Monday, August 24th
I woke up to Calcifer and Gigi sunbathing. I ate breakfast and slowly got ready. I wanted to straighten my hair and wear my hair down for an interview. I was smart and thought ahead to pack dresses and shoes to wear for interviews. I got ready and took a selfie because I was feeling confident. Then I went to AEON Daito to look at light fixtures and maybe some lamps.
At AEON Daito, no luck with lights or lamps. I am going to check out Amazon Japan to see what I can find. I did buy two trash cans. Well one will be for burnable trash and the other will be for recycling. Since I was out I thought about eating at the food court but remembered I cannot be doing that. I just went to the grocery section and bought a bacon and cheese wrap and some watermelon. I at lunch in my car. Then I headed to Hairo for my interview at Darby Elementary. Hairo is another U.S. base area, its mostly housing. They have the bigger Commissary compared to Main Base. Doug told me that main gate to Hairo is closed and to use the other gate. Got it. Well, the gate I was suppose to go through said close and main gate said open. I got a little flustered and eventually made it on to the installation and found Darby Elementary.
My interview went well. The position is for a special education aide. Its not a teacher position but it is working with kids. It is the only position they have open, so we shall see. Something is better than nothing. I can also teach English online if this doesn’t pan out. I am trying to find something in-person first, then work online.
After the interview, I needed to get back to Main Base for the initial JCI inspection. I made it back with ten minutes before the appointment. I went ahead and dropped the car off. I needed to come back before they close at 5 p.m. to pick it up. To kill time, I went to the NEX and bought some stuff. I bought a cute cat backpack, a shirt, and two cardigans. Then I went to the NEX Food Court. I treated myself to a Cold Turtle Cappucino. I was still trying to kill time. Then I played Pokemon Go for a little bit. When it got close to 5, I started to walk back to the NEX Mini Mart. Doug meet me over there after work.
We have a final JCI inspection on Friday. They will fix what needs to be worked on. It needs just some basic maintenance and two tires. It was a little more than we expected, but we just got our ROM money. Plus, I forgot Doug gets paid Friday. Then Doug decided he needed to get brown boots, because they are more comfortable and don’t rub the back of his foot. He got a nasty rub on the back of his foot from over the weekend working shore patrol. The uniform shop is on the second floor of the furniture store. Doug decided we needed to look for something to put the microwave on. We found a bookshelf that would work perfectly, so we bought that. After we picked up the bookshelf, we went home. I let Doug drive home since I have been able to drive all weekend. He made it home without GPS.
Once at home, Doug decided to figure out the hot water control. I tried all weekend to get it to work. So all weekend, I took a lukewarm shower. I was totally fine with it because I have taken cold showers in the winter. It was a tough winter. Anyways that was a long time ago. While Doug was figuring out the hot water, I made dinner. I made Korean BBQ sliced beef with stir fry udon noodles. I put a little too much soy sauce in the udon noodles. My bad. Other than that, it was tasty!
Doug ate dinner then went back to figuring out the hot water control. I thought I was just stupid and couldn’t figure it out. Nope, Doug couldn’t figure it out either. Doug was able to find the information sheet from our realtor. He called the English translator and she came over. She couldn’t figure it out and called the maintenance guy. They tried to figure it out on the phone. Well they couldn’t. The maintenance guy came over, he had no luck. Thankfully for Google Translate to help us through some moments. The maintenance guy says he will come back tomorrow. We feel bad that these two people had to come over. It made Doug and I feel better that we couldn’t figure it out. Doug and I took a lukewarm shower tonight. Doug said it was cold to me it was more lukewarm. He didn’t like it and then said he wish he just stayed on the ship for a hot shower. Then he said at least this past weekend he got to have a hot shower. I am glad that he has never had to take a cold shower before because he had to.
Tuesday, August 24th
Doug spent his first night in the apartment last night. He woke up to his back hurting due to sleeping on an air mattress. I took him to work and came back to the apartment. Maintenance came to fix the hot water control. They got it working and I am so happy to have hot water. They did say sorry and I mimed its okay. I thanked them and they left. I decided I should eat the peach I bought the other day. Peaches are in season here and they are amazing! It was so juicy! Then I compiled a list of things we still need for the apartment.
