Daiso

 Daiso is one of the 100 yen shops in this area; the other one is Seria. I've heard them described as being similar to pound stores or dollar stores, but the variety and quality of goods are a lot better.

These two stores are my go-to places for destressing shopping!

I had to do a grocery run today, so I stopped into Daiso with Hannah!

The first thing that caught my eye was the calendars for next year!  We haven't done Halloween or Christmas yet. Why 2026 calendars?

2026 calendars

Hannah needed some dishes, of course, she found the ones with cats on them! I wanted to buy one of the dishes with cats on it, but Hannah got the last one! I'll check next week to see if they have any more in stock!

Aren't these cute?

These were a bit more expensive, 200 yen for the dish and plate, about £1 each. 

I bought a glass for here and a cup for Hannah. Again, 200 yen each!

Nice cup and glass

I love that it's so cheap to buy these kinds of things. We seem to break a lot of dishes, so having Daiso really helps!

Another thing I buy from there is cleaning supplies. 

The brush is for cleaning the runner on the bottom of the windows.

The pack with a face is baking soda for cleaning, great for getting rid of the cat smell.

I buy a lot of dishcloths and cleaning clothes. The cleaning clothes, called zoukin, come in sets of three. I use them a lot. They are a very absorbent and rather thick cloth.  They get used for almost all my cleaning and any accidents, because they are so cheap, I don't worry about throwing them out once they become too dirty to wash.

I was good today and stayed away from the stationary corner. They have so many lovely things there, it would be easy to spend 1,000 yen (£5.00) just on pens, notebooks, and other bits and pieces!

When I was teaching a lot of kids, I would buy sets of coloring pencils for the holiday lessons. Everyone would want the same color at the same time. I still have a basket of coloring pencils and pens! Also, notebooks for the kids to practice writing.

I love Daiso, I love that I can get good quality stuff without breaking the bank!

I Went Out...

 Twice!

Yesterday was just a little walk around the neighborhood. I wanted to see if there was any damage from the storm! There wasn't, but the weeds really enjoyed the rain and have grown even taller.

I took a little video. I'm always amazed at how green everywhere is and the different shades of green.

Today, Hannah and I got on the bus to the city center.

This is where I had planned to go with Christopher the other week, but I changed my mind!

I'm glad I made the effort today. It was difficult, not the heat (although that didn't help), but the walking exhausted me. Hannah found a small recycle bookshop that she wanted to check out. Most recyle bookshops are the same, part of the BookOff group. This one is a newer chain of stores. They run on an honor system; there are no clerks, you choose the book you want, and put the money in a box! Most of the books are 200 yen unless otherwise marked. Hannah got 10 books for just over 1,000 yen. Very good deal!

There's a long shopping arcade between the train/bus station and the store where Hannah wanted to go. We took the bus there, I couldn't face walking 15 minutes each way! We walked back. It was very interesting to see the sort of stores that are still open there. A few vintage clothes shops, a couple of lovely, expensive bouquets, lots of bars and restaurants. 

view of the arcade

It helped that it was covered for the most part. Also, there were a few cross streets that had nice breezes.

Not sure what this shop was, but it had some interesting items in the window.

One of the little side streets, a few little bars down there

The sign at one of the entrances

A flower shop

We finally got back to the station.

The station

By this time, I needed to sit down somewhere. We were going to go to Baskin-Robbins, but there was no seating and a long queue! Opposite was McDonald's, so we went in there. I was feeling a bit dizzy, maybe a combination of low blood sugar and the heat.

Hannah just wanted ice cream, but I needed some kind of protein, so I got a cheeseburger.

Our order!

I actually enjoyed that. It was just enough without being overstuffed or feeling sick from the grease and sugar!

We had a little wander around the station shops, but my energy level was dropping.

On the way back, Hannah took some photos from the bus.

One thing I was impressed with was the bus itself. Very clean and the air conditioning was good! Also, the display at the front of the bus showed what the next stop is in English and Korean, very helpful!

The bus display

A few photos from the bus

A very nice day! I just wish my back didn't hurt and I could do more walking!!!

Back Home

 I came home yesterday.

Hannah is also home for about a week. 

This week is Obon, one of the major holidays here in Japan. It's a time to welcome the ancestors back. There are different festivals and ceremonies during this time. Also, a lot of people take the chance to return to their hometown, visiting grandparents, parents, and other relatives.

