Weekend Fun

Weekend fun........

Friday after school we had our Back to School dinner. The school arranged for a public bus to come and pick us all up to take us to the restaurant. The bus was crammed full...standing room only. Luckily for me and Mark we got in early and had a seat. It took at least an hour to get to the restaurant from the school. We kept driving and driving and driving. Soon we were going past rice fields and heading toward the mountains (tall hills??). The restaurant was a very traditional Japanese restaurant. It was set up for the staff. It was opened up on one side where we could sit inside or outside. We grabbed a table that was inside, but right next to the open area. There was a huge buffet with traditional Japanese food along with salad, soups, and even Italian food. There were many dishes with fish and other types of meat. I will be honest...I was starving!! I headed for the Italian food. They had different pastas with veggies and a cream sauce, pasta with other veggies and potatoes in sauce. I also did try some little sweet potato things. I don't know what they were called but they were delicious. Mark was more open to trying things that he did not know what was in it. Due to me not eating meat I wanted to make sure I knew what I was eating. I was so happy to have a meal where I could eat and fill full afterwards. The dinner was for two hours. One the time was up the bus came to pick us up and take us back to school. Once we got back to school Mark and I walked to the subway station near the school to head to the subway station across from our apartment. I am really enjoying the convenience of the subway station. Since Mark did not have a bike at this time it was easier to take the subway with him. Once we got home we were able to relax. My goal for Saturday morning was to sleep in until 6:00ish.

On Saturday we both slept in until about 6:40. I couldn't believe it. I actually felt rested. It was the first time I slept through the night and was able to sleep in once the sun was up. What a great way to start the weekend. Mark and I had made plans with our friend, Robyn. We were going to walk down to the Marinoa outlet area. Robyn took the subway to our house and then we headed out. The walk is not bad at all to get to the Marinoa shopping outlets. It would have even been better had it not have been so sunny and hot. I am still waiting for the weather to cool down. You will know when that happens because I will be shouting it from the roof tops!

There is a bridge that we have to walk over. Let me tell you it is steep. I have even ridden my bike over it, but I have never made it all the way to the top still on my bike. Each time I am getting closer to the top I come to a complete stand still. I have to get off of my bike and walk it to the top and then ride down. Walking it is a workout for the calves and thighs. The view is amazing from the bridge. I can see the Hakata Bay. There are many boats that are docked at the marina near the outlet area. I saw a couple of fishing boats while I was taking photos. The water was so blue. It looked very refreshing. I was almost tempted to jump in.

I was looking forward to looking around at the shops, and for Mark to find a bike. We were headed to the sports store first. Nitori (the Japanese Ikea) is located at this outlet mall, too. Mark and I went to the sports store while Robyn hit Nitori. We were in luck because Mark was able to find a bike that he liked. It is different from mine since Mark likes to ride for distance and pleasure. I ride for transportation and my bike only has one gear. Mark's new bike has 21 gears. Once he had the bike being prepared he came and met us girls. We were off to look for a place to eat. I really wanted to go up in the Sky Wheel, but I was out numbered. Remember that I told you it was very hot and sunny. Well, the little capsules you go up in are not air conditioned. They only have a few holes in it to get air. I was told we would go soon once it cools off. So, no photos with a view from above.

He view from the Marinoa area is beautiful. I got a good shot with the Fukuoka Tower and the Yahoo! Dome. Very nice if I do say so myself.

We went to look at the restaurants. One thing that is soooo nice is that they have wax models of the different items on the menu. Fukuoka is very well know for having the best, most real life looking food displays. I have some photos of the food. It really does look real. One day I may go and try to make my own. They have a place where you learn to make something. If and when I go you will be the first I share it with. Promise!

We decided on a restaurant that served tempura veggies and some shrimp. It was a small restaurant, but it had a crowd. We ended up waiting about 10-15 minutes to get a table. The food was delicious and so light. It isn't like the tempura you get in the states that is soaked with grease. It really is light and not greasy. I love the squash when they prepare it. We actually all had the same lunch with the exception of mine. I have double the veggies. The photo with the big fish on it is the sign above the restaurant.

