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….

October 9, 2024

Wednesday - Cloudy and a little windy

Today I had to change hotels so I checked out of one hotel and then brought my bags to my last hotel. I went shopping and picked up a few more teas, I swore I wouldn't buy too many, but I did get some.

I returned to the hotel by bus, got some lunch from a convenience store and then came to my room. I ate and then napped.

I had dinner in an Indian restaurant that was nice and just relaxed. I hope to get my suitcase closed tomorrow!

Here are today's photos...

A bench based on the famous Yamagata Jomon Goddess.

A few years ago I visited Niigata Station with a friend and tried their ¥500 saké testers. It was fun. Yamagata has just started that too, and they have wine as well!

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A bench based on a pot of Imoni, or taro potato stew. There are seats inside the pot! Yamagata makes their imoni with a soy sauce base, and Shonai makes it with a miso base. I prefer the miso one!

Possibly back to normal posting tomorrow night. Until tomorrow....

November 21, 2023

Tuesday - Warm and sunny

I’m back!  I had a great time in Yokohama, and it was quite simple to get to Yokohama as well. I Google-Mapped it and it got me to a bus stop next to the hotel, so that was really cool.

The convention was really well done and Yokohama was a great place to have it. The hotel was fine…I didn’t like the bathroom, it was tiny and there was a high step to get into it. Not my favourite thing. Apart from that, the room I had was big, the bed was comfortable, and I really didn’t have many problems.

On the last day, we all checked out and then had a panel discussion. A bit later, we walked to Chinatown and had a dim sum lunch at a restaurant. The convention organizer knew the owners and got us a great price. 

After lunch, I walked back to the hotel, picked up two of my bags and then walked to a train station. I caught a train to Yokohama station and then transferred to a train going to Tokyo. I found Yokohama station to be insanely confusing. It wasn’t well marked and I had no idea where I was going. 

I got myself on a train to Tokyo station. It might not have been the best option, but it was fine. I got a seat all the way, so that was good! Tokyo Station was easy to get around and it is very well marked. I found the Shinkansen area easily and bought my tickets up to Niigata. I had a bit of time before my shinkansen was going to leave, so I grabbed a couple of bentos. I was starving! I’m not even sure why. 

I got on the shinkansen and for the first couple of stations I didn’t have a person sitting next to me so I gobbled up my bentos. My seatmate got on and we had a quiet ride to Niigata. 

In Niigata, I checked into my hotel and it was a lovely experience. Last year, a different hotel, that I often stayed at, gave me a terrible time and was extremely rude to me. In both cases, I had joined the hotel’s membership so they had my address in Japan. Basically, if you are a foreigner who is a resident of Japan, you don’t need to ask for ID. Last year’s hotel accused me of being an illegal alien and was so rude when I checked in. This year, a different hotel and no ID. The hotel was much nicer, the only downside was that it was a few hundred meters down the road from the station. 

I went out to grab some dinner, I went over to Royal Host which is a place I often go by myself. I had a nice pasta dinner and then walked back to the hotel and had a quiet evening. I watched a bit of YouTube and fell asleep. I woke up at 5:30 am on top of my bed and ended up going to bed properly then. Although I could get a free breakfast at the hotel in the morning, I decided to just sleep in. I had put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door so I got to sleep in. Yay!

A little after noon, I went out. This was Monday. I went over to the Aeon Mall and did a little shopping and wandering around. I didn’t buy too much, although I found a Twinnings Tea Advent calendar that I got for myself. I had lunch in the mall too, that was nice and quite good. I ended up leaving the mall a bit earlier than I had planned. I got back to the station and did a little shopping and picked up a tea at Starbucks. I grabbed a bento and went back to the hotel. I also somewhere along the way bought my ticket back to Tsuruoka on Tuesday.

Back at the hotel, I bought myself a movie card and then went upstairs, talked to F and then watched a movie. I stayed up a bit late but did get up and went down for breakfast this morning.

