inside for a few minutes before making my way over to the bus stop. The bus was on time and I boarded and rode it all the way to the Mikawa Mall.

At the mall, I didn’t do too much. I was tired so decided to have another drink. I went to the Food Boat Cafe (mall kiosk) and had an iced tea with boba. I nursed that for a while and it was very nice. 

I did a very little shopping after that. I got a few things from the grocery store and then went over to Seria, a one hundred yen shop. I got another eye mask for myself. I really like the one I’m using now, but it lets the light in. I’m not sure what the point of that it. I like the style and I like the feel of it, it goes down quite low on my cheeks, but it isn’t light blocking at all. 

I decided I’d go to Doutor and have a drink and relax more. I did that. I didn’t feel too bad about taking up a nice table as they weren’t busy. I drank my iced rooibos and surfed Facebook on my phone. F phoned me after he finished work and I invited him for a drink. When he arrived about 15 minutes later he didn’t want a drink. He wanted an ice cream! I bought him one and I got another drink, this one a decaf latte. It was very nice. He did ask if I wanted to go out for dinner, but I reminded him that I had bought food for dinner tonight. It was only store pizzas and salad, but it wouldn’t take too long to get on the table. 

We drove back to Tsuruoka and went in the house. I changed my clothes and then went downstairs to get dinner on the table. It didn’t take too long. We had a smallish teriyaki chicken pizza and a quatre fromage pizza, plus salad and some kabocha salad. Dinner was good, but F was still hungry afterwards. He had some noodles later!

After I finished the dishes, F and I left the house and went to the grocery store. I had decided I’d do my stir-fry with seaweed but they didn’t have any of the seasoning packets left. NO! I was so sad. I got another packet and I’m going to try that instead. We got our food for the next couple of days and paid and left. 

We hit up a drugstore on the way back to the house. We were running low on toilet paper [I NEVER want to get too low on TP since it is one of the first things that disappears from the stores in the event of an earthquake!] and dishwashing liquid. We got a few things and then checked out.

We came back to the house and F made some rice for tomorrow night. I put the groceries away and then went upstairs. I watched Law & Order at 11pm and then turned off the TV. I’ve watched a little bit of YouTube and I’m just winding down so I can get to bed soon. I probably won’t be getting up early tomorrow. I’m quite tired. I walked about 8 times the amount I usually do and I feel good…but my feet are a tad sore!

Anyway, that was my day. It was good. I got to see my friend, renew my Alien Registration Card, and ride buses and trains and walk in the sunshine. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my Wednesday. Until tomorrow….

April 25, 2026

Saturday - Sunny but not too warm

I woke up this morning when my alarm went. F and K were still here. F came into the room as I was going downstairs. He was looking for his keys but couldn’t find them. I asked if he wanted his spare set and I ended up giving them to him. I know where they are because I’m the keeper of the keys!

He left and I came back upstairs and tried to sleep a bit longer. F came upstairs later and we talked about what to do for lunch. We decided that we’d go out to Sakata for Thai food. I got up, dressed and checked my email quickly. However, F fell asleep! I let him snooze for a while and then I went downstairs. F woke up when I came back in the room, so we got up and left then.

We drove out to Sakata and parked at City Hall. We walked over to the restaurant and went upstairs. I had today’s special which was Gapao rice but the rice and the meat were already mixed. I liked it. F had their version of Pad Thai. He didn’t like it and found it too sweet for him. 

We left the restaurant and I nearly fell at the bottom of the steps as they are very uneven. I saved myself in time though. 

We were droving back through Sakata and I suggested that we go to the mall and have a doughnut at Mr Donut. F liked that idea so we did that. I had a decaf cafe au lait, he had the regular one. 

We went back after our drink and got doughnuts to take back to Tsuruoka with us. The original plan was one just for K, but F talked me into another one for each of us!

In Tsuruoka, F wanted to go straight to the house even though I suggested picking up something for his mother’s dinner. At the house, he went in the house and I didn’t.

I went in the garage and looked for the solar lights that we had out a couple of years ago. I couldn’t find them! Instead I decided to go upstairs and get down my fan for the room. It’s starting to feel a lot warmer during the day. I saw F inside and told him about the solar lights so he went looking for them. He found them and we spent a few minutes putting them up in the yard. he put a bunch along the road, which I didn’t really care about. I wanted them so that I can see my way to the car at night. 

I went upstairs and watched some YouTube for a while. K came back from Day Service and I noticed the time was getting later and later. F finally came up and asked what I wanted to do for dinner. He had all Japanese food ideas for dinner which might be good for him but not for me. I suggested a few restaurants but he turned up his nose at them. Then he said he’d go to the grocery store to get him and his mother some food. That really annoyed me if I’m honest. What about me? Am I not allowed to eat?

He said I could come with him to the store (gee, thanks) so I did. We over to the PAL shopping center and got some food. I picked up a chicken namban breast and then I left F and went to get my coffee creamers and some frozen pasta for myself. I told F that I didn’t want rice tonight and he wasn’t best pleased with me. For the love of whatever, I don’t like Japanese rice. I think it has no taste and it is certainly empty calories. 

On the way to the grocery store, F was playing music on his phone. It was a tiktok or something and then somehow segued into a baby crying. Yuck. On the way back to the house I was struck with a nasty headache right behind my left eye. When I got back to the house I tried to help unpack the groceries but F got weird again. I put my food away and told him I had a headache. I went upstairs, changed into my pyjamas and went to bed for a while. I don’t think I fell asleep. F came into the room after a while and turned the light on so I covered my head with the covers and stayed in bed. 

I got up around 9 and went downstairs. I heated up my dinner and brought it upstairs to eat. It was good. 

Around 10pm I went downstairs and took a shower. I came back upstairs and watched FBI and also ate my doughnut! 

After my show finished, I turned off the TV and started watching YouTube again. I’ve been catching up with some of my favourite vloggers. F went to bed and is hopefully sleeping. I’m not sure why he got so grumpy, but he’ll be fine. He doesn’t stay upset too long usually.

And that’s about it for me. I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. We should get some groceries and I hope that we’ll go to the drugstore and do a few other things that we need to do. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….