Once we ate we all went to walk around and see what stores are there. I would really ask what stores are not there. They have a Krispy Kreme, Baskin Robbins, Babies R Us, Coach, Starbucks, and so many other stores. The shopping areas are so nice and roomy. Still, when the cooler temps hit it will be more enjoyable to shop. Mark reached his saturation point so he headed off to pick up his bike and to head home. Robyn and I wanted to walk around a little more to see what all was there. Once we were tired of walking around we began to walk to another shopping area called the Marina Shopping Mall. There are a bunch of stores including an imported food store, a large and nice grocery store, some clothing stores, kids stores (no they don't sell kids...they sell stuff for kids), and a food court area. You might think the food court area would only serve Japanese food, but you would be wrong. There is a Subway, a Mexican restaurant, and a Golden Spoon frozen yogurt place. So much under one roof. I was dying for a frozen yogurt, but I didn't have one. Maybe next weekend.

Robyn and I bought a bunch of things and then found a taxi to get us back home with our groceries. I didn't buy that many groceries because I knew that Mark and I were going to go on Sunday to get our groceries. It had been a good day. The heat wears us down. It was nice to come home and relax. That evening I had a delivery. I finally got my registration card that shows I am here legally. See, I am a legal alien now. Woo hoo!!

Mark and I were not as lucky on Sunday morning. We both woke up a little after 6:00 AM. I had hoped to sleep in late again. Once we were up and dressed we headed out to the Marina shopping center that I had gone to on Saturday. Mark had never been there. We walked and it only took about 10 minutes to get there. I brought my rolling cart with me to get the groceries home in. We went through the whole mall. We bought some good food items to try and cook. I even found tortillas and chilies. We went to Subway and ordered a 6” sub to go. I had the veggie delight and here they actually make it better than in the states. It had avocado on it and many veggies. Yum!!!!

Once home we put everything away. Robyn and I had hair appointments in Tenjin. We hit the subway and made it to our appointment just five minutes late. We called ahead to let the guy know. He said no worries. Robyn had her hair cut and styled while I was getting my color to cook (that is what I call the process). Man oh man did my hair get cooked. Robyn was done so she went out to find a nail place. She has been wanting to get her nails done for a couple of weeks. While I was getting my hair done I had to be patient. They put one color on all of my roots and then when that was done they put another color on all of my roots and then they did highlights. I was wondering if I would have any hair left with all the chemicals that had been on it. It looks nice, but I will be honest and say that I like it a little darker. I hope it last for more than the four weeks that it normally last. This guy was expensive. I am sure it is the going rate here, but I haven't paid that much in years. I was even 1,000 yen short. Luckily Robyn had come back by then. She saved me. We went to the Apple store to look into a cable so I could watch shows from my computer on my TV. I found a person who is from the states who works in Japan. He told me that my best deal would be to get the Apple TV. I had forgotten all about that. I was thrilled when I bought it and knew Mark would be happy to see it. It was getting late though and I wanted to get home. It had taken from 3:15-6:15 for my hair. Yes, three hours. You would never know it was a 3 hour job. Crazy.

Once we were done we headed home on the subway. I love having a subway so close. It is such a great thing. Too bad all of the states in the US don't have one.

That is all of the adventures from the weekend. Oh, one more thing. There has been some typhoon activity around here. Not “right” here, but in the area heading to South Korea. We did have a very windy day today. Okinawa was hit and I think there was a death there. I don't want one here, but it was so nice to have a cloudy and windy day.

Some of the photos I took this morning when there was a very intense partial rainbow. It was very colorful and dark. I also have a photos of my kitties.

More to come this week.

The first day with students

Well, today is what it has all been about. Mark and I (and the kitties) moving to Japan to teach overseas. We had our first day with students and it was a very nice day. Our school is much smaller than any school that I have worked at in years. I do like the small size. Everything seems so calm and peaceful, but that just might have been me. I really didn't have any classes today...I just went to a few classrooms to see the students in the class and then I prepared everything to begin testing tomorrow. I am helping the K-5 teachers out by doing the DIBELS, Dolch words and CORE phonics. Hopefully we will be able to use the results from the assessments. I am sure that I will be testing for the majority of next week. Then I will hopefully get to start going into rooms and pulling students.

My required school time at school is 8:00-4:30 everyday. After school there was a big storm brewing. We had had a huge thunderstorm with such loud thunder. Mark, Robyn and I went to find the Freshness Burger after work. I was starving and a burger sounded heavenly. No, I have not started to eat meat. I love their bean patty that they serve. It was funny because we walked to one subway station to catch a ride to the next stop which is where the burger place is located. When we came up from the station we did not see the restaurant. We kept walking around and when we were almost ready to give up I saw it. There are several exits at the station we were at and we happened to walk out the one that was not close to the restaurant. We now know we have to go up the #1 (yellow) exit area. We all enjoyed a delicious meal, especially me since it was something I knew I could eat. Many places we go to I order something and since we can't read Japanese it often has meat in it when it gets served. Then of course I don't eat it.