After breakfast, I took a shower and finished packing my suitcase. I checked out at 11am and left my backpack and my suitcase at the hotel.

I walked over to the Bandai area of the city and went for a decaf coffee in LoveLa2. I wasn’t feeling too great today, unfortunately. I checked the movie schedule and realized that I could go to a movie in a couple of hours and then I could relax and sit down for a while. That’s what I did. I went to see The Marvels again and quite enjoyed it. 

After the movie was over, I walked back towards the station. I stopped to have a light lunch at a food court and then made it back to the hotel. I grabbed my stuff and walked to the station. I was quite early, which was nice as I didn’t need to rush or panic.

I had decided to treat myself to the Green Car on the train. It’s like first class. It was a bit expensive, but the seat was nice and comfy and the car was very quiet. There was space for my suitcase on the floor behind my seat and I just really enjoyed myself.

F picked me up a few minutes after I arrived and we went to Cocos for dinner. He got his birthday dessert…his birthday is on Thursday but we have plans…and after dinner we went over to Pal shopping area and I bought a few groceries for tomorrow. I hope it goes well!

We came back to the house and two things happened. North Korea apparently sent a missile over Japan again, so F wanted to see the updates on the TV, and my DVR stopped working entirely. I assumed the batteries were dead in the remote, but when I hit the buttons on the machine itself, nothing happened. Despite my asking F to look at it, he got angry and refused. He told me there was too much stuff in front of the machine. Yes, there is a lot, but right now I don’t have the energy to move everything. I asked him if he had done anything to the machine while I was gone. Apparently not. I was gone for 4 days, how would I know what he’s done?

Anyway, I have an idea of what to try tomorrow and I’ll see if I can get it working again. Unfortunately, I missed my show tonight but that’s okay. 

This is terribly long, sorry about that. Are you still with me?

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

October 17, 2023

 Tuesday - Windy and cool

Apologies for not writing sooner.

My flights back to Japan all went well and for the most part, were quite comfortable. I was able to use the lounge at Vancouver for a few minutes which was a nice perk. If I’d thought about it earlier, I could have had lunch there too. Once I boarded the plane to Japan I had a bit of a problem. At first, there was an older Japanese lady next to me, but it seemed that she wasn’t in the right seat. She moved and a Japanese guy sat there instead. He asked me if I knew the other foreigner at the end of the row and if I’d like to sit next to him. Well, no I didn’t know him and I’d particularly picked the aisle seat for myself so….

I watched a couple of movies on the plane, some TV programmes and listened to a bit of music. The food was okay and as a perk, we were allowed to have a drink from the Business class. I had an umeshu. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had though. 

The guy next to me was a pain though. I have no problem with him asking me to let him out, although it might have been nice if he had asked the guy next to him to let him out some of the time too. The seat in front of me was reclined a bit, so there wasn’t a ton of space in front of me to get out, so the guy’s solution was just to clamber all over me to get out. He wouldn’t let me stand up, something I’d much rather do. That meant I got his scrawny butt in my face all the time. I must admit I wasn’t the nicest about it and swore rather a lot. He took his socks off and put his feet up on the armrest ends of the row in front of us, he fidgeted all the way back to Japan. Argh. I had planned to sleep a bit but never was able as he kind of upset me.

Back in Japan, I got through Customs and Immigration easily, got my suitcases and then was able to put one of them in for delivery. I kept my other suitcase with me. I bussed over to the other terminal and checked into my hotel. After calling F who was happy to hear from me, I went looking for dinner. Most restaurants were closed, so I ended up getting something from a conbini. I got a little bit for breakfast and something for dinner too, plus something to drink as I was thirsty. 

I was in bed by 11:00 p.m. 

On Saturday, I got up, showered and dressed and then met up with my friend. We had lunch and then wandered all over the Airport. We even went over to the International terminal again. We had a Krispy Kreme doughnut and then it was nearly time for me to pick up my bags and get checked in. It was all very new age-spacey to check in my suitcase, the machine checked dimensions and weight before spitting out a luggage tag that I added to it. 

