Second Day In Tokyo

 Day two started early; we got up just after 7am, had breakfast in our room, then got ready to go out.

We had to get to Shibuya, where the theatre is, to see Sunset Boulevard.

Google Maps makes it look so easy!

Walk 10 minutes to the station, get on a train and arrive at Shibuya, 33 minutes later.

What Google Maps doesn't mention is that there are four entrances to the station. Two for each direction; if you get in the wrong entrance, you have to go out again. Because Shibuya is a major destination, the entrance of the station did state whether the trains were going to Shibuya or not. The first two we checked were going in the wrong direction; the third one was the right one and, of course, had no elevator, just stairs to go down! I can manage stairs, but it takes time, so anyone who was in a rush had to go around me!

We got on the train and even got a seat! Even though it was early, just after 9am, it was already hot! I found that the little hand-held fan I had bought didn't really work outside, but in the train or air-conditioned places it really helped.

We thought about going to some places in Shibuya, but it was so hot and busy that neither Hannah nor I could be bothered.

We found the building with the theatre in it and went upstairs to see exactly where the theatre was.

In the lobby of the building

The theatre was on the 11th floor, I think! Fantastic views of the area; there was a lot of construction going on at the station and surrounding areas!

A reminder to take your trash home!

There was a department store, so we had a wander around that. I got some ideas for my T-shirt designs! It was nice to look, but everything was very expensive! I saw a lovely, small bag, but it was 30,000 yen, about £130. 

We decided to get an early lunch; the musical started at 1 o'clock, so having something beforehand was the best idea.

We found a nice pasta restaurant.

I had Wagyu beef sauce with macarooni; Hannah had lasagna. Wagyu beef is one of the best brands of beef in Japan! It can cost up to 30,000yen per kilo, about £130. The same price as the bag!

The servings were very large; we were both stuffed after! Again, just over 2,000 yen for two of us.

The timing was perfect; we finished lunch just in time to get to our seats!

In the theatre lobby

The musical was incredible. The music, the singing, the dancing and acting were all superb. I know that Sarah Brightman had an incredible voice, but I wondered if she still had it; she does! I was amazed at her skill and energy; she's two years older than me but has so much energy! The other cast were also top-notch. 

I've heard of Sunset Boulevard but had no idea of the story. I enjoyed not knowing what would happen and the plot twists!

We were allowed to take photos and videos during the curtain call.

We had to wait to get out of the theatre; it was so packed that there was a long queue for the escalator! On the way down we came across a display of artwork.

There was one other place that I really wanted to go to, and that was The British Shop, just a few minutes' walk from the theatre building.

I didn't buy that much, but I did get some cereal and teabags. There was so much that I wanted to buy, but just trying to figure out how to get it back home was a hassle, especially the cheese they had. They have an online shop, so I'll order some stuff from them. I bought a small ice cream for Hannah and me to share, but by the time I had finished paying for the goods I had, Hannah had finished the ice cream!

Our ice cream

This is what I bought!

We wanted to go somewhere else before going back to the hotel. Hannah found a cat cafe, so we went there.

But that will be its own post tomorrow!

I'm Back

 This time I went somewhere.

I've been away from home for a week! Feels longer.

I spent a couple of days at Hannah's apartment, then on Saturday, July 18th, we flew to Tokyo for our trip. It was great, exhausting, fantastic and hot- VERY HOT!!

The first dilemma was getting to the airport. The bus from the station that goes directly to the airport and the bus from near Hannah's apartment didn't match up in times. We would either get to the bus station far too early and have to wait over an hour, or get there with just a few minutes to find the bus stop and get to it. The airport bus doesn't run very often; if we missed the mid-morning one, we would miss our flight. In the end, we decided on getting a taxi to the bus station.

We still got to the station a bit early, so we decided to get a drink. 

At a cafe near the station
 
The drive to the airport was nice; once you get out of the city, it's just countryside!                                                                                                                                                                               

On the way to the airport!

At the airport.

Saga Airport is very small! Also, on this day not very busy at all.

The main lobby.

The pictures are from the manga Kingdom series. I didn't get any information, but I thought this looked really nice!

Our flight was delayed, so we grabbed a bite to eat. 

A quick sandwich while we waited for our flight.

It was very strange to look out over the runway and gates and not see any planes.

Finally our flight arrived, about 40 minutes late!

The flight was fine, but the plane was very small. I had to ask for a seatbelt extender, the seatbelt was just 1cm too short!

Also, the toilet was awful, no room at all! 

We got to Haneda Airport alright, but the walk from the gate to the exit was very far! Over a kilometre! Even with the moving walkways, it felt long!

Also, so many people, too many people! It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time! I'm so use to living in the countryside, that more than 10 people feels like a lot!