Tomorrow all of the school faculty has a big welcome back dinner. Mark and I are looking forward to seeing what is served there. I am not the only one at the school who doesn't eat meat. I am glad I am not alone. I will let you know how the dinner is once I get home.

Not much else going to today. More to come this weekend.

 Meat, meat, meat and more meat!!!!! Oh yes people, I had to watch three carnivores devour a million pounds of meat right in front of my eyes!!!! Ewwwwwww....I can't believe I even survived! I think I was dry heaving the whole time. Holy Cow...who needs to eat all of that meat. Ugghhhhh.

Let me start from the beginning....Mark, Mel, Robyn and I were headed out to Canal City today. We were having our first experience on the subway. I live right across from one of the main subway stations. It is very handy to have nearby. Since I had never been to the station I had no idea of all of the shops that were inside. It is like a little city. I will have to go there and investigate. It looks like there is supermarket and many other stores. That will be very convenient if I need something in a hurry.

We changed Mel's return flight to tomorrow instead of Saturday. He didn't realize how much he would miss his his wife, Judy, and his phone. (In no particular order...) I have to say that I do not blame him for wanting to go back early- it is so hot and humid that it can really be unbearable. I keep telling myself that in a few weeks it will only get better. Since Mel was returning sooner we wanted to get out and see something in Japan. He also needed to buy some Fukuoka Starbucks mugs.

When we went into the subway station we were trying to figure out the how to buy our tickets. I asked one young man, but he didn't seem to anxious to help. Then a nice couple came over and and helped us buy the tickets and even made sure when the train came that we knew it was the one we needed. I just love how nice and helpful the people are here in Japan.

The trains are so fast. I had no idea that it would go as fast as it did. We timed the trip and it only took about 20 minutes to go abut 10 stops. Speedy, speedy speedy!. Once we arrived we saw the shops in the subway terminal. We then headed upstairs to go and find Canal City. There was one little problem. Mel forgot (or really just didn't know) that you are supposed to take your ticket out for your departure. He then had to go and purchase another ticket just to get out of the subway area.

We were then off to explore. Canal City is a multi level shopping area that has a canal in the middle on the bottom level. There are stores for shoes, clothes, food, paper, jewelry, etc. plus a large choice of restaurants. We had not really eaten much for breakfast so that was our first stop. They were letting me select the restaurant because it is hard to find things that I can eat at every restaurant, imagine that. I saw that the menu to one of the places had a really nice looking salad so I said that would work. We go in and are seated at a table that has a type of hitachi cooker. We were thinking that may make for a fun lunch. We asked if there were any servers who spoke English so we could find out how the menu worked with the cooker. We had a very nice young lady assist us and we found out that the serve food for a group of people. She was explaining how there was meat they would bring and then everyone cooks it and then eats it. I told her that I wanted to salad and she said it came with the meal along with rice. I have to say that I was a little worried when everyone decided to order the spread that would serve 3-4 people. Shortly after ordering plates and plates and plates of raw meat started to arrive at the table. I couldn't believe it. The salad did show up and I shared a little of it and then claimed it as mine so I could also eat something. My lunch consisted of salad and rice. The meat eaters had pork, chicken, and some horrible stomach thing. Ugghhh..there was also chicken or some other type of fat balls. Really, there was. Grossed me out!!!!

After the carnivores scarfed down all the meat we headed out to look at the shops. They have some nice stores which I will have to go and explore when I do not have any men with me. It kind of cramps my style to know someone is waiting on me. I feel like I have to hurry and that is just no way to shop. I know many of you reading this agree with me. Since it is so easy and quick to get there I can go any time on the weekends.

We found Starbucks and Mel was able to get the mugs he was looking for. He is like me in that I also collect Starbucks mugs. I just love seeing all of the places I have been when I use the mugs. Afterwards we casually looked around and then headed back to the subway station. It was toasty out today. By the time we reached the train we were all melting. Luckily for us the subway trains are air conditioned....it was heaven.

We got back to our apartment and Mark and I took on the task of taking our bed apart in a room that is not cooled by the air conditioner. It was horrible. We were both drenched in sweat by the time we finished. We had to take it apart to move it in the room. I will post photos once I get the suitcases unpacked, otherwise you would just see heaps of clothes and stuff.

