Finding a Place, Food, and Fun!

Monday, August 10th

We were on a Storm Watch as a Tropical Depressions goes by. It is just creating rough waters out in the harbor and for Sasebo River. I went to the bank to get the rest of our savings out to exchange the currency for when we find a place. Doug picked me up and we went to Housing. They didn’t have anything. We have to go check every day around noon. At noon is when they post new listings or places people didn’t want. We will see if they have anything available tomorrow. I came back to the room and worked on fixing my federal resume for two jobs I already applied for then I applied for another job. My federal resume is now nine pages.

For dinner we went to Miraizaka. Doug has been wanting some yakitori and this place had it on the menu outside. We decided to try it out. When you go in, they have a genkan, so you have to take your shoes off and place them in a locker. They don’t have an English menu. We had to use Google Translate for the menu. They were nice to have a sign to tell us how to order in English. Doug ordered all the different yakitori they had and we ordered somethings that looked good. They at least had pictures for the majority of the menu. There were a few things I didn’t like which was fine. At least I tried them! We were happy we went there.

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To learn more about yakitori: https://digjapan.travel/en/blog/id=11241.

Tuesday, August 11th

Interesting day. I got up and did my morning routine. I worked out, ate breakfast, and took a shower. I worked on my Japanese. I review then learn new words through Rosetta Stone. It also goes over grammar and weaves in previous lessons for more repetitions. I also am working on writing in hiragana and katakana. I bought a kids practice book to help. My lunch today was Cup Noodles Curry and left over shaka shaka chicken. I was surprised how the shaka shaka chicken reheated well in the microwave.

Doug texted me about how he needed to go to the hospital. He was having pain in one of his testicles. There is only a health clinic on base so any testing or major things will be taken out in town. You must have a referral for out in town so we don’t have to pay. Doug came to pick me up and we went to the Sasebo City General Hospital.

Doug had to drive since I don’t have my license. I felt terrible that I couldn’t drive. Luckily Sasebo City General Hospital was close to base. It is just past Nimitz Park. A translator was going to meet us at the hospital. We figured out parking and started walking towards the main entrance. We meet the translator and went in. We sat in a waiting area for the translator to get the information she would need. Doug’s command doctor provided a sheet for the translator. A nurse meet us and Doug had to fill out paperwork. We then were taken to another waiting area for them to do an ultrasound and take Doug’s blood. I stayed in the waiting area. After they sent the blood work, we were sent to the Emergency Room of the Hospital because it was now after hours at the hospital. The main hospital closes at 5:00 p.m. We waited in the Emergency Room for the test results. The test results came back and the Doctor came, he took the Doug and the translator to a room. The good news is Doug had slight testicular torsion and there was no need for surgery. I got Doug’s permission to share this in the blog. Also, this was the translator’s first experience and she was nervous. She did amazing!

We went back to base and had Popeye’s for dinner. Doug and I both decided we liked KFC out in town more than Popeye’s on base. My problem with the Popeye’s here is they don’t have all the sauces you can get back in the states.

Wednesday, August 12th

I passed my driver’s test today! They only had me pull out and then back into a spot. I have been practicing so it was easy. I should have passed the first time, but that is okay. Doug came to get me for us to go to Housing. We got there a little early. We picked a place that has been on the board for a while. Housing contacted the realtor and set us up for a 1:30 p.m. appointment. It requires about $8,000 up front. We have that but our funds are starting to get low. The government is taking their sweet time refunding us for our second place tickets, travel expenses, and hotel costs. Anyways, thank goodness Doug gets paid Friday! They didn’t put anything new on the board. We are allowed to have two choices in order to look at.

Doug contacted his command to see if he needed to come back to work then go to the viewing. His command told him to come back after the apartment viewing. Doug decided to change out of his uniform to civilian clothes. It was too hot to walk around in his uniform. He would just take his uniform with him and change at work. We went to the NEX Food Court and had Taco Bell. I had a chicken quesadilla and Doug had chalupas. We then left our car at the NEX and walked to the back gate to meet the realtor.