I messaged Doug to see what he wanted for dinner and he said he didn’t know. I decided I was going to try to re-create the beef bowl from Hanamaru Udon. I went to AEON at the Ginza because I wanted to go to the 100 yen floor and then grocery shop on the ground floor. I got all the items on my list like a trash can for the shower/washroom, a paper towel holder, a water pitcher, a kitchen utensil holder, a cat towel rack, and a cat plastic bag holder. I am going to use the cat plastic bag holder to hold our keys by the front door. Then I went to the ground floor to get stuff for dinner. I bought some sliced beef, ground beef, an onion, some pineapple, sauce, some drinks, and noodles. Then I went home.
For lunch, I reheated the meat we had leftover for dinner and made some rice to go with it. It was yummy. Then I decided just to chill until time to pick up Doug from work. I decided to try a different route to go get Doug. I made a mistake but was able to figure out where to go. Pretty proud of myself! I got Doug and we went to base. We needed to check our mail on base, we didn’t get anything. Then we went to the Commissary because Doug decided he was going to make Korean Beef. He has made this before and I really don’t care much for it. I decided we should have it because its different. We bought some spices, eggs, chocolate milk, and Starbucks Caramel Macchiato cold drink. Doug enjoys cafe Au lait and cold lattes and is now trying different coffee drinks. After the Commissary, we went home.
Doug made dinner. I did help with dinner by making the rice. There are a few things I can cook better than Doug. One of them is making rice. Doug has taught me how to cook a few things (fried rice) and when he does I make it better than him. This is why I won’t learn a few southern staples from him. I don’t want to be stuck with making them and plus he needs to cook too. The Korean Beef turned out amazing!!! I actually liked it this time. We have plenty leftover. Tomorrow itwill be my lunch.
Doug was so excited about the shower he took one early. Once he got out, he told me how awesome it was. I will take a shower later. I cleaned the kitchen and took the cats out on the balcony. Gigi escaped to the next door’s balcony. I got her to come back with cat treats. She is a mess. I am waiting for the neighbors to get upset about her being on the balcony. I also need to figure out how to block it so Gigi cannot get over there.
Wednesday, August 26th
I woke up and did my morning routine. I worked out, ate breakfast, started a load of laundry, and made a list for the day. Doug is leaving this weekend for a little over a month. He wanted me to buy him some snacks to have on the ship. Doug requested to find a snack that is made by Tohato. The only place we can find them is on the 100 yen floor at AEON. I have been checking anytime I go in there but no luck. I told him I would try!
The Ginza (Yonkacho) is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment but since it has been so hot, I have been driving and parking at Nimitz Park. Nimitz Park is free to park at and is only a 5 minute walk to the Ginza. I decided to go to Watts (100 yen store) at the Ginza to see what snacks they have. They actually had Doritos and some other snacks. I decided to pick up some snacks Doug might like and if he doesn’t he can give them to someone else. Then I went to AEON in search for his Tohato snack. I did them and bought him eight bags. Then I went to the grocery floor to look for soy sauce, this bacon pretzel sticks he likes, and some fruit. I found what I needed and headed back home.
To get ready for the movers, I cleaned the floors in the apartment. I want it to look good and for when they put our stuff down, its already clean! I picked up Doug from work and we came home. I showed him all the snacks I got for him. I made dinner and we had a quiet evening at home.
Thursday, August 27th
Getting our stuff day!
The movers got here at 9 a.m. and unloaded one of the three trucks with our stuff. We have a lot of stuff, maybe too much stuff. They brought everything up and then started bringing stuff in. The main guy had this piece of cardboard with the number of each box or item. Doug was in charge of marking off the box next to each item, and I told them where to put things. Every time they came into the apartment, they took of their shoes. There were about five guys helping with everything.
Most of the stuff they had brought up first was what we had in the garage in Denver. Which was mostly my teacher stuff, which we were putting in our storage locker that came with the apartment. Then they brought in our bed frame and tried to piece it together. Doug had to help them. Once Doug had to help them, I had to check things off. They did take a few breaks, which they totally deserved, because we have too much stuff. There were some moments. One guy tried to read me the numbers, but he was messing up. The main guy pretty much pushed him away. This made me laugh, luckily they laughed too.