Now we are relaxing watching the Japanese baseball games. Mel is going to leave tomorrow and I really appreciate him coming with Mark to help get our cats here.

Look at the photos and you will see the meat lunch and Canal City.

My family is all here

   I am a couple of days behind on my blog, but I am going to get you all up to date. First, the most important news....my cats, Mark and Mel have arrived in Japan! It was so good to see everyone at the airport last night. The cats made it safe and sound, but Mark's luggage was not there. As we speak, the luggage is being delivered to us. I guess the flight from Seattle to Seoul left late. When they arrived in Seoul they were rushed through so they would not miss their flight to Fukuoka. I am glad they all made it though. Mark will get his clothes which will make him happy. Right now he is wearing a pair of my gym shorts and one of Mel's shirts. It is a sight to see. :-)

Thursday was the first day of new teacher orientation at school. I was very excited to learn about the school. The day went very quickly. We had an overview of the school mission, goals and where the school would like to be in the future. I have to say that we have a great group of teachers in this group. I am not saying this because I am in the group (that is a given, hahaha) but we have such a diverse international group. I feel this will be a great place to live and work. I am looking forward to meeting my students on Thursday. Monday Mark and I both got to work for the first time with all of the faculty and staff. It will be nice to meet the other teachers.

Thursday after work I rushed home because I was having a delivery from Nitori. I found out what the hold up was on my original delivery date. They had the wrong apartment number. They had apartment 605 and I live in 1605. I was so happy that everything was delivered. I had a busy and late night getting everything together. The TV console was very time consuming since it had so many little pieces. I also put the convection/microwave stand together. I cleaned up, washed the sheets for Mel's futon and finally went to bed. I woke up about 1:30 AM to a very intense thunderstorm. The flash of the lightening woke me up. After that it was hard to fall back asleep. I had so many things going through my head.

On Friday I got up early to do the last things before Mark and Mel arrived. I wanted to get to school in plenty of time to cool off before the meetings began. We had a couple of more meetings for the new teachers. After 1:15 we were free to work in our rooms. I did not work in my room since Graham and I want to wait to see how Corina envisions the room working. She will be there on Monday and I know we will have plenty of time to get things in order. I helped Robyn in her room. We were rearranging the furniture and putting a beautiful purple paper I the cubbies. Today was the day when the sofa was being delivered. I got a call at work that the people were at my place. I panicked because they said they could not wait more than 15 minutes for me to get home. I was running out of school to grab my bike because I knew I had a 20 minutes to get home. As I was rushing out Chris came to help. He was thinking ahead of me. I never thought of a taxi. How silly of me not to have thought about taking a taxi home. He helped me flag one down and told me to relax, everything would work out. He was right. The taxi got there in the nick of time. The sofa was delivered and I was so happy to have something to sit on!

I walked to the the store to get some food and beverages along with another fan before everyone arrived. It is so hot and humid when I am out. I always feel like I am melting. Only about a month more of this weather and then I am home free. I got home from the store and had a few minutes to freshen up. I was meeting Kurt at school. He had graciously said he would drive me to the airport. We arrived at the airport and waited for the boys and the kitties. The boys looked a little hot and exhausted...a little melted, but it was so good to see them all.

When got home and released the cats. They were very apprehensive about the place. They have moved a lot this summer. I was just so relieved that the cats were here safely. Thank goodness!!

Poor Mel had to sleep on the futon we bought. It is a better quality of futon, but that doesn't make it any easier to get so low to the ground. We made Mel promise that if he was the least bit uncomfortable he had to tell us so Mark and I could sleep on it. The only downside for Mel would be is that our bedroom is the HOTTEST room in the house. Yes, hot as in temperature....

We were all off to bed. Tomorrow (now today) was going to be busy.

Ikea came and delivered the chair and other things that I purchased. It is really starting to look like a home. I just need to get another air conditioning unit. I will do that hopefully on Monday or Tuesday.

I am signing off for now. I may add more later today. I have a photo of Mark and Mel when we got to the apartment last night. I also have a sunset photo and a photo of Mark taking a photo of Mel taking a photo of the view.

I am so glad that things are falling into place for us in Japan. It is a beautiful place.

First full day....

I can't tell you how nice it was to actually wake up in my apartment. Unfortunately, I woke up way too early. I have not purchased curtains yet. It stays light in the bedroom since there are buildings all around. I will be getting some curtains very soon. 

