Well it was a short, but long trip to Fukuoka and a little hotspring at the hotel we stayed at.
Before we get to that though, the night before we left, we found another mukade or centipede, in the my mother-in-laws room. This was a nice sized guy about 4" or 15cm long. She was laying out her futon and this guy ran out from a corner. Well she trapped it under a book and called for help. She was bite or sping by one a few months back and did not want that experience again. Anyways I got the family thongs from the kitchen used for this task, and she moved the book while I grabbed him. There are a few pics of him after I cut him in half with the thongs. I think I will have to buy some for our place when we move...
We used the loaner car that the Nissan dealership loaned us while they get our used car ready. It is a new Nissan Note. The thing does not have much power, but gets good milage and has that nice new car smell. Pics of this will be online as well.
The hotel was nice, but the onsen (hot spring) was why I wanted to stay there. We have been here more than a month now, yet have not been to any baths yet. Well this is our first opportunity. (*8
Shiho went first with Miyabi, while I took Joe and Hanano for a beer and dessert run. 3x500ml of Asahi beer plus a little plum wine with onsen=relaxation. The trip there was uneventful, but on the way back to the hotel on vacant country roads I reverted back to driving in the US mode. Scary once I relaxed with side of the road I was suppose to be on.
Once back at the hotel with my kids, started my first beer and started getting ready to go with Joe to the hot spring. Taking him this first time was pretty uneventful, except he really liked the cool bath... so damn cold I could not get in, and the old lady came in while I was getting Joe and myself washed down before getting in. I think she worked there, but I don't think I have the capacity to have asked her in Japanese... especially while we were there naked with all the other guys and she was fully dressed.
Anyways Shiho and I could only get through 2 beers that night, and I ended up going back to the onsen by myself after everyone went to bed till a little past mid-night. Glad I went back since the water got a little hotter later in the evening.
On the way home we went to Costco in Fukuoka. I felt like I was back home again. They even have the food court with hot dogs and soda. (*8
It was great to hit my first onsen of the trip.
Well it is hot and humid tonight back at home. The upstairs is all open and the lite breeze coming through the house from the river feels great.
Here is a link for the pics... http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/JapanLiving2
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
We bought our (Shiho's) car
6-21-07
It has been an uneventful week really. We have all taken it pretty easy and relaxed. Although there has been the occasional argument between Shiho and I about the car we are going to buy…
We have been continuing our search for a car over the past week, and this has been our main focus. On Monday we were preparing to borrow a neighbor’s car to drive 2 hours to buy a car from a Marine family over at Iwakuni, which is the nearest US military base. The wife called though and canceled before we left, because her husband is deployed to Australia and she lacks the power of attorney to sell the car. We actually canceled buying a car last Friday in Fukuoka to buy this car instead.
But all is not lost, we have had many local dealers bringing cars for us to look at, the 30 minute drive to Shiho’s moms. The Nissan dealer ended up bring a 1998 Toyota Lucida kind of like this one except blue. http://www.autoweb.co.uk/car_detail.asp?cdID=1268144
Well, we ended up buying it for $4710. +/- . They have to do a bunch of paperwork and government required inspections that will take about 2 weeks. During this time period, the police will have to come out to verify that we actually have a registered parking space for the vehicle. The dealer said he will give us a car to drive so we can get around, so that will be nice.
Anther big thing that did happen is that we bought the biggest coffee pot we could find at the local store. This was a big 6 cup pot, about half the size of ours in the US, but it works great. Nice and slow brew, so makes a nice cup of coffee.
We actually did borrow the neighbor’s car to go to town to buy groceries and go to pick up my
alien registration card at the city office. This is my new government id.
We are in the country here. On the way from the office we saw a monkey running down the road. This guy was probably 40-50 pounds; I was surprised how big he was. Shiho said that they come down more often in the winter to find food near the river.
For next week we are hoping to go to Fukuoka and check out the Costco there. I would like to by some nice Japanese appliances for our future house. We also might take a trip to Nagasaki or some random hot springs in Kushu. Also will get business cards made for Shiho and I. Will have to go to ATM a bunch of times to get the cash to pay for the car, but will be fun. Have to get my hanko 判子, or stamp made, since this is what is needed to receive packages and do any type of financial stuff here.
The rainy season has officially began here. It has rained on and of for the past week, but today it has been coming down all day. The river is higher than I have seen before, but nothing like Typhoon season I hear. (*8
Not sure if I posted the pictures from the beginning of our trip in Osaka but you can find them here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/52807TimeInOsakaAsWeStartOurNewLifePhase
Here are the most recent pictures from Tsuwano
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/JapanLiving1
It has been an uneventful week really. We have all taken it pretty easy and relaxed. Although there has been the occasional argument between Shiho and I about the car we are going to buy…
We have been continuing our search for a car over the past week, and this has been our main focus. On Monday we were preparing to borrow a neighbor’s car to drive 2 hours to buy a car from a Marine family over at Iwakuni, which is the nearest US military base. The wife called though and canceled before we left, because her husband is deployed to Australia and she lacks the power of attorney to sell the car. We actually canceled buying a car last Friday in Fukuoka to buy this car instead.
But all is not lost, we have had many local dealers bringing cars for us to look at, the 30 minute drive to Shiho’s moms. The Nissan dealer ended up bring a 1998 Toyota Lucida kind of like this one except blue. http://www.autoweb.co.uk/car_detail.asp?cdID=1268144
Well, we ended up buying it for $4710. +/- . They have to do a bunch of paperwork and government required inspections that will take about 2 weeks. During this time period, the police will have to come out to verify that we actually have a registered parking space for the vehicle. The dealer said he will give us a car to drive so we can get around, so that will be nice.
Anther big thing that did happen is that we bought the biggest coffee pot we could find at the local store. This was a big 6 cup pot, about half the size of ours in the US, but it works great. Nice and slow brew, so makes a nice cup of coffee.
We actually did borrow the neighbor’s car to go to town to buy groceries and go to pick up my
alien registration card at the city office. This is my new government id.We are in the country here. On the way from the office we saw a monkey running down the road. This guy was probably 40-50 pounds; I was surprised how big he was. Shiho said that they come down more often in the winter to find food near the river.
For next week we are hoping to go to Fukuoka and check out the Costco there. I would like to by some nice Japanese appliances for our future house. We also might take a trip to Nagasaki or some random hot springs in Kushu. Also will get business cards made for Shiho and I. Will have to go to ATM a bunch of times to get the cash to pay for the car, but will be fun. Have to get my hanko 判子, or stamp made, since this is what is needed to receive packages and do any type of financial stuff here.
The rainy season has officially began here. It has rained on and of for the past week, but today it has been coming down all day. The river is higher than I have seen before, but nothing like Typhoon season I hear. (*8
Not sure if I posted the pictures from the beginning of our trip in Osaka but you can find them here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/52807TimeInOsakaAsWeStartOurNewLifePhase
Here are the most recent pictures from Tsuwano
http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenkenyon/JapanLiving1
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