UGH!! What a vacation!!

I'm on vacation-my school always has a vacation this time of year so that my boss and some older students can travel. They are now in Italy. I chose not to go as I'm not a "6 cities in 7 days" kind of gal! I was really looking forward to relaxing, hanging out with my friend in the big city and working on my business (which I love so I don't really think of it as work most of the time).

So...Friday night came. I left work and went home to eat a delicious meal with my hubby but half way through, my throat started to hurt. It was literally like someone flipped a switch because I didn't have that "hmmm...think I'm getting a cold" feeling...just suddenly I had a sore throat. So...Saturday and Sunday I was feeling pretty crappy...runny nose, sore throat and I had a hard time sleeping. Monday I started to feel a bit better and I figured I could meet my friend as planned on Wednesday.

I was right. I went to Hakata (the big city about 40 minutes from where I live) and met my friend. We went to Starbucks (twice-it's a treat since there isn't one in my area) and lunch and did a bit of shopping. I had a great time (thanks Phee). So we parted around 5:30 and I went to the station, bought my ticket and then realized there was a huge group of people standing around. I also realized that my route wasn't on the announcement board giving the time and platform to catch my train. It was blank. This was not good. I asked the train station guy but he couldn't tell me much at that time just that I couldn't take the train and he didn't know when I could. Ok...problem. I called my husband who was at home and asked him to find out what was going. Turns out that a bridge near my area had a crack and they didn't expect to even begin train service again for 3 hours. Now at this time my hubby and I discussed me trying to take the bus but this would have been very difficult as I have never taken a bus from the city to my area. I can't read Japanese and was a bit worried about getting lost. So...my hubby called his family and it turned out that his brother was in the city as he works there and there was a chance that we could meet and figure out what to do together. So...I found him in the crowd and he suggested we try to take the bus. Fine but it was a good thing that I hadn't attempted this on my own as it turns out that the big bus center that is next to the station was not the one we needed. We took the subway into Tenjin (another part of the city) to leave from the Tenjin Bus center but once we got there we realized that we weren't the only ones with that idea in mind. The line was very very long. It moved very slowly and we realized that it would have been hours before we reached home. So....we decided to take a taxi. It cost us about $80 so about $40 each. We had the taxi driver drop us off at my in-laws house (where my brother-in-law still lives) and he then drove me home. Needless to say I was tired but very grateful that my brother-in-law had been there. When I got home the TV announced that the trains probably wouldn't start again until about 11pm so I would have been stuck in the city for about 5 or more hours.

And to top off all that has already happened we found out on the news that a typhoon is headed this way....should arrive by Friday. Perfect.

What a vacation!! Sure hope my boss is having a better time in Italy!!

A great video about Fukuoka

I was on YouTube looking for something and I found this video. It is a promotional video that highlights some of the famous places, festivals and crafts from this part of Japan. Fukuoka is really a great place! Enjoy!

Japan has some tiny restaurants!!

I watched a great show tonight on TV-the top 20 tiny restaurants in Japan. Oh. My. God. Tiny is right. Most of the restaurants we saw on the show are so small that we couldn't even imagine trying to go there as being crammed into a restaurant isn't our idea of a good time and we are pretty sure that because my hubby is a giant here (6ft 5) he probably wouldn't even be able to sit down. In many of the restaurants the customers backs were against the wall so if one person wanted to leave, everyone had to stand up and move to let them get by. But it was amazing to see how the owners/chefs worked in such a small space!!!

I had recorded the show on my cell phone (as we were watching it on our TV) as I was hoping to be able to upload some of it here but sadly, we can't do that so instead we found a great example on youtube.



Are there such small restaurants where you live?

Long time no blog!

Can't believe it has been so long since I last blogged! In the last month or so we have had a lot going on...toilets that wouldn't stop running, taps that wouldn't stop dripping, a sink that leaked into the bathroom in the apartment below ours through the light in the ceiling(!!!) though thankfully that is our apartment as well (our office). Then at pretty much the same time our printer died and our main computer died! We got those ordered and then some very stressful personal stuff happened so needless to say...blogging wasn't the first thing on my mind. Now almost all is back to normal!

And fall is actually here!! The weather is much better....nights are cool and I feel alive again! Friday is my 40th birthday and I asked for the day off as I just don't want to work that day. Thankfully my boss is fabulous and he said yes so my honey and I will go into town and eat at my favorite yakiniku restaurant (you grill the meat at your table).

I don't have much else to blog about at this moment so I will leave you with a crazy Japanese commercial. Apparently the idea behind this commercial is finding the bra that fits you right....when it first shows the bra you can see how it doesn't fit well and then they show a well fitting bra. Seriously... a strange bra commercial!!

How cool is this ring?!!

I don't normally do this but when I come across something so unique and fabulous I love to blog about it.

I LOVE rings! But not just any old ring...I love unique bold rings and I just bought one! It is a sterling silver blackboard ring. Talk about unique! You can write words or draw pictures etc. It comes with a white pencil (but white or colored chalk works as well) and a little sponge. It is by Evrydiki on Etsy.

It takes about 2 weeks as they are made for you in your requested size. I can't wait to wear this! I have so many favorite quotes and words I love that it will be hard to choose which I will write down first! This will be a conversation starter!!

I think someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it is September!!

I don't know about you but when I think of September....I'm thinking of autumn and colored leaves and brisk air. Sadly, it feels more like July-actually I think it is hotter than July. Today in Nagoya Japan (not near me) it was 39 degrees Celsius (102 Degrees F-not taking into account the very high humidity). Where I am it was pretty close to that. This is a special kind of hell.

Not only is it beyond hot and humid, we are having major storms where the heavens open up and pour rain down, lightening lights up the sky and of course, the thunder has my little kids scared. The weird thing is that normally in Japan, a rainy day is a rainy/cloudy day ALL day but lately, a major thunderstorm happens and you think it will never end and then it does and not only does it stop but the sun comes out and it looks nice and then maybe an hour or so later it repeats. Very strange for here! Also, a bit dangerous. My student's neighbour's house got hit by lightning. No one was hurt but it was scary and the power was off in the area for a while (so no air conditioner in this very hot weather).

The other day, while at work, the above weather situation happened. I took some pics from the window to show you the very black skies.

Hubby and I had started walking again at night but the last few days we haven't as the humidity is so high that I start feeling sick so will hold off until it cools down. I sure hope where ever you are that nature is treating you better!

Inspired by Sake!

This is the 2nd in my series of posts called "Inspired by....". This time I chose "Inspired by sake!". In Japanese, "sake" means alcoholic drinks in general. So, this post includes items inspired by Japanese beer as well as "nihonshu" (what we foreigners usually mean when we say "sake").

The first is a very very cool sake cup! It can be found at mikioceramics. The interior glaze is food safe so it can be used!

Next we have this very cute print by threecatsgraphics.

It is super hot here in Japan right now....beer sales are soaring! Sapporo is a very famous brand of beer. This is a very cool recycled notebook by ivylanedesigns.

Here is another item inspired by Sapporo beer-soap by thebeersoapcompany.

Pocket mirrors are very handy to have and this one is also cute! Robots drinking sake under a cherry blossom tree eating sushi-what's not to love! Check it out at botodesigns

One can't talk about sake without including sake sets! This is a very cool set by Hodakapottery. I love the colors!

Here is a gorgeous fine art print by kylespears. Stunning!

How cute is this print by TomokoMaruyama ? Cute animals in a hot spring enjoying sake and Mt. Fuji!

And what a perfect combination - a sake set with cherry blossoms! Check it out at alinahayes