We hugged goodbye and then I went through into the checked-in area. We had to board the plane to Shonai by bus so that was fun. I didn’t get a seat on the bus. No worries. 

The plane ride to Shonai Airport was lovely. I had a good view out the window…for a change, I took the window seat and it was worth it. I couldn’t quite tell where we were when I could see the ground, but it was still beautiful. It wasn’t quite dark yet, so the view was nice.

F met me at the airport and we went for dinner right away. I had suggested going for keiten sushi, but he suggested The Grand El Sun, and since my trip started with a meal there, I liked the symmetry of it. We had a lovely meal and then came back to the house.

At the house, I said a quick hello to K and then headed upstairs. I was tired and went to bed quite early.

Sunday, we went out for lunch and then we both started to feel bad. F was looking for winter tires and I stayed in the car. I didn’t want to walk around tire shops. 

We bought a few groceries and bentos for dinner. I went to bed and didn’t have mine. I had a 37.5-degree fever.

Monday, F didn’t go to work. He had a bad headache and since I was still rocking a 37.5-degree fever, decided we should get tested and see what’s up.

Well, long story short…I have Covid. F’s test was negative, but the doctor is treating him like he has it too. I’ve got a lot of medicine and I slept most of last night too. I finally ate my bento or most of it. We’re quarantined until Saturday or something, after that we can go out if we’re feeling okay. F’s sister will bring us some groceries if we need them. 

So, I’m sorry that I didn’t update earlier, but I had a really good reason. I feel a little better today and my temperature is only 37 degrees so a bit of improvement!

Anyway, I’m back to bed. Talk to you next time!

October 11, 2023

Wednesday - Cloudy and coolish

Well, yesterday turned into an eventful day after all. My sister and I went to the bank to see about getting online banking for me, which went well. They asked me some stuff in the bank and then I came back to my sister's home to set it up. 

Unfortunately, when I came downstairs to sign on to the computer again, I missed the bottom step as the stairway is quite dark and ended up almost falling. I really gave my right leg a good shock and while I can walk, doing stairs is a bit difficult. 

I was able to sign up for the online banking, which will make things easier for me to pay things from my account overseas and also to keep an eye on my account. 

My friend arrived promptly at 1:30 and we went out to Starbucks in Beaumont. We had a great time and then she asked if I'd like to drive into the city with her. She was going to Pennington's to get a pair of shoes for a family friend. I said sure, so off we went. I wasn't able to buy nylons, but I got more tape to keep clothing attached to skin and a pair of lacy tights. They were expensive so I hope they last!

When I came back to Beaumont with her we hugged and took a couple of pictures. Then she left. We've had a great time together this trip.

I came into the house and ended up watching 2 more episodes of Agent of Shield. My nephew was bored by it so I watched an older episode of Loki to catch up!

My sister and her husband made steak for dinner so that was a nice thing. I've probably eaten more steak this holiday than I do in a year back in Japan! I am NOT complaining! Later on, my BIL and I watched Jeopardy which was a lot of fun. We did great at some categories, not so well in others. 

I went up to my room around 11:30 I think and packed a few more things in my suitcase before bed.

This morning, I got up reasonably early and had breakfast. After breakfast I got stuck into packing and got basically all of it done. Tomorrow I'll still have to put my nightclothes and what I'm wearing today into my suitcase. I hope it doesn't weigh too much, but I didn't have to expand my large suitcase, at least not so far!

My sister and I had lunch and then I watched the last two episodes of Agents of Shield and I'm not too embarrassed to say I was a bit weepy at the end. I have really enjoyed the series and I'm so glad that I got to see it all. I did a bit of my shawl too, which is growing quite well. I'm nearly done the first ball of yarn but I'll have to put it in my suitcase until I'm back in Tsuruoka.