It took a while to figure out which way to get out and get on the monorail to take us to the train station to get to the airport. 

A little video I took from the monorail.

We had to change 3 times to get to the station near our hotel. With each change the stations semded to get busier and busier! Hannah did very well with figuring out which train or subway to take, where to get the tickets and getting on the train that was going in the right direction.

One thing that helped was that we didn't have our suitcase with us, we sent it on to the hotel a couple of days before we left. So much easier to get around crowded stations without a suitcase!

We finally got to the area where the hotel was. One problem with Google Maps is that they don't show the elevation of the streets. The hotel wasn't that far from the station but it was uphill! A long hill at that!

I thought I was going to die, I guess I should of gotten a lot more fitter! Still we made it. Hannah got us checked in and we went to our room.

Neither of us took photos of the room. It was small but for the few days we stayed there it was okay, the air conditioning was great! It was the first thing we turned on!

We rested for a bit, then went to find some dinner.

We found a nice resturant near the hotel that wasn't too expensive.

First evenings dinner, good price for Tokyo

After dinner we went back to the hotel to rest. We were both exhausted. For me getting from Saga to Tokyo was easy, from Haneda Airport to the hotel was awful!

Still we made it!

I'll write more tomorrow! I'm still recovering from the trip, I slept most of the day but still tired!

It's Hot And Humid

 I know that's stating the obvious, but I never realised just how it feels to walk outside in this weather.

My default setting during the summer is as close to the air conditioner and fan as possible. I refuse to move, to go outside, unless I know that my destination is within a few seconds of leaving the air conditioner. Watching news reports of how hot certain cities are, I marvel at people walking around, going to work or just going out. I've been very lucky in that, until last year, I worked from home. Going out when it's hot was an option for me, not something that I had to do. Even now, I only have to go out twice a week, then it's in a car, not being jammed into a train or bus! 

Yesterday and today, however, I've been out. Yesterday, Hannah and I got the bus to go shopping, so we weren't outside that much, but it was still hard on me. Today we had appointments to have our hair done. Hannah said that the hairdresser was close, just a short walk down the road. I believed her until the walk got longer and longer. It wasn't really that far, maybe 10 minutes walk for me! 

I'm glad that I walked to the hairdresser's and back. I thought about getting the bus, but it was quicker to walk! According to the app I have on my phone, I did 3,776 steps. I don't know how accurate that is, but it's a good number of steps!

The hairdresser was very nice. He really took time to understand what we wanted done. When he was cutting the front of our hair, he would stop and ask if we wanted more taken off. Hannah had a colour put through the bottom of her hair. He explained each step that he was taking. 

Hannah took a selfie after we had finished.

I've given up trying to look good in photos.

Tomorrow, Hannah and I are going to Tokyo! 

I'm really looking forward to that! I'll be posting about our trip when we get back!

Just found a new use for a phone stand!

Volunteer Class

 For the past few years, Mikey and I have been doing a volunteer English class once a month.

At first, I didn't like this class; the students are lovely, but there are just so many at one time! I'm used to teaching one-to-one or in small groups of 3 or 4! There are 20 students in this class!

Fortunately, Mikey is good with larger groups; it doesn't bother him. He is a magician, so performing in front of an audience is natural. Also, Mikey is bilingual, as are all my kids, so he can explain things and translate as we teach.

Now, however, I look forward to this lesson. The students are bright and eager, they are all ages and very willing to learn. One thing that amazes me is their willingness to speak in English in front of everyone. I know I wouldn't want to do that in Japanese, even in English, I don't like to speak in front of others!

Yesterday was this month's lesson. It was a lot of fun, a lot of laughs. 

After the lesson, one lady stopped me and offered me some pouches that she had made. I'm amazed at the workmanship; they look professionally made! I chose two for me and two for Hannah.

Aren't they beautiful!

That was actually very good timing, as I had planned to buy a couple of pouches the next day!

Then another lady came up and said that she was a fan of this blog! It's the first time that somebody who is not related to me or a friend has said that they like my blog! I was very chuffed! 

So I had a very good day yesterday! Also, I noticed that a new store has opened on the way. I hope to shop there sometime!

Today I'm at Hannah's apartment! I arrived late last night. We are going to Tokyo on Saturday, and her apartment is closer to the airport. I was planning on coming on Friday, but Mikey is busy, and last night was the only chance to drop me off!

This morning we took our suitcase to the post office to send to the hotel. The suitcase is small, but I couldn't envision dealing with crowds, heat, changing trains and a suitcase. By sending the suitcase on it is one less stress. Also, it wasn't so expensive, 2500 yen, about £11.

After that, we went shopping to pick up a few bits and pieces. One thing that I've been looking for is some kind of deodorant for my face, because I really sweat on my face. I managed to get some today, I hope it helps!

