Home-finding Trip Part Deux

Japan has some pretty awesome things. I've already talked about the food. The first day was ramen. The second day we tried curry. Soooooo good. And the third day we tried okonomiyaki, Hiroshima style! All so very good.

Okonomiyaki Hiroshima Style! Yum

One amazing thing about Japan, at least what I noticed in Hiroshima, was their amazing customer service. Everyone is nice and super polite. You feel like a king no matter what restaurant or store you walk into. There is no tipping in Japan. They wouldn't know what to do with that extra money. They pride themselves on a job well-done. I'm hoping the service industry is paid a bit better than here in the States!

Outside our hotel

Archie spoke Japanese 20 years ago or so; he's a bit rusty but it started coming back to him while we there. It was fun watching his face light up as he started to use it and understand it a bit! I tried to learn their two syllabaries, Hiragana and Katakana, while I was there. I did it once but I haven't picked it back up since. But I'm hoping to gain some basics while there so I can get around and maybe talk with some people and make a new friend or two. Archie's company is providing tutors for both of us and I intend to use them!

Archie's work put us up in the hotel by the Hiroshima airport. It's an hour out of downtown Hiroshima. But that's the place we needed to be everyday. So they dropped the ball on that one. Our escort had to drive out an hour and an hour back just to get us around and back. It was very inconvenient. But we made the best of it. There are a couple of beautiful gardens right next to the hotel. So we took part of a day to explore those. It was tranquil and peaceful. It was a much-needed break.



But we think that Archie picked up his flesh-eating bacteria there in the hotel. He used their pillows; I brought my own. We will never know for sure, though. He got on antibiotics within a day or two of coming home. Though I wouldn't wish this on anyone, Archie did get an extra week here so we have been able to get everything done that we needed to--well, almost.

I spent last week saying goodbye to a lot of people. I played my last softball game, had my goodbye party/last book club, got to drink Death Stars at El Chihuahua with more friends.

This week was spent packing stuff and then hauling it into storage, closing accounts, getting bills paid online, shopping, and making sure all the cleaning, fixing, etc gets done within the next week or two to rent out our place.

It's fast and furious and makes me sad to leave my kitties, friends, and family. But excited for the new adventure.

I have been able to visit my kitties a bit this week and that's helped just seeing them adjusting and getting along. Especially Shadow. She gets to go outside in a fenced backyard and she's loving it. She has even lost weight in the week and 2 days she's been there! Wolfy and Frodo have taken over the living room at my parents'. So I think they're doing OK too. I miss them already but know they are in good hands.

Only a few things to wrap up Friday and off we go!

Shadow lovin' the outdoors!