My day has been pretty nice since I did not have to ride my bike or walk for miles like yesterday. Once I woke up I Skyped with Mark, my mom and grandma. It is my routine to chat with them in the morning. I actually talk to them all much more with Skype than I did by phone living in Colorado. See, living far away can actually bring people closer.

I had a delivery from Best Denki scheduled between 9:00-noon. They arrived about 10:00 which gave me some time to put things away. Now I have a refrigerator, a washer/dryer unit, a TV, a vacuum, a convection/microwave oven and a fan. I have to admit I am so happy to have a refrigerator. Now I can keep fruit and salad stuff handy.

I had to hang around the apartment because the cable guy was going to come and hook up my TV and help me connect to wireless. I sat around for a couple of hours, but then I thought  it could literally take all day. So I walked to the grocery store that is about 5-10 minutes away. At least I will have some fruit, cereal and some cold drinks to have at home. I will have to go tomorrow and Thursday too. It is hard to get too much at once since I have to carry whatever I purchase. I may need to take a taxi to help me get the kitty litter and food home. That might be too heavy to carry in a bag. I will see though.
The cable guy still has not shown up.

As I was letting myself into my building the internet lady called to walk me through the steps to connect to wireless. It took a good 30 minutes to do this. You have to connect each unit independently and the company has to take the computer info before you can access the service. I have wireless on my Kindle Fire and my MacBook Pro. I feel so free now that I can use the computer in the bedroom. Otherwise I have no other furniture to sit on and the hard floor gets very uncomfortable quickly.

I have been waiting for my last delivery of the day from Nitori. They said they would be here between 6:00-9:00 PM. They better show up because I am waiting to put my TV unit together as well as the shelves that are going to hold the microwave. I also have the step ladder coming with that order among many other things. The sooner it gets here the sooner I can get stuff done.

Tomorrow Robyn and I are going to take a bus out to Ikea to get some things we both need. I will see how far my money gets me on this trip. I can always go back after payday to get the other things I will need.

My sofa is being delivered on Thursday afternoon. I am looking forward to having something to sit on while I am in the main living space where the air conditioner is located.

As I am typing this I am looking out at the sun setting on the water. It is something I will never get tired of watching. It is simply beautiful. Hopefully many of you will take the opportunity to come to Japan since you will always have a place to stay. I mean that seriously! 

I am signing off for now. Tomorrow once I have more in the apartment and set up I will take some photos. I still have a lot to do to make it look like a home, but it is getting there.

Moving day!

Moving day! Well, I can't even tell you how exciting it was to move into my new apartment this morning. I guess I must have been in a hurry because I forgot a load of laundry in the dryer and my mouse and mouse pad on the desk. Luckily for me Gandhali was still at the hotel. I called her and she got my clothes. At this time I didn't know I had forgotten my mouse. I found out that later when my internet was being hooked up. Crazy...

I got to the apartment by 8:45 this morning. I had taken a taxi from the hotel because I had my computer and the rest of the clothes (that I did remember to take). Once I got here I began to unpack my suitcases and bags. My first delivery was scheduled between 9:00-12:00. This delivery was from Ikea. They arrived about 11:00 or so. Ikea was delivering the queen bed from and mattress, some dishes, mixing bowls, towels, pillows, and a few more little things. My first task was to assemble the bed. It wasn't hard to do, but it was very time consuming and hot. The main bedroom does not have air and my fans were not delivered today. The bed is pretty big in the room. Honestly I think there is only about 3” to 4” to walk past the foot of the bed. Since we won't really have people walking through that room I don't mind. I will just climb over the top of the bed when I need to get to the other side. I have thought about turning the bed at an angle. I may wait for Mark to get here to see what he thinks.

Once the bed was finished I was just puttering around until the internet people came. He was asking where my TV was, but I had to tell him that it was not being delivered until tomorrow. He said that he would come back then. I told him I had to have internet today. He kept saying tomorrow. I think he saw how disappointed I was. I called Kurt from school so he could talk to the man in Japanese. In the end the man installed my internet and tomorrow he will hook up the TV.