I wonder if many people are risking traveling now. 

Since yesterday, we have had the most incredible storms.

As we were driving back, we noticed that the rain, which had been a slight drizzle, was getting heavier. By the time we got home, I was glad to be off the road!  The drizzle turned into a downpour! It seemed to let up for about an hour, but then it got heavier. Also, it was rather windy. 

Of course, I had to get a video!

Sorry, it's a bit jumpy, trying to hold an umbrella and a phone was not that easy! Also, the umbrella got stuck on the trees!

This storm actually got a lot worse! 

At about 8pm, we received a level four evacuation alert! Level five is the highest! All of our phones started to sound at the same time. 

The warning we received was for the possibility of a landslide. We were told to evacuate to a place just down the road, but I didn't think that area would be any safer than here; it's a lot lower and could possibly flood!  There is a possibility of a landslide, but we are so far down the mountain that I don't think it would come this far. Also, there are a lot of houses and buildings between us and the mountain. 

This is how bad the storm became; this thunder went on for a few hours!

This storm was really intense. Even between the thunderclaps claps I could feel the house vibrate!

We are lucky here; some areas have had it very bad! Floods, landslides, and damage to roads and bridges! In one place, a house was destroyed by a landslide, and one of the occupants is missing!

We are still under a thunderstorm advisory. It looks like this weather could go on for a few more days!

I really hope that we will have a couple of days of dry weather, as I want to get a lot done this week! We will see!

I'm Missing My Cats

I've been staying at Hannah's since Wednesday, going home tomorrow. I've really missed the cats! It's so quiet here, except for Hannah's neighbour! It's really strange not hearing the cats, especially at night. I know once I get back home, I'll be complaining about the noise the cats make! For now, though, I'm missing them. I talk to the cats a lot, I ask their opinions on things, like what to make for dinner! I know I'm really talking to myself, but having an audience does help!

I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but my left eye socket is swollen and rather painful. It feels like I've been punched!

Swollen eye

I'm really not photogenic at the best of times, but with my eye swollen, I look awful. Never mind.

I think it might be from the allergic attack I had the other day. I'm not sure why, but I started to sneeze like crazy, two boxes of tissues in half a day after taking medicine. This went on for two days with very little relief. When the allergies calmed down, the area under my left eye felt sore. Yesterday morning, it was so swollen and painful I thought about finding a doctor, but I didn't have a chance. This morning I used an ice pack wrapped in a towel, which helped a lot. It's still painful but not as bad. Perhaps some swelling in my sinuses is pressing on my eye. If it isn't better by Monday, then I'll have to go to an eye doctor. I hope it gets better as I really don't want to go to the doctors!  

Back home tomorrow.  I hope I'm not greeted by a load of dirty dishes! The weather has cooled down a lot; if it's like this next week, I want to go out, visit a few places. Hannah is coming back for the holiday. She wants to visit a bookstore that is in the city, just a bus ride away! Plus I must get everyone out in the garden!

Staying At Hannah's

 It feels strange staying here. Nice but strange. I ask permission to take a shower or put the air conditioner on, as this isn't my home, and I don't pay the bills.  

Yesterday we went out for lunch. There's a nice family restaurant just down the road from Hannah's apartment. A family restaurant is basically a chain of casual dining restaurants that are family-friendly. They have a large choice on the menu and a lot of kid-friendly choices. They are also very affordable.

The one problem is that there is so much choice, and most meals are very good value for money, that it can take a long time to decide what to get!

Yesterdays lunch

We shared the salad and pizza. I had the hamburger and sausage plate with bread. Hannah had steak and hash potatoes. All this for just 3,000 yen, about £15.

After lunch, we had a little walk to an electric store. Hannah needs to buy a new computer, so she wants to compare prices. The computers in there were twice as much as online, so she gave up. But this store also sells furniture, so she bought a desk and chair. This wasn't an impulse buy; she's been looking for a good desk and chair for a few months!

The store delivered the chair and desk today and assembled them as well!

I'm glad that the delivery people put the chair and desk together; it took them over 30 minutes. The desk was a lot harder to assemble than I thought it would be. They kept unscrewing parts and moving them around. All rather amusing!