We had lunch out, of course!

Lunch

Just a burger and fries, I haven't had that for a while, so it was a nice change.

On the way back, I noticed a couple of things that made me smile.

At the bus station.

This little statue is in the bus station. It's a statue of Ebisu, one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan. He is the God of Fishermen and Trademen. I just love the face, so lively and happy.

Then I noticed these flowers growing in the gutter as I got off the bus.

They are so pretty and fresh-looking. 

I've had a nice day today. Sometimes it's nice to have a break from our usual day-to-day schedule. Don't you agree?

Doctors......Again

 I feel like my body is falling to pieces.

I ache in so many different places, my lower back, my neck, and my knee. I know part of it is my weight, but I had back problems when I weighed 40 kilos less and was decades younger! 

I planned to go to an orthopedist this morning. I've been having pain in my lower back if I stand for more than half an hour. I've had this problem since I was in my twenties. It isn't continuous; I can go for a few years and have no problems at all, then it suddenly gets very bad. The pain isn't extreme, but with going to Tokyo this weekend, I thought it would be better to get some strong painkillers.

However, a few days ago, my allergies got very bad! My nose is dripping all the time, and then I have these intense sneezing episodes. I've sneezed so hard that I have pain around my ribs! So I decided to go to the ear, nose, and throat doctor. Not my favourite doctor to visit. I hate having things shoved up my nose or down my throat. But I can't get anything done when I'm dripping and sneezing, plus the over-the-counter medicine isn't really helping. 

Usually, going to the doctor involves long waits, but this morning was very quick, maybe just a 10-minute wait. I was very happy about that. The doctor had a look, then I had a couple of X-rays taken.

It turns out that what I thought was just allergies is a slight infection in my sinuses. I was prescribed stronger anti-histamine tablets and a course of antibiotics.

After I finished there, David, who was driving for me, suggested buying a new mattress for my bed. My old mattress had a big dip in the middle and springs coming through, not comfortable at all. We managed to buy one, which is nice and firm. I hope I can have a good night's sleep tonight.

Of course, the mattress came rolled up, in a box and of course, one of the cats got in the box straight away!

 

Sam is in the box

I've been designing more T-shirts. I thought I was doing very well with adding new designs. I think I have almost 30 now, but then I checked some of the top sellers, and they have over 500 different designs. I guess just keep adding designs.

Last night I was watching a video that showed that one very popular design is a cat in front, taking a selfie, behind the cat is a UFO. I decided to make my own version of that, a cat taking a selfie with a Japanese yokai, Japanese yokai are a diverse group of supernatural creatures, including spirits, demons, monsters and shapeshifters. Each region has its own stories about these supernatural creatures. I might write a post about this later.

Where we live, there are a lot of stories about a water creature called a Kappa. I wrote about them here, Jackie's Japan Journal: The building Is.....

These are the images that AI came up with

I like this, but the Kappa is a bit too scary.

So I tried to make it cuter, but then it is too cute.

I'll have to have another talk with AI. I want something in between these images!

I also had an idea for a Christmas theme one.

Cute

I'll save that for later!

By the way, I've noticed random links on some of the more recent posts. I haven't put them there, and I have no idea why that is happening or what to do about it! If I add a link, I will introduce it, not just paste something. Sorry about it, I will try to figure it out!

Old Photos

 Yesterday was very hot!

In the city, it was 37℃, even here it was 34℃, that's at the foot of a mountain. I always thought it was a lot cooler here, but just 3℃ different.

I'm so glad that we got a new air conditioner put in; it really helped yesterday and today. I'm now on my summer schedule, get chores done early, before 8 am and put lunch ready. It makes such a difference.

After getting chores done yesterday, I decided to tackle a couple of boxes that I have in my room. These were full of odds and ends that I threw in when we were moving. I keep saying that I would sort them out, but it was one of those jobs that was easy to put off!

The first box I pulled out was full of a strange mix of memorable things, tickets, leaflets of places I visited and receipts for bills paid. That one was easy to deal with.

The second box had me wondering. I came across a load of photos that I found in the outside storage area. These are photos that belonged to my mother-in-law. 

I had a look through some of them. I can guess who some of the people are, but there are a lot where I have no idea who's who. It's sad as there are no relatives on my husband's side of the family to ask.

It's also fascinating to see the way people lived. Some of the photos are from the 1960s, I can recognise my mother-in-law and my father-in-law from the photo that was in the tatami room. In Japan, after people pass away, their photo is displayed in the room where the Butsudan is, the Japanese family Buddhist altar. I call them the dead photos; I'm sure there's a special name for them.

This photo made me pause.