For lunch, we usually buy the movers lunch. Doug talked to the main guy and he said they have lunch, but would love some drinks. We had water and some Bacari Sweat for them in the morning. I went to Daily’s (convenient store) to buy some drinks for them and a few for us. While I was out, Doug ordered us Domino’s and had it delivered. As soon as I came back, the pizza was there and the guys decided to take lunch. This was perfect! Doug gave them two Bacari Sweats to drink and we enjoyed our Domino’s. It was pretty good.
Garlic Master 
American 
Potato Wedges with Chili 
Potato Wedges with Butter 
Japanese Fried Chicken
After lunch, Doug and I worked on arranging a few things and the movers got to working on bringing in the couch, our king size mattress, and the rest of our stuff. Doug and I were worried about the couch and the king size mattress. If they cannot fit them in the elevator, they would carry it up to the fourth floor and Doug and I would have to carry it the rest of the way. Well, they are miracle workers and got them both to fit. The king size mattress got funky and the movers got stuck in the blanket they laid down. I helped out with straightening the blanket and their shoes. They kept apologizing and I kept saying it’s okay. Then they moved the couch in. I got nervous and felt bad for them. Doug and I moved the couch in Denver into the apartment. It sucked! They did an awesome job getting it into the living room.
Doug and I were happy that the couch and our bed fit. They got everything in our apartment and we asked them to unpack the boxes. We normally don’t have them unpack everything but we didn’t want to have to take the boxes to base. They helped us unpack everything so carefully. My favorite part was unpacking all of Doug’s video games, he has over 600 games from several different consoles. One of the younger movers was helping and he pointed to several things he likes (Gundam Wing, Fulmetal Alchemist, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). It was so cute. He even noticed our Studio Ghilbi collection. At the end, one of the guys wanted to see Calcifer (he was in hiding) and I took him to see Calcifer. Calcifer wasn’t about it. I also had a few pikachu items on a shelf, and two of the guys pointed to them and was excited to see them. It made me smile.
Doug and I said bowed and thanked them all. What an experience! Knowing a little Japanese has really helped. We only know how to greet, thank you, yes, no, excuse me, and I am sorry (friendly). Then we looked at all the stuff we get to put away. We have too much stuff. Doug started in his game room/computer room. I started in our bedroom so we could sleep in our bed. Its been 106 days since we have slept in our own bed. We bought new bedding last year on Black Friday and now we can finally use it! It is a nice set and I am glad we have it.
The best part about having our stuff is sleeping in our own bed. It was so comfortable and Gigi was all about it. Calcifer was excited to get under the bed! It is nice to finally have all of our stuff and it is starting to feel like home.
Friday, August 28th
Bender, our car, has its last JCI inspection today! It has to have some work done and the mechanics take it out in town to get the JCI finished. Doug took it and then walked to work. I feel bad because it rained this morning. Doug took an umbrella. Instead of taking the big polka dot umbrella or the white polka dot umbrella, he took the penguin umbrella. Both polka dot umbrellas I have had since 2012. The penguin umbrella I just bought at Christmas and is Vera Bradley, he took that one of course. I told him to not come home unless he has the umbrella.
While Doug was at work, I worked on organizing the apartment. I started in the Tatami room where all the games and movies were. Doug started organizing them and I finished it. I cleaned out the Tatami Room and then took a break.
Before 
After
I started watching Lucifer season 5. I decided to watch one episode then get back to the apartment. I then worked on what I could in the kitchen. We bought a shelf for the microwave next to the fridge and I decided to put it together. I don’t want Doug to have to do a lot this weekend since he will be going under weigh. I put the shelf together and put the microwave on it and a few kitchen items on it too. Then I decided to take a break and watch another episode of Lucifer. I have to change out the rocker (name of his command) on Doug’s dress uniforms. I decided I could do this while waiting for the step stool and/or Doug coming home. I was successful in changing the patch out on both uniforms. Doug will need his dress uniforms in case they do uniform inspections while under weigh. For once, I sewed them on early instead of waiting last minute and being upset about it. I am glad we are back on a Navy Base so he can have them sew his uniforms and/or get the items he needs for his ribbons. We went on a hunt for stars to add to one of his ribbons in Colorado. We weren’t successful in Colorado.