New desk and chair

Set up with her books, she needs more bookshelves

This morning, Hannah had an MRI. There is nothing visible that could cause these episodes. So maybe just stress. She has another appointment in October. I hope that she can put this behind her and move forward with her studies and her life!

I'll be glad to get back to my own house. Even though I don't really like the place, it is mine and I have a lot of work to do there. Anyway, this time here has been a little holiday for me!

Hannah

 Hannah had another episode on Tuesday, not a seizure, from what she described, it sounds like sleep paralysis. 

My understanding of sleep paralysis is that there is a disconnect between the brain and body. When we are in REM sleep, the time when we dream, our brains temporarily paralyze the muscles in our body; otherwise, we would be acting out our dreams! As we wake up, the muscles become active again. Sleep paralysis happens when we are waking up, but our bodies are still paralyzed. It's not dangerous but rather scary. I've had a few episodes of this myself, so I can understand Hannah's panic.

She decided to come home Tuesday evening. She spent the night at home but had to return to university today. So I've come back with her for a few days. Next week is a holiday, so she can come home again for a few days.

This morning I offered to make breakfast. Just something simple, sausage, eggs, and English muffins.

Breakfast at Hannah's

It took longer than it should have, as I spent time looking for things. I forgot how difficult it is to cook in somebody else's kitchen!

I made a little video of Hannah's apartment. I narrated it, but my voice sounds awful. It always does, but sounds worse than usual as I have awful allergies and a sore throat.

Enjoy the video even though it's not the best quality!

Hannah has an MRI appointment on Friday, so I hope she can start to get some answers as to why these things keep happening to her!

I'm wondering what to do for the rest of the morning! I've cleaned up, hung the laundry, I have to wash the dishes from breakfast, but after that I'm free. Read? Watch TV? Lie around?  I would go out but the weather is rather unstable, thunderstorms on and off, and rain that goes from a little drizzle to full-on downpour in a matter of seconds!

It's very quiet here, no cats. I never thought I would miss them so much! I'll have to ask Christopher to send some photos later!

Hiroshima And Nagasaki

 Today, at 8:15 am, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, 80 years ago. Three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

Every summer, these events are marked. August 15th, the day that Japan surrendered, is marked a day to remember the soliders who gave their lives in war.

I have very mixed feelings about these dates of the bombs be memorialized.

Of course, it's important to remember the innocent victims who died on those days, about 80,000 in Hiroshima and 40,000 in Nagasaki. Plus the ones that suffered for many years after with burns, radiation sickness and cancers caused by the bombing. I say a prayer for these people every year.

What I struggle with is the fact that the media always portrays Japan as being the victim. Japan might be the victim of the atomic bomb but it was the aggressor in the war.

One of the reasons Amercia joined the war in the Pacific Thearter was the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The Japanese had already expanded it's emipre across a large area of Southeast Asia. Japan was driven by the desire to obtain natural resources. Also national prestiage and military power played a part in the expansion.

These facts aren't really talked about, either in education or in the media. It's all about the suffering of the Japanese people. The atrocities commited by the Imeperial Army (The Rape of Nanking or Comfort Women, for example) are brushed over. Some people believe that all the awful things that happened in the war are conspirecy theories put out by western media.

Was the use of the atomic bomb really necceasary?

I've heard arguments from both sides. But it's hard to judge, I wasn't there and I wasn't the one to make the decision to drop the bombs.

One argument for using the bombs is that it shortend the war. The loss of life was horrendous on those days but a prolonged war would of caused a lot more casualites.

Were both bombs needed?  I don't think so, dropping the one on Hiroshima was enough to scare the Japanese leaders into considering surrender.

There are many lessons to learn from these tradgies. One thing I would like to see is that the children are taught that even countries have to face the consequences of their actions. If Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor, then maybe the bombs wouldn't have been used!

I've visited Nagasaki and toured the area where the bomb was dropped. There is a beautiful Peace Park. I had a look at the museum but had to leave as the photos were very disturbing.

This year Hannah went to Hiroshima. She visited the Peace Dome and meseum, again a very disturbing place to visit.

Some photos from Hiroshima.

A drum that was found in a school

An elementary school, this place was used as a makeshift hospital

The Peace Dome

By the way, I'm sorry for any mistakes, especially spellings. The spell/grammar check AI use isn't working!