My nephew suggested going out for dinner tonight and I think we're going to do that. It'll give my sister a bit of a break. I'm not sure if she wants one, but I think it'll be nice.

My leg still hurts and I'm not sure how I'm going to get from the drop off point at the airport tomorrow to the actual airport. My BIL says there are luggage carts, I hope he's right. I'm all checked in for my first two flights so that is a relief. 

Anyway, this will be my last update from this side of the pond! Thanks for reading along and keeping good thoughts for me with my travels. Until next time.... 

October 10, 2023

Tuesday - Cloudy but warm

Well, Monday was a bit of an odd day. It was very quiet around here. It was a national holiday so we got to relax a bit, which was good.

I packed my smaller suitcase in the morning. It's not finished yet, I'll have to put more stuff in it, but it got a lot of my things out of the way. 

After lunch I took a bit of a nap. Nothing much was going on, so I wrapped myself up in a quilt on my bed and had a snooze. It was nice.  I got up and decided that I wasn't in Canada to sleep, but I was here to spend time with my family, so I went downstairs and was more sociable. 

In the early evening I watched another two episodes of Agents of Shield. Man, I miss that show. They had so many great ideas and characters. I'm hoping I can catch the last four episodes before I leave, although I am now thinking about getting the Disney channel if I can talk F into it!

We had dinner which was leftovers and it was great. I love having leftovers! I wish we had them more often in Japan, rather than big sit-down dinners where I do all the work. 

Everyone went to bed early except me! I stayed downstairs a little past 11 but then I went up to my room. I watched some YouTube (mostly Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers) and packed part of my big suitcase. There's still a lot of room in it, happily. I don't think I bought quite so many things as I have in other years, but we shall see.

I went to sleep a bit after one I think.

This morning, I tried to get up a bit earlier. I'll have an early morning on Thursday and I need it to go smoothly. I had breakfast, then started some laundry and took a shower. I'm still doing laundry, but it's nearly done. My sister always suggests that I wash everything here so I don't have to wait for it to dry back in the house. She's right, but sometimes my clothes are not to be put in the dryer. They take longer. Hopefully, the things I washed today, will be dry by the time I need to pack them!

Later this afternoon, I'm meeting my friend to have coffee and have a last get-together. I'll really miss her when I'm back in Japan. It's been lovely seeing as much of her as I have. 

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post tomorrow. If I can't, the next entry will likely be when I'm back in Japan and a bit rested. I'll talk to you later!

Until next time.... 

October 5, 2023

 Thursday - Cold and windy

Hi again!  

I've been enjoying my time in Canada. I have only a week left of my time here. It seems to have gone so fast though. 

I've met up with two different friends over the last two days and had a really good time. I've had a lot of luck with my shopping too and I'm very nearly done. I'm not saying I wouldn't buy something else if it presented itself to me, but I am now the proud owner of 3 pairs of jeans and two snazzy outfits for my convention next month, so I'm quite pleased. 

Today I'm doing a bit of a rest day, although I've been quite busy. I'm in the midst of doing laundry and thought I'd take a few minutes to come by and say that I am still here.

On Tuesday, my sister dropped me off at West Edmonton Mall and since I was early I went to Torrid and found a pair of carpenter pants/jeans that I really liked. They are very wide legged though and I will have to get them hemmed as they are rather long on me. The bane of being a short person! I met up with my friend and we did a little bit of looking around the mall and had a drink, then went looking more and finally had lunch at a food court. We met up with her husband and they drove me back to Beaumont. We had a family night in that night and had some pasta as well as watching a bit of TV.

Yesterday, my BFF and I did some shopping in Edmonton and had a lot of luck. I picked up another pair of jeans that fit really well, plus a few shirts and a jean dress. It was so nice that my sister is thinking of getting one for her daughter! We checked out an expensive clothing shop, but didn't have much luck there, but did go back to Penningtons and had a lot of fun there. My friend and I were trying on stuff and showing each other, the lady in the next changing room joined in, and it was just fun. I got a pair of trousers. I can wear them for nice outings or work if I ever go back, a couple of t-shirts, a fancy bra and a my outfit for the convention. It was on a massive sale so I really lucked out.