I ordered a step stool for in the kitchen because I cannot reach the top shelf. It is suppose to get here today! Doug messaged me about the car being ready and how he was on his way to get it. He needed to get the car back and go to VRO (vehicle registration office) on base to finish registering it. He was able to do this so I didn’t have to do it. We have officially done everything we needed to do before he leaves! YAY!!! He then came home.
I didn’t have dinner planned because I haven’t been to the store since Wednesday. The meat is only good for a day or two and I don’t like to freeze meat. I know, its weird. Plus, Doug wants CoCo Ichiban-ya before he leaves. We decided to go to the grocery store by CoCo Ichiban-ya and then get Coco’s to go. We are not allowed to dine in at restaurants due to the PHO (public health order) released by the Commander of CFA Sasebo. They take Covid-19 seriously here and anyone with a PHO violation gets in trouble by there command. If you have too many violations you can be sent back to the states. There has been several people who have broken ROM protocols and have been banned from U.S. military installations for years.
I have a love/hate relationship taking Doug to the grocery store. He likes to buy items (junk food) we don’t need. I have got into this habit and I know its bad, but I have just given in at this point. We grab a basket and end up needed a cart. There carts are just the basket placed on the top and another basket on the bottom. We ended up with two baskets of food. We were buying food for two days, so I was trying to make myself feel better about it. It kinda worked. We got snacks and meals for the weekend.
We then went to CoCo Ichiban-ya for dinner. I ordered chicken curry and Doug got beef curry. It was interesting because right after we ordered, two guys walked into order, American. Then another American and then when we got our food another American came into order. I just find it funny that we don’t see Americans in grocery stores, but at restaurants we do. Its okay. I would rather shop out in town than the Commissary. I appreciate the culture and once you understand how things works, you go with it instead of against it. I love the simple gesture of a small bow instead of saying excuse me. It keeps things quiet. I love how quiet it is.
Saturday, August 29th
Doug and I planned on finishing the kitchen today. We also made a list of items we need for the apartment. We need curtains for our bedroom, cat litter, maple syrup, and some pots and pans. The maple syrup is for breakfast tomorrow, we want to make french toast. We couldn’t find any in town so we decided to go to the Commissary. A positive to the Commissary is we can get American food items we cannot find out in town.
We first went to main base to the Commissary and the NEX. One of Doug’s shipmates has been in ROM since the end of July. At first he didn’t have to ROM, then they decided to put him in ROM. Then he moved to his apartment in Hairo. They tested him for Covid-19 to come out of ROM but his test was invalid. So he had to ROM again. He will hopefully get out of ROM early next week, but they are going under weigh Wednesday. I know I mentioned it was suppose to be this weekend. Well that is how the military works. Things change last minute and you better role with it, because they could careless about your plans or life events happening. So this poor guy has been in ROM and his family is out of ROM. They haven’t been able to get a car or their licenses yet. They live in Hairo which isn’t close to anything. The tower they live in in Hairo is a hike to and from the Commissary. I feel bad because I dreaded the walk from the Lodge to the front gate in order to go out in town. We are going to help them out anyway we can. We went to the NEX to find a backpack for her to carry groceries in. Well we ended up finding a duffel bag with wheels to help. Then we took it to them. Going to Hairo was an adventure.
Doug picked the longest way to get to Hairo. He didn’t want to take the expressway because you pay a toll. Its like 100 yen. Anyways I thought it was taking the way I have been. No. It took us a different way and it wanted us to turn where we couldn’t. We ended up paying a toll. Should have just taken the expressway. It was okay, because I got to see more beautiful scenery of Sasebo. We ended up making it to Hairo and then got lost trying to find the gate. Google Maps was sucking today! We eventually made it to their tower and gave them the bag. We ended up talking for an hour about different things. We are going to do our best to help out anyway we can. I told the wife to message me and I would try my best to help.