We meet the realtor and she took us to the apartment. It is 2.2 km from the front gate and 1.2 km from the Ginza (Yonkacho). Parking is on the second floor and the apartment is on the sixth floor. There is an elevator. The apartment is four bedroom, one bathroom and is 1,214 square feet. There is one tatami room that counts as a bedroom. The living room is large and meets up with the kitchen. The sink in the kitchen is HUGE! There is a large balcony that you can reach from the living room, tatami room, and one of the bedrooms. It is beautiful and the view is breathtaking! There is also additional storage which is great for seasonal and my teacher stuff. We told the realtor we were going to take it! On our way back to base, she showed us where to place garbage and recycling. The garbage is located right outside the parking area. Recycling is around the corner on the left.

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The realtor took us back to base and dropped us off at the back gate. We walked back to the car and went to Housing. We told Housing we would take the apartment. Housing then set us up for an initial paperwork appointment. At the initial paperwork appointment, we will get a ‘Need to Know Guide’, schedule lease signing, move-in date, appliance delivery date, inventory sheet (request appliances), cost estimate form (how much yen we will need), Sasebo Cho Rental Guide (paying utilities, rent, and important phone numbers). They will also tell us how to sort our garbage and recycling. The base will provide us with a refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, air conditioners (up to four wall units), dehumidifier, and a carbon monoxide detector. The apartment has air condition so we won’t need any more. The base will also install everything for you! We will need a refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, dehumidifier, and the carbon monoxide detector. I am looking forward to finally having a place!

I drove Doug back to work. His ship is located at SSK which is the Japanese Shipyard. They check your ID before you are allowed to enter. I got to finally see Doug’s ship. Then I went back to the Lodge. I just messed around for awhile until Doug called me to pick him up. I picked him up then we went out for dinner. We went to the Ginza (Yonkacho)and had Hanamaru Udon. We have had this before. I got the beef bowl and a potato croquette. Doug got the beef bowl, beef udon, and some chicken. We spent 1,727 yen ($16) for dinner. I love their beef bowl!

While at the Ginza, we went to one of the 100 yen stores and AEON for slippers in the apartment. At the 100 yen store we were looking for felt pads for our furniture since their is no carpet in the apartment. We also found some pens, candy for Doug to take to work, a basket for the candy, and two coloring books. Doug likes to have candy on his desk for people, he is sweet.

Slipper hunt at AEON. The apartment has a Genkan, so we will need slippers for around the house. A Genkan is a tradional Japanese entry way and you have to step up to enter the home. We also picked up some bathroom slippers too. We had to get the largest size slippers they have. I wear US size 11 in womens and Doug wears a US size 12 in mens. Japanese shoe sizes are in cm. I wear 27 cm here in Japan. Womens shoes here only go up to 25 cm (US size 9). I can find shoes and socks in men size 27 cm (US men’s 9.5). The largest slippers they have is ‘LL’ which Doug calls a ‘Large Large’. We both got the same style slipper just in different colors. Doug got gray and I got black.

On the way back to the car, we stopped at 7-Eleven for snacks. Doug has watch tomorrow so he wanted to get some snacks to take with him. He is not allowed to leave the ship while on watch. He picked up some snacks and I grabbed lunch for tomorrow.

We tried on the slippers once we made it back to the room. Doug’s slippers are just a tad small but they will work! My slippers fit perfectly and I am excited.

Thursday, August 13th

Doug has watch today so I will be on my own. I will pick him up from work tomorrow. I got up worked out, scooped the litter box, and ate breakfast. I have to pick up the car paperwork today. I don’t know when, Doug will let me know.

My lunch was shirmp gratin with a white cream sauce from 7-Eleven. It. was. AMAZING! I have been eyeing this dish and decided to pick it up last night. I was nice enough to share with Gig and she enjoyed it as well. I gave her some of the sauce. Gigi was a feral cat before we got her, so she eats everything. If she doesn’t eat it, then I won’t eat it. One time, she didn’t like a bratwurst, I took a bite and agreed with her. That is the only time I have seen her not eat something.