The child in front of the man is my brother-in-law. The baby is my husband, Hisao, and the man is my father-in-law. On the back, it says that this was taken at the New Year, so I think it must be 1962. Hisao was born in 1961. According to what is written on the back, my brother-in-law was four and Hisao 6 months old. Hisao told me that his father died when he was one year old. Maybe just a few months after this photo was taken, my father-in-law passed away. He looks happy in this photo; it's sad to think that his life ended just a few months later!

This is my mother-in-law, very 1960s style. There's no information on this photo. I wonder where she was going or doing.

This is another interesting one. From what I've been told and figured out, the house in the background was not built on this land. The family lived further up the road before the 1960s. The original house built on the land where we are now was built when my husband was a child. The two boys are my brother-in-law and Hisao; the old lady was Hisao's great-grandmother. 

I'm not sure who these ladies are or who the child is. I think the lady on the right is my mother-in-law. I love what they are wearing, very typical working clothes. I think they all worked in the fields.

This is a photo of the storage building being erected. There's another photo like this somewhere. 

These photos give a snapshot of a bygone era.

It's sad to think that there are no relatives on the Japanese side of my family to pass these on to or to ask questions of.

I'll have to find a way to curate these and all the other photos that I've found, make some kind of story of the family, a small history of the family. 

There are very few photos of my family from so far back. I think in the 1950s and 1960s, cameras were expensive and considered a luxury, not something to buy unless you had a bit of extra money, which I know my parents didn't have. I think it's great that my kids have these photos of their Japanese family to look at and talk about!

Now it's so easy to snap photos, plus we always have a camera handy on our phones. I know that I take 100s of photos every month. I'm glad that we can do that. When Mikey was a baby, I used to take 36 photos a month. I felt it was important to document as much as possible, and I would send a lot of photos to my Mom. I think part of that is the fact that I love history, especially the history of ordinary people. I know that understanding the history of a country, the wars, the development of the country, the kings, queens and leaders is important, but whenever I read that kind of history, I'm always wondering how did the common man live, what he did to make money, to provide for his family, what kind of house did they live in or what did they eat.

Does anyone else have interesting old photos?

My New Air Conditioner

 Before we moved to this house, I was watching a series of videos about a man who had bought 3 Akiyas, empty, abandoned houses, in Japan. He got a good deal on these houses, but they all needed a lot of work. One thing that he did caught my attention was that he was working on houses in the summer. He said that he wanted to replace the air conditioners, but other, more urgent repairs needed doing, and he didn't have the money. When he checked the air conditioners, he found that even though they were old, installed in the late 1980s, they were in good condition. He turned them on and found that they were working all right. After I saw this, I thought that we could use the old air conditioners here. The air conditioners were put in when the house was built, about 34 years ago. I thought that if air conditioners from the 1980s work, then surely ones from the 1990s should work.

I forgot that my mother-in-law never took care of things. For example, the extractor fan over the stove was cleaned once, when we lived here before. The same with the windows, cleaned once! The bathroom tiles came up after a year and have never been replaced, just a few examples of how she didn't take care of the house!

Last summer, I opened the air conditioner in the dining/kitchen area and gagged at what I saw. It was thick with dust, oil residue and mould, which actually looked like it was moving. I thought about cleaning it, but realised that I would have to take it to pieces, and I think some of the pieces would have dissolved if I had moved them. David didn't know how bad it was. I told him it was bad, but he thought I was exaggerating. He turned it on, and the smell was just awful!

The old air conditioner, even the outside, was dirty!

Last summer, I endured not having an air conditioner in the kitchen/dining and thought to do the same this year. But I couldn't envision another 3 or 4 months of not being able to do anything in the kitchen or hurrying through meals because it's too hot!

Yesterday, David and I went to an electrical store and bought a new air conditioner. It's not the best one, or even a really strong one, but it was what we could afford. The one I wanted costs 300,000 yen, about £1,300. We got the cheapest one, 70000 yen, about £300. 

This morning, the electricians came and installed it! 

My new air conditioner

It took just over an hour to put it in. They ran a series of checks to make sure it was working alright. It was so nice to sit and eat lunch in a comfortable room. 

The unit is on the opposite side of the room from the kitchen, so I think the kitchen area won't get cold, especially if the burns or oven are on but it will make it easier. To make it better for me, I've decided that as far as possible I'll do lunch in the morning while I'm making obento and breakfast, also I'll start to do the chores after that, so everything is done before 8am, when the heat starts!

I'm glad that we got this unit. Just changing one thing has made a difference to how I feel about this house.

By the way, when I checked my blog yesterday, I noticed a link that I hadn't put in. It didn't show up on Christopher's computer, and I have no idea why it was there. If I put any links, I explain what they are for, if a random link pops up, it's not from me!