After we left, we headed towards AEON Daito. Its about 20 minutes North of Hairo. We went by Huis Ten Boch. Huis Ten Boch is a Dutch amusement Park and that is one of the things Sasebo is known for. It is beautiful from what I can see from the road. Doug and I want to go for their for the food. It is off limits right now, it wasn’t when we got here. We were planning on going after we got settled. Anyways, we made it to AEON Daito, ready to finish our shopping for the day.
I got the curtains for our bedroom. We ended up getting two rugs, one for the living room and one for the Tatami room. They were both on clearance. Then we were about the check out, and realized we needed pot and pans. I went to get a buggy (cart) because we just had too much stuff in our arms. I got the buggy (cart) and went to Doug in the pots and pans. Buying a set for a induction cook top is expensive as a set. We ended up picking out two pans and a pot. Then we headed toward electronics for Doug to look at games. We got sidetracked and started looking at kitchen appliances. Doug wanted to look for a toaster because we got rid of ours. We ended up buying a toaster oven (for bread and pizza). Then we looked at video games. After looking, we decided to go check out. The ladies are so sweet. They asked us if we want a bag and we said yes in Japanese. We ended up spending about $300. We took our stuff to the car. We don’t need anything else expect two bookshelves, which we will order from Amazon Japan.
We put our stuff in the car and went back inside to the grocery store area. Doug wanted to get some milk for our french toast in the morning. I also bought some fruit, a watermelon and a peach. The peaches here are in season right now and they are so juicy and delicious! After AEON, we went home. I took Doug the back way to get home because it has some awesome scenic areas. There is a part where you can see SSK (Japanese Shipyard). Its really beautiful. You also go down a narrow road which is kinda scary but fun.
Once home, we put everything away and I hung up our new curtains in the bedroom. They almost fit. I am not going to buy another set to cover it. It will be fine. Its mostly to block out the sun in the morning and for privacy. Then I made dinner. I made Korean Beef with Fried Rice and Fried Pork Cutlets. We didn’t eat lunch and were starving. I am proud of ourselves! We waited to eat until we got home, instead of buying some food out in town and bringing it home.
After dinner, we worked on organizing the kitchen. I started a load of laundry. I let Doug finish the kitchen and went out on the balcony with the cats. We cannot trust them to be out there on their own. Gigi likes to sneak next door even though we covered up the place where she can fit. She found a way to get over there. Calcifer won’t go over there. I took my eyes off Gigi, and of course she went next door. Thank goodness they weren’t home. So I bribed her with treats. I got her to come back. She is sneaky.
Sunday, August 30th
I was awaken early this morning to Calcifer scratching in the closet. He somehow got stuck between the wall and some luggage. I felt bad for him. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I stayed up just messing around on my phone. I waited for Doug to get up. Doug was in charge of making breakfast. Doug made French Toast, Pork Belly, Bacon, and Sausage. It was amazing!
We then got ready to go to base. We needed to buy a printer and some tuna for the cats. They haven’t had tuna in five days. I am surprised they haven’t revolted against us. I needed the printer in order to print out a paper and send in for a job. I got the special education aid job. I know its just an aid position, but something is better than nothing. This will also allow me the chance to get to know the staff and at least have my foot in the door. I also think its time for me to take a step back and not push myself as hard. I reflect on our time in Colorado and realize we weren’t truly happy. I feel like I was just going through the motions and not actually living my life to the fullest. There were some crushing blows, Doug’s health tanked and I just didn’t care anymore. I feel more alive here in Sasebo, even during Covid-19.
For lunch, Doug decided we should do CoCo Ichiban-ya. He went to get it since we are waiting for Amazon packages. I just stayed at the apartment. Amazon didn’t come while Doug was gone, so I could have went with him. That is okay. We enjoyed our curry. For the rest of the day, we just hung out. Doug has watch tomorrow and won’t be back until Tuesday evening. He also has to get things ready for when they go under weigh. He wants to have the majority of his stuff on board in case they get locked down early.
Hale of a Journey 