Doug called me to meet the lady at the Post Office on base to get the car paperwork. The lady goes out in town to get the name changed on the documents. I checked the documents to make sure they were correct and paid her. She was sweet, she kept apologizing and I told her not to worry! The next steps for the car is to register it at VRO (on base) for our base access sticker and to get the JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance) done. The JCI is a government mandated vehicle inspection that is required every two years. The JCI on Bender is due this September. We can have this done on base or out in town. The previous owners paid around $200 the last time the JCI was due. They also suggested to just do it on base. Doug has to do the JCI because the car is in his name. I am not allowed to have it in my name since I am a spouse. I am good with it, its not my responsibility. Their is a NEX Auto area at the NEX Mini Mart where you have the JCI done.

For dinner, I decided to go to the Ginza (Yonkacho). There are three places I want to try so I picked one of them. I went to Gyoza Ohsho (Gyoza King) which is a Chinese restaurant. I sat at a counter and took a look at the menu. I was happy to see Chinese Soup Dumplings. I didn’t try them, I will next time though! I ordered roasted pork and gyoza. The vegetables in the gyoza were crunchy instead of being soft. It was good gyoza. The roasted pork was amazing! I cannot wait for Doug to try this place out because they have pepper steak. Doug is a huge fan of some good pepper steak. My dinner cost was 737 yen ($6.89). It was filling and cheap!

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After dinner, I went to the 100 yen store to find the pens Doug liked. I found them! They had four left and I bought them. I also found some cute penguin sticky notes and a penguin memo pad. I couldn’t resist how cute they were! Then, I decided to go to 7-Eleven to grab something for lunch tomorrow. I found a meal that had steak with a sauce. It looked amazing and I used Google Translate to make sure it was steak. This was the only things I got at 7-Eleven. It was 499 yen ($4.67).

Then I decided I needed some fruit for my breakfast in the morning. I went to AEON. The grocery portion of the store is on the lower floor. I looked at the fruit. I was hoping for watermelon but they only had pineapple and cherries. The pineapple looked good but I decided on cherries. The cherries were only 255 yen ($2.39). I was pretty happy with my self. I didn’t embarrass myself and went the correct way to check out. The lady ringing me up didn’t ask me for a bag. I was glad because I had my 7-Eleven bag. She placed an AEON sticker on it and moved me over to pay. I used the button to translate it to English and paid in coins. I have to work on getting rid of 1 yen coins. I have over thirty! Then I headed back to the car, which was parked at Nimitz Park and went back to base.

Friday, August 14th

I had to do some errands so I actually woke up early. I got up, worked out, scooped the litter box, and ate breakfast. I got dressed and headed to the bank. I needed to get a roll of quarters in order to do laundry. Then I headed to the NEX to grab cat food. I forgot that the NEX doesn’t have cat food. The Commissary and the NEX Mini Mart have cat food. I then went back to the car. The Commissary didn’t open for two more minutes and it was too hot to be standing outside. It was 90 degrees today with 78% humidity. I got the cat food. I took the cat food back to the car. Then walked to the Post Office on base. The NEX and the Commisary are right next to each other. The Post Office is across the street from them. It didn’t make sense to move the car even though it was hot today. I had to turn in our form for a FPO box. The guy asked where we are living and I said out in town and Main Base is the closest. He went back in the back, I guess, to look up what box we could have and the combination code. He gave me a slip of paper with the box number and the combination number on it. Then I went back to the room.

The plan for the afternoon was to have lunch and work on the blog. I got behind because I have done video calls with my mom and dad this week. They wanted to know more about the apartment and how things are going. I am thankful for video and audio calls through Facebook Messenger. That is how I have been able to communicate with Doug, my family, and friends.

My lunch! The Charcoal Fired Steak with Rice I got from 7-Eleven was awesome! The sauce they used, oishi (delicious). I love some good meat with rice! I even sent a picture to Doug, he was jealous. Apparently on the ship for lunch, they decided to make salisbury steak with chicken noodle soup on top. No gravy. Chicken Noodle Soup on top. Doug had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. I felt bad for sharing my amazing lunch.

Well I messed up my phone and had to completely restore it. I lost some of my pictures from earlier this week. I do have the food pictures because I sent them to Doug! Doug got off earlier which didn’t matter because he was trying to restore my phone. Doug decided for dinner to go to Pepper Lunch. I got the Sirloin Pepper Steak with bean sprouts, green beans, and carrots. Doug got the Beef Pepper Rice. It was awesome.