Along the way, we had a nice lunch and later a drink at Starbucks. I've discovered their "Refreshers" which is a drink with bits of fruit in it. I have mine in water. It's nice and I don't have to have caffeine or hopefully a load of calories.

We came back to Beaumont and she dropped me off after having my sister take a couple of photos. We hope to have coffee or something next week if it works out.

My sister and nephew and I went out for dinner to Boston Pizza. I haven't been there in ages. We had some appetizers and then I had a spicy Mac & Cheese. It was good but I couldn't finish it all. 

We came back to the house and I watched 2 episodes of Agents of Shield and 2 episodes of Loki. It was a Marvel night! I also did quite a bit of crochet on my shawl, so that was good. It is starting to look more like a shawl now, and the rows are taking a lot longer to do. 

My sister had to pick up her husband at the airport so she had a late night. I was in bed when she came back with him. I wasn't asleep yet, but it was quite late.

Today I had breakfast and then sorted my laundry. I took care of a personal chore too, and even had a chat with my sister. 

I'm not sure what the rest of the day will hold. Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for dinner around my old stomping grounds, so that will be fun. I hope to do a little Whyte Ave exploring before I meet her.

Anyway, that's it for me for today. Not sure if I'll be able to update tomorrow or not. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my lovely Canada days. Until next time....

September 29, 2023

 Friday - Rainy and cool

It's been a busy week here in Canada. I went out with my niece on Tuesday. I had an expensive lunch and a successful shopping trip. I got a lovely dress for my party in November on a massive sale, so that was good.

My friend picked me up on Wednesday morning and we went into the city. We had a lovely lunch at The Olive Garden and then a very successful shopping trip in Mayfield Common. I got some jeans, some shirts and some nice undies! We checked into the hotel and had a little rest before leaving again.  We had a light dinner at a placed called Chopped Leaf and then went over to the Jubilee Auditorium. We saw Ain't Too Proud, which is a stage play/musical about The Temptations.  Despite a very talented cast and some great music, it wasn't the greatest play ever. We both liked it but didn't love it. We went back to the hotel and basically went straight to bed!

Thursday, we did more shopping. We went up to Kingsway Garden Mall and had a quick run through a shop before having a nice brunch in the food court. I opted for Ukrainian food, since it is quite hard to get it in Japan (although Costco does sometimes have perogies). It was lovely.  We did a lot of walking around the stores and my friend had much more luck than I did. We ended up in The Bay and I found a coat that was on massive sale. It's not a terribly warm one, but should do for a lot of the Japanese winter, especially if I wear something warm underneath.

We met up with my friend's niece and her husband. I haven't seen the niece for years...probably 15 or 20...and now she's a grown up married lady! It was lovely to see her. She seems quite happy, I'm glad to say.

We had to go our separate ways as we were a bit tired, and they had a long way to drive. We went back to the hotel for a few minutes and then we went out again to go to the restaurant. My friend had made reservations at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. It was amazing. It was expensive, but it was worth it. The food was excellent and so were the staff. We were there for about 2 and a half hours, and were stuffed afterwards. We had cheese and broccoli soup, then a cheese fondue, followed by a coq au vin based fondue with meats and some shrimp and salmon. It was amazing. The veggies were also good. The ending was of course a chocolate fondue and it was so good I wanted to lick out the pot at the end in case we missed some of the chocolate!

We went back to the hotel and were in a food coma. We basically relaxed and watched a bit of TV. I planned to take a bath, but didn't, I read a bit of my book, did a little crochet and then eventually went to bed.

