Getting Settled, Yeah Right

We earned the privilege to leave our hotel room and the base Tuesday, July 21st. We were excited and happy to get outside of the room and leave the base. Our first adventure was to go to Sasebo GoBanGai (5th Avenue) mall. There we looked at some places and got food.

Wednesday, July 22nd

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Doug wanted to go to Book Off. It was a 5 km walk from the Navy Lodge. Yes, we walked there because we don’t have a car yet and we needed to walk to lose our quarantine/ROM weight. Book Off resells used products. They had a little bit of everything. Doug was interested in there used game selection even if it is in Japanese. I was interested in looking at collectibles for Pokemon items. I bought a Oshawott and a Butterfree chain. Doug bought a bunch of games.

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While we were walking back, this older woman asked us how long we had been in Sasebo and how long we were going to be here. She seemed surprised to see us walking. Then she asked where we were from, Kentucky of course. This is the best part. She was like “Oh, Kentucky Fried Chicken!” Doug and I replied “Yes!” It was heart warming and lovely she took some time to talk to us.

We ended up eating Yoshinoya that night. I had a small beef bowl. Doug got a medium beef bowl and a medium pork bowl. I learned from our udon outing to just get a small. I ate all of mine and Doug struggled. I helped him finish the pork bowl. The pork bowl was better than the beef bowl.

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We found out from Housing, the earliest we can start looking for a place will be August 3rd. We have a meeting scheduled with housing on August 3rd to talk about out in town options. Nothing on base will be opening up any time soon, so we will be living out in town. I wanted to live out in town, so this works, but we get to live at the Navy Lodge until we find a place.

Thursday, July 23rd

Doug left for his ship in the morning. They are just under weigh in the harbor, so not too far. He will be back Wednesday. I got to go out in town by myself, this will be happening a lot while we are here. This also means I really need to start working on my Japanese.

I went to Sasebo GoBanGai (5th Avenue) mall for lunch. I have been wanting some takoyaki (they have octopus in them shaped like a ball). I got some takoyaki and a peach water (my favorite drink here). Then I wanted to explore Sasebo Yonkacho Shotengai (https://www.yonkacho.com/english/). It is a central shopping mall in Sasebo. It has two 100 yen stores (dollar store), two 7 elevens, several clothing stores, restaurants, two fruit stands, and a mini grocery store. I went into the 100 yen stores looking for a few things. I ended up with a few extra things, like always. I found some cute cat stuff, which is always needed. I didn’t buy all the items with cats on it, but I wanted to. I am also waiting until we get a place to get some of the essentials.

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Friday, July 24th

I didn’t leave base. I have a terrible ear ache. I went looking for medication at the NEX and they didn’t have any. I looked for medicine yesterday out in town, but couldn’t find any. My plan is just to place a warm washcloth on it and take Tylenol. I am hoping it gets better because tomorrow is Pokemon Go Fest and I plan to be out the majority of the day.

I got several emails about our driving test. It is schedules for August 26th. This means we cannot buy a car until one of us has a driver’s license. I am not worried about it. I have been walking everywhere I want to go. This will be a concern when we find a place and need to take our luggage from the hotel to our new place. Not too worried about right now. There is also public transportation in town if we need to go out further.

Saturday, July 25th

My ear feels better today. I believe there is too much moisture in the air. What has been helping is I have been placing a small amount of cotton ball in my ear.

Day one of Pokemon Go Fest. It started at 10:00 a.m. but I couldn’t leave the room until they came to clean it. We have two cats and we don’t want them to run out of the room. The Navy Lodge is requiring they clean the rooms every day when you are out of ROM. I have tried to make it easy on house keeping and keep the litter box tidy. Calcifer likes to sling the litter everywhere and we have a little broom and dust pan I use to clean it up.

I left the room around noon. I wanted sushi for lunch and went to Sushiro. You have a screen in front of you that you order from and the food comes out on a conveyor belt. Luckily they have an English menu. I ordered several different kinds of sushi. My lunch ended up being 638 yen ($6.38). Sushiro is actually at Sasebo GoBanGai. I have been wanting to check out the 300 yen shop they have. OMG!! They have the cutest penguin bins and mats! I wanted to buy them all but I need to wait to see what we need for our apartment. It was difficult.

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Sasebo GoBanGai is made up of several buildings. One building I haven’t really looked at the shops, even though I have been by it twice. I decided to go into Village Vanguard. It has a mixture of things. From the outside it looks like a lot of things from America, which it does but it has some Japanese anime as well. My favorite item was a towel with poop on it. I also found the Pokemon section and a Studio Ghilbi section. I wanted the big Jiji pillow but it was 3,400 yen (about $34). I couldn’t justify it to my self. Maybe later.

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From there I went back to Sasebo Yonkacho Shotengai. It is a great place to play Pokemon Go. I also went into one of the 100 yen shops because it had a second floor I missed. The second floor had arts and crafts, resusable bags, school supplies, socks, and toys. I ended up buying a few things. I went to 7 eleven for some caffeine and a snack, spent about 300 yen ($3). Then I decided to find a place to sit and play Pokemon Go. I found an area with several places to sit.

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Then I decided to go back to base a different way. I also didn’t use any GPS to help me. I ended up finding Sasebo River and the Albuquerque bridge. There was a park, Sasebo City Park, that I decided to wander through. Then I found Nimitz park which is across from the base. I am proud of myself for purposely getting lost, I like to call it an adventure, then finding where I needed to go on my own.

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Today I found myself marveling at how beautiful Sasebo is.

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Sunday, July 26th

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Day two of Pokemon Go Fest! My luck was better today. I got nine shinies and some are new and some I already had. Yesterday, I only got two shinies. To me, it was a successful Go Fest because I got new shinies. I like to name my shinies where I caught them. The ones I haven’t named will just be Go Fest 2020.

I ultimately decided Sasebo Yonkacho Shotengai is the place to play Pokemon Go. This is the central shopping mall that is outside but has covered walk ways. It has lots of poke stops and gyms. I was able to join a raid to maximum capacity which is 20 accounts. It has been nice to be able to join a large raid group without having to coordinate.

While at Sasebo Yonkacho Shotengai, I went into AEON, a grocery store. I decided to get some Japanese Fried Chicken and Eel Sushi for dinner. It was amazing. I made a mistake while checking out. I tried to check out the opposite way. I am glad the cashier knew some English and was able to help me. He was nice.

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I also went to the 100 yen store for some chopsticks to eat my dinner with.