We then walked over to Gobangai (5th Avenue Mall) because Doug wanted to go to Toys ‘R Us. We got another Super Mario Lego Set, the Mario Cat Suit, and two random small Super Mario Lego sets. We then decided to go to the 300 yen store. I told Doug it was bad in there. We left there with 2,750 yen worth of stuff for the apartment. We bought two rugs, one mat for the kitchen, two mats for dishes, snack clips, and dish towels. All of it has cats on it except one has penguins on it. Doug told me how it was a bad store and we shouldn’t have went it. I told you so. We then decided to walk back to the car and go back to base.

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Saturday, August 15th

Doug and I decided today we would go explore west of the base. Before we went on a mini adventure, we went to CoCo Ichibanya for lunch. We went there last weekend and had an amazing meal. Plus, Doug and I were both thinking about having curry. Doug got the same thing as last week, a beef cutlet curry and naan bread. I got the chicken cutlet with summer vegetables and a piece of naan bread. I kept my spicy level the same. Doug went up a spicy level. He enjoyed the spiciness and doesn’t think he would go any higher.

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We have been west but we wanted to venture further out. We decided to drive as far as we felt comfortable with. We ended up seeing some gorgeous places. I made sure to take lots of pictures.

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After our mini adventure, we came back to the Lodge. Doug was feeling sleepy so he took a nap. I decided to watch K-Pop videos and play Pokemon Go. I haven’t given a Pokemon Go update in a while. Let’s see, I got a shiny Deoxy earlier this week. That was exciting especially because Doug’s account got a shiny before me. I also got a shiny unknown letter ‘l’. That is about it.

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When Doug woke up from his nap, we discussed what to do for dinner. Doug wasn’t hungry so we decided to go to several GEO’s and then find dinner along the way. GEO sells video games, DVD’s, and CD’s. They also rent DVD’s and video games. Doug has been able to find a few games he likes. Tonight he was telling me how expensive Gundam games are in the states but cheap here. For example one game he showed me was like $10 but cost over $100 in the states. Doug bought a few things and I got some caramel popcorn.

For dinner, we ended up at KFC. I decided to try this new chicken sandwich they had, the Hot Chili Cheese Sandwich. Doug got the Red Hot Chicken again. My sandwich was really good and the spicy level was perfect! I love their pies! We then went to Baskin Robbins because they have Pikachu ice cream with cute Pokemon cups. You also get a cute Pikachu spoon! It was sooo adorable! The ice cream was good.

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After dinner, we went to another GEO. Doug didn’t find anything at this GEO which was fine. It was on the way back to base. On the way back, we decided to stop at 7-Eleven for snacks. I also proposed we pick up something to eat tomorrow. Doug wants to have a rest day tomorrow. I found the Charcoal Fire Steak with Rice for him. I got myself the Shrimp with White Sauce and Rice. Doug also picked up some more drinks for himself and snacks. I still have plenty of snacks and drinks. I have been drinking more water and really only buying flavored water. I try to limit myself to one melon soda a day. That is one thing I love about Japan is their sizes are smaller. I cannot drink a large melon soda. I can drink a small or medium.

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Sunday, August 16th

Doug wanted to rest today so he stayed in the room. I went to the Ginza (Yonkacho) to play Pokemon Go (make up Go Fest day). There was some problems during Go Fest and Ninantic decided to give people a make up day. It was available between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I got four shinies. I was excited because three of them I didn’t have.

It was hot today! I only stayed out for the event and then went back to the room. While I was out I got Doug and I a late lunch. I went to the McDonald’s at the Ginza. Doug got chicken nuggets and I got a Big Mac. McDonalds is so much better here!

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The rest of the day, I did laundry and watched YouTube. Doug played a game. For dinner, I had Shrimp with White Sauce and Rice. Doug tried the Charcoal Steak with Rice but he didn’t like the sauce. I ate the steak from it and he had nachos.

Obon Festival

From Thursday, August 13th to Sunday, August 16th was Obon Festival in Japan. It is how Japan pays tribute to their ancestors and loved ones who have passed away. On Saturday, August 15th, we watched as several families paid tributes to their ancestors and loves with lanterns. I didn’t take pictures out of respet.

To learn more: https://savvytokyo.com/obon-the-japanese-festival-of-the-dead/, https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2286.html,