Today, I've already had a lot of fun! After we checked out of the hotel, we went to breakfast at Cora. It is a new to me breakfast chain. They close in the afternoon apparently. I had what they called a breakfast poutine. It was great and filling. I picked up the bill for that as my friend had been driving all the time and made all the reservations and such during our staycation!

We did a bit more shopping. I got some pyjamas and another souvenir for my husband at one place, then we zoomed over to the new mall near the International Airport. I didn't have a ton of luck there, but I did get a pair of shoes. Yay. We had a diet root beer and some onion rings at A&W and then did a bit more shopping. I didn't have much luck clothes wise, but did get some chocolate at the Lindt outlet shop. I'll be saving that for Japan and enjoying that over the next few months. 

My friend drove me back to my sister's house and we hugged goodbye. We hope to get together sometime next week if there's time. We both had such a good time together!

And that's it. You are up to date with me!

I hope it has been worth waiting for this update. Come back later if you like and see if I am able to write more. Until next time....

September 20, 2023

 Wednesday - Cloudy and cool

Yesterday was a pretty good day. After I blogged, I had lunch and then my sister and I headed out to do some shopping. We visited a couple of stores but didn't have any luck. Then, she went to the Superstore to get some groceries and I checked out their clothing section. They had plus sizes and some quite good things. A few things were on sale too, so I ended up with some sporty leggings in a psychedelic print, a sports top, a blouse and a pair of pyjama bottoms. I was quite pleased.

We had to go to another grocery store too as some of the ingredients she needed were hard to come by. I picked up some snacks, some decaf coffee pods and some lunch meat. I'm really enjoying the wonderful range of lunch meats available here. Japan's are rather dull and not very tasty. 

We came back to the house and after a while my sister cooked dinner. She roasted some chicken breasts and served them with some orzo, and asparagus. I had some lettuce with mine too. They were very nice. 

They made me watch another episode of Inside Man and then I basically went to bed. I had woken up at 6:30 that morning and hadn't been able to really sleep longer. I was tired.

I woke up around 2:00am today and stayed awake until 5ish, then went back to sleep and slept until 7:30 or so I think. Jetlag is a drag!

I do have plans to see my bestie on Friday. We'll have lunch and maybe go and see a movie if is is possible. We'd both like to see the new Branagh film, A Haunting in Venice I think it is called. 

It's been getting a lot cooler today. Next week it should warm up a little, but it is a big change for me. We don't have the humidity which I am so glad about. It's nice not to sweat all the darn time!

Okay, well that's enough. I want to get back to my vaycay. I'll try and update tomorrow but may skip Friday.

Until next time!

September 19, 2023

 Tuesday morning - Sunny and cool

Yesterday was a pretty good day.  After lunch, my sister took me into Edmonton and I did a little shopping. I did rather well. I bought some new socks, a few shirts and a new bra! I'm not sure if the bra is really the right size though. It was so uncomfortable. I have others that are similar so I'm hoping it'll relax a bit!

I managed to stay awake and reasonably lucid until 9:00pm last night.  I had dinner with my nephew and sister and then watched part one of a series that they said I had to watch. It was good! It was Inside Man with Stanley Tucci and David Tennant. I hope I get to watch the rest of it. 

But, by 9 pm I was too tired to function, so I went to bed and slept for a few hours. I woke up around 1:30 am, played with my phone for a while and then went back to sleep. I woke up again around 6:30 and dozed on and off until I got up this morning.

It's been quite a strange thing being able to understand everyone though. I went to the bank yesterday to exchange some of my money and I could do it all by myself. I didn't need help from F or my phone's Google Translate. 

I've also been a bit nervous to hear about the homeless problem in my city and how certain areas of the city aren't really safe anymore. My sister is advising me that if I want to use the LRT system (Light Rail Transit) that I should go with my nephew as he's a strapping lad and likely wouldn't get messed with. That's a big change. 