I was still waiting on a delivery from Nitori. I bought a bunch of things yesterday. I kept waiting until about 4:30 and figured something must off otherwise they would have been to my apartment. I decided to walk to the hotel to pick up my bike, my clothes and have them check for my mouse and mouse pad. It took me about 25-30 minutes to walk to the hotel from my place. Not too bad considering it is across the river. Now it would have been better if I did not have a HUGE blister on my foot from all the walking I did yesterday. When I entered the hotel I asked them if a mouse and mouse pad had been turned in. It took them forever to look for it, but good news---they found it. I then went to Gandhali's room to get all my clothes. She was Skyping with her fiancee so I was able to chat with him for a couple of minutes.

After gathering all of my things I headed out on my bike. Can I just saw how happy I was that I thought ahead and put all of my things in a big Ziplock bag. While I was riding back to my area it began to pour. I made it to the cell phone place and went in to reload the phone the school gave me to use until I am able to purchase my own. I have to wait until my alien registration card arrives. After leaving Softbank I headed to Nitori to see what happened with my delivery. Of course when I got to Nitori I was soaking wet...I mean REALLY soaking wet. I am sure people were looking at me like I was crazy to be in the rain. I did go in and talked to someone who knew a little English. He told me it would be delivered tomorrow between 17:00 and 21:00. At least I now know. Hopefully my morning deliveries will come early. Robyn and I are trying to get back to Ikea for a few things. Before I left the shopping area I found the Starbucks and bought a frapp. Yum! That was my lunch and dinner.

Tomorrow I will have a refrigerator so I can actually buy food to keep in the apartment. I will be so happy to have food I can cook and eat. Maybe I will be more on track with my meals.

When I got back to the apartment I took some photos of the view. It is so pretty.

More to come tomorrow...

Last day in the hotel

  Today was the last day I would be living in the hotel. I had a lot to get done before moving tomorrow. I can't believe that tonight is my last night in the hotel and when I leave tomorrow I will be moving into my apartment.

Gandhali and I had planned to go to the Nitori that is close to my house. It is smaller than the other Nitori that I had been to. My goal was to get a sofa and/or sofa sleeper. I found a lot of things that I needed for the apartment. It is really hard to decide what are the things you need the most when you first move into a place. Normally when people are moving into an apartment they have some things that they would need. I was starting with an empty apartment and a settling in allowance. After today I am pretty sure I have spent all of it.

When we went to leave the hotel to meet our friend, Robyn, who was going with us we realized that it was pouring down rain. We all figured it would blow over rather quickly. No such luck. You would think that I would be following the weather. Silly me, I haven't been checking at all. (Although I have now looked at the next 10 days of weather.) We finally decided just to pay a taxi driver to take us to the shopping area so we wouldn't have to waste any more time waiting for the rain to stop. The shopping area, which we had never been to, is located very close to my apartment. It is right on the water and there is a marina next to the shops. It is so beautiful there.

We went to Nitori first to see what all we could find. I found many things, but no sofa or sofa bed. I decided that I needed to get a nice futon for our company in case I could not find a sofa/bed combo. I bought sheets and a pillow case for the futon. It is kind of like a tempurpedic mattress, but only in a single double size. I think it will be pretty comfortable. I am still on the look out for a sofa/bed for the guest room. I didn't have much luck on the drapes. I need longer sizes than the stores carry so I have to order them and it will take some time. I am thinking that I may hit Ikea again on Tuesday to take a double look at what they had. I was so rushed the last time that I just need to go by bus so I can take my time. I do know that I will not get everything 100% by the time Mark, Mel and the cats arrive. I can live with what I have being delivered in the next couple of days. Tomorrow is by biggest delivery. I have Nitori, Ikea and the cable/internet person coming. On Tuesday I have Best Denki delivering a bunch of things including my refrigerator, TV, vacuum, a fan and the washer/dryer. Wow! I will be busy unpacking the big stuff. I have too many things being delivered from the other places to list. What I can tell you is that you need to stay tuned for the photos later this week.

Once we finished for the day at Nitori we decided to grab lunch so once again we would not be skipping our meal. We were both so hot and sweaty that nothing really sounded good. Then we saw a Krispy Kreme donut shop. If you know me then you know that I rarely eat a donut. We both got a couple of donuts and felt much better. They are so much better when they are fresh, fresh, fresh. It was time to move on to our next store. We both needed to get a washer/dryer unit. The plan was to catch a cab to take us to the Best Denki outlet store. By now the rain had stopped and it was so humid we were both just a sweaty sticky mess. Not a fun way to be. We kept thinking as we walked that we would see a taxi and jump on. Nope, no taxi. We decided just to try to walk to the store. We FINALLY made it there about 35-40 minutes later. At this time we were still feeling pretty good. We moved quickly picking out our washer/dryer and my TV. I felt good knowing that they would be delivered on Tuesday.