I hope to be able to get out and about by myself and do a bit more shopping in Edmonton. Today, my sister and I might do a Costco run or go somewhere else, it just depends what she needs to do. If I go to Costco, I have to remember to tell them I'm an International Member...don't ask me how I know that!

Anyway, must be off. Will try to update tomorrow....

September 18, 2023

Monday - Cool but smoky

I made it safely to Canada. It was a bit of a nightmare getting here though. 

My plane from my local airport was late leaving Shonai, so it made getting through customs and Immigration in Haneda a little hairy. I didn't really have time to eat at the airport and I was hungry as lunch was hours earlier. I made it though.

The flight to Canada was fine. I didn't sleep much, I watched a couple of movies and enjoyed them. I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once and it had English subtitles so I could understand the whole thing this time. Woot. I also watched Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and liked it a lot. 

Customs and Immigration in Canada were fine, but what wasn't fine was the long walk through the airport to drop my big suitcase. Last time I did this trip there was a place to drop off my bag very much closer. I bought a sandwich in the airport that was Vegas priced. It was excellent, but expensive. And of course, my flight from Vancouver to Edmonton was delayed by half an hour. I dozed a lot in the waiting area, and most of the flight!

My sister and nephew met me in the airport and brought me back to the house. I was so tired but managed to let dear F know that I had made it safely.  

Yesterday I took things fairly easy. I did a little shopping at Walmart and the grocery store...picked up some pita bread. Yum. I had a 4 hour "nap" in the middle of the day and woke up around 8:30 pm. Oops.

I'm quite surprised at how expensive food is here in Canada. Japan doesn't seem as expensive anymore. So, things are going well.  

It's still morning here on Monday. I usually update late at night, but won't be able to do that this trip.  I'll try and write more tomorrow or later depending on when I can use the computer!

Until next time....

September 15, 2023

Friday - Hot and Sunny

F got up early today so that he could go to the hospital and just before he left he woke me up. I asked him to today! I wanted to make sure that I was up in time to register for the Convention in Yokohama. I was up, dressed and did in fact, register for my convention. Woot! I’ll have to try and pay for it from Canada!

F came back from the hospital and checked his mother. She said she wasn’t hungry, so we went out for lunch. I suggested going to Cocos and that’s what we did. I had the lunch pasta again, and F had a hamburg and oyster fry. He didn’t like his much, I loved mine!

After lunch, we went to a convenience store to pay a bill. I got us some drinks and then we drove to Mikawa. F had to bring paperwork to his office about his days off, so he called someone and they came out to the car. 

Our next thing was to go to the post office and yes, you guessed it, make another deposit! I made a slightly larger one today. It was 500 yen and I put in 10 yen coins. Hurray for me. I’m putting this project on pause now, but I did re-home many coins, so I’m glad!

We came back to the house and relaxed for a bit. Well, F did, I worked on my packing. I think I got it done. I’m not sure if my suitcase is too heavy though. I may have to take two rather than putting one inside the other. 

After a while, we went out for dinner. We gave K the bento that she didn’t eat last night. We planned to go to one udon place, but when we got there, it had already closed. We took the scenic route as F seemed to forget where we were going. We tried to go to the other place, but on the way, we changed our mind and went for Chinese food instead. It was good!  I had Yurinchi, a sort of sour fried chicken and F had ramen and a starchy thing on rice. 

We came back to the house after dinner and I tried to get F to help me weigh my suitcase. I’m still confused and not sure if it’ll be okay. It probably will be though. 

I took a shower after a bit and then came upstairs again. I tried to explain to F how to use the DVR. I’ve asked him to record one show for me, The Walking Dead and next week it gets a bit complicated. I hope he knows what he’s doing. I hope!

And that’s about it. I’m trying to wind down and calm down. There’s so much that I haven’t done yet and I’ll just have to let it go. It’s okay I think. I think I have done the necessary things. I think!

Anyway, I don’t know how much access I’ll have to a computer over the next month, so blogging may be sparse. I’ll hopefully catch up with you all next month. Until next time!