Now it was time to get to the other Nitori store. Gandhali remember that it was not too far from the Best Denki store. We began to walk and walk and walk. Something did not seem right so we found a woman to help us. Remember that we do not speak Japanese yet, but luckily they are so willing to help. I had the address written in Japanese so that made it a little easier. If you are wondering how I had it written Japanese I had to have some one at the other Nitori write it for me. The woman who was helping us told us it was far, at least 25 minutes. At this point we had already walked so far that what was another 25 minutes? As we walked we once again kept thinking that we were almost there. We finally had to ask another person where the store was located. We were reassured that we were going in the right direction. We continued to walk and walk and walk and walk. More than 30 minutes longer and we were still not there. Ugghhhh..by this time we had walked so far. We were both so hot and sweaty that we didn't know if we were every going to find the store. Once we crossed the big river the area began to look familiar to Gandhali. At the next stop light we decided to ask another person where the store was located. At this point the man told us we were almost there. Feeling that there was a light at the end of the tunnel gave us some hope and energy. If it were only that easy. Nope, we honestly walked at least 25 to 30 more minutes Our feet were killing us and we were so drained. Then we saw it. That was such a happy moment for us both. We quickly hit the sofa area. I found one that I saw in the catalog and I told them I would take it. (It will be delivered on Thursday.). I went to look at curtains, but I need to order the sizes I need. That quickly became a project and task for another day.

We both knew there was no way we could walk back. We walked next door to a large mall and ask someone how we could get a taxi. He told us where to stand and about 20 minutes later we had a ride back to the hotel. To give you an idea of how far we walked to those stores it took us about 20 minutes in a car. Now, imagine us walking that far and actually farther. We had been so thrilled to see the taxi. We were both ready to get to our rooms, clean up and then relax.

Now I am in my room. I have been getting things organized for my check out in the morning. I have to see if I can get a taxi that will take my bike in the trunk. Otherwise, I will have to walk from my apartment back to the hotel and then ride my bike back to the apartment. That will be another long traveling day.

Just an FYI, we began walking at 1:20 and did not get home until about 6:45. Were decided that there is no way that we did not burn off the calories from our donuts. I guess that is the silver lining. I am glad to be at the hotel and ready to relax.

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving the hotel around 8:15 in the morning. I am really, really looking forward to it.

Tomorrow when I blog it will be from my apartment.

Bikes, baseball and a bed

What a day I had yesterday! It is hard to believe that I did all of the things I am going to share with you in one day. Since I did get home too late to blag last night I am going to tell you about yesterday and then my day so far.

Yesterday was Friday and luckily Idid not have too many things that needed to be done at work. In fact, all I had to do was meet with our IT person to get hooked up with my account on my computer at school. Gandhali (yes I had misspelled her name in my last blog) and I had made plans to hit another Best store to find a washer/dryer and a TV. We knew there was one between my apartment and school. We headed out early and then found out that the store was not open yet. We were the first customers to enter the store for the day. We were hoping they would reward us by giving us a discount. I am sure you already know that did not happen. As we were looking around we realized that the prices were MUCH higher than the store we went to the day before. Later we found out that the store we went to the day before was an outlet store. Once we heard this news we knew we had to go back to the other store. There are several recycle stores here (used items) so we figured we should have a look before heading to the outlet store.  The outlet store really did not have much of anything and I was a little apprehensive about buying second hand TVs or washers. By this time it was about noon and we had to be back at school so Gandhali could sign the final contract for er apartment, and I need to meet with Kenta to get all set up on my school computer. Time seemed to pass quickly considering that we ended up sitting around for over 90 minutes while we waited for our turns. 

Once we were finished at school we had made plans to eat at a local Indian food restaurant. Gandhali is from India so I had some help selecting a vegetarian meal. I ordered the food to be medium heat. I have to say that the food was on the toasty side. Gandhali ordered her food spicy hot. I can't imagine how spicy that must have been.  We talked with the owner of the restaurant and he gave us directions to go to the Best store. By now it was about 3:15. The directions had us heading out down the same road we were on, but to continue on until we can to a certain subway stop. As we were riding it seemed like the store would be around the next corner. When it wasn't down the next corner we thought we would give it five more minutes. This continued on until we saw one subway station for Tenjin. Now, I know that Tenjin is pretty far from the area we are living. I kept thinking something was not right. Gandhali asked for some help and we were pointed in the direction of the store. When we didn't find the store we once again asked for help. Yes, you guessed it…no one was giving us the exact directions because we speak English. Finally, we decided we would follow up on the last directions and then we would head back. There were some bike police nearby and we once again asked for help. This time they pointed up behind us. We were at the store. It was now 4:15 and we were supposed to be at the Hard Rock Cafe at 5:00 to meet up with the others going to the baseball game. I was beyond drained. It was so hot, sunny and humid that I was beginning to wonder if I would even make it back. Gandhali ran into the store to see if it was a retail store or an outlet store. Bummer for us, after being lost and riding for over an hour the store was a retail store. We had to head back if we had any chance of making it to the game. By now we were both soaked from the riding, sun and humidity. It is the worst feeling to be riding my bike and knowing that my clothes were soaked to the bone. Not fun. We FINALLY arrived back to the hotel at about 5:05. We had ridden our bikes in the wrong direction from where we had originally planned to go for over 2 hours. Now, I can say for sure that I would never had ridden my bike to Tenjin. I can say I did it once, but believe me it will never happen again.

It was impossible to cool down after that crazy bike ride. I had to change clothes and wipe down before heading out again. Gandhali got a call and she had to ride her bike to school to do something. I walked to the Yahoo Dome to meet the rest of our group. Once I was inside I was hoping that I would quit sweating to death, but I could not cool down. I honestly felt like steam was just coming of my face and head. It was not a pleasant experience. Gandhali arrive at our meeting place and we all headed off to the baseball game.

Fukuoka's team is the Softbank Sea Hawks. We were playing the Eagles, and I have no idea where they are from. The Yahoo Dome is very nice. The best part was when I walked in and realized it was an air conditioned building. I was finally able to cool off.  The game was of course the same as baseball in the US or other countries. It was fun to see what happened during the game. There are people walking up and down the aisles trying to see Sea Hawk stuff and of course beverages. The best part of the game was during the 7th inning. Everyone began to blow up balloons. At the end of the 7th inning everyone releases their balloons.  Let me back up a bit, during the 7th inning when it is getting closer to the end of that inning all of the fans begin to wave their balloons side to side and sing some song. Once the balloons were let loose then the crowd began to thin out. The Hawks were not playing their best game. We did stay until the end. 

By the time I got back to the hotel it was after 11 and I was very tired from earlier biking trip. I had to pack up my suitcases because today we were going to take most of my things to the apartment. I am still staying at the hotel until early Monday morning when I begin to live in my apartment full time. It will be so nice to be able to unpack and begin to set things up. 

This morning we went to school to meet the others who were going to Ikea. I found a bed that will be delivered on Monday.  I was trying to find a sofa and a sleeper sofa. They did have some at Ikea, but they seemed very expensive. I am going to go to Nitori tomorrow morning to see what they have. I figure I can always take the bus to Ikea tomorrow or Tuesday if I don't find anything tomorrow. I do love Ikea and found many things for the house, although I didn't buy a lot of little stuff because my focus is first on the big stuff. We were at Ikea for over 5 hours. The bummer part is we were supposed to meet up at 1:00 to head out. I was rushing because I knew I would never be ready. Once we were checked out and arrange the delivery we had to wait for the others. We ended up waiting over an hour because there were a few issues with one couples items. Crazy.

Once back at the hotel I got all my suitcases all packed up and headed out to take them to my apartment. It was so nice being in there. I can't wait to live there full time. The day did not end there though. We then went to a store called Mr Max. It is like a Japanese Target store. I will need to go back so I can see exactly what they have. I did see a TV that I may go and get tomorrow. By now it was about 20 to 8:00. We had not eaten since breakfast It was just so busy. We had to go back to the school to get our bikes. It began to pour down rain. By the time I got back to the hotel I was soaked.

Now it is a little after 9:00, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. I have some pictures below. Enjoy. I am too tired to check my mistakes. If I have some just overlook them.

I am all packed up.

Everyone is getting their balloons ready.

More and more balloons are appearing.

Watching for the final out in the 7th inning.

Everyone is moving there balloons side to side.

Here they go.

It was really fun.

Balloons 

Look at all of them.

Inside the dome.

Drinks for sae.

Cheerleaders.

Gandhali eating her lunch.

The field

Sea Hawks garb.

Play ball

Gandhali's lunch.