Sendai Three-Day Trip

Tuesday:  It rained on us, cold strong wind and rain.  We had nowhere to go so we went to Sendai Astronomical Observatory.  It was fun for Math Teacher, since he was a space nerd.  This was my first time to see a real working giant telescope that looked into space.  That was pretty cool.

Sendai Astronomical Observatory

Wednesday:  Matsushima was as beautiful as they said and as beautiful as any tourist guidebooks.  By the way, Matsu means pine trees.  Shima means island.  So Matsushima means Pine Island.  When I was doing research, I thought I was looking for an island.  But nooooo, Matsushima is a town by the ocean with a bunch islets in the bay.

五大堂

福浦島1

福浦島２

福浦島３

福浦島４

福浦島５

Lunch

Marubun Matsushima Cruising

観覧亭:  I agreed with lots of travel reviews online.  The museum was a small room with barely anything inside.  The tea set was at least ¥500.  They shouldn't have charged ¥200 museum admission fee.  If we paid for the tea sets, then the museum admission should've been included.

観覧亭 ¥200/person

観覧亭 ¥700 tea set

観覧亭 ¥500 tea set

円通院:  this one was completely by accident.  We went to Zuiganji Temple first because it was in a lot of tourist guidebooks.  I didn't do enough research and was unaware Zuiganji charged ¥700/person admission fee.  Math Teacher said nah.  So we walked down the street for about fifty paces, and we saw Entsuin Temple.  From the outside we saw beautiful maple leaves.  The admission was ¥300/person.  Math Teacher said ok, let's go in.  It was money well saved and well spent.  The red maple leaves were so poetic and romantic.  溫柔儒雅，美如詩，艷如畫。

Zuiganji Temple

Entsuin Temple 1

Entsuin Temple 2

Entsuin Temple 3

Entsuin Temple 4

Entsuin Temple 5

Entsuin Temple 6

Entsuin Temple 7

Entsuin Temple 8

Entsuin Temple 9

Entsuin Temple 10

Thursday:  it sprinkled a bit when we went to Yamadera.  It was still beautiful; the photos just didn't show up as nicely.  磅礴山雨欲來，又想躲雨又想觀景。The temple was famed for 1,000 steps up the mountain.  I was really worried so we went early.  It turned out it took me about one hour to climb to the top, and I was a fairly unfit person.  By the way, because of tourists, there was an express train from Sendai to Yamadera.  Normally it took 1 hour 20 minutes, the express took one hour.  So we saved 20 minutes, but our express train departed 8 minutes late.  So we saved 12 minutes.

Since we went to Yamadera early we finished by lunch and didn't know where else to go.  So we went to 3M Sendai City Science Museum.  It was a very interactive, hands-on museum.  Unfortunately, during a weekday, that meant busloads of school students on field trip.

3M Sendai City Science Museum

Lastly, souvenir shopping in Sendai.  The city is famous for beef tongue and kamaboko fish cakes.  Both were super delicious!

Sendai Parco Dept Store

Hotel Chocolat:  Sendai has my favorite chocolate brand!  This brand was so delicious every time I saw it I had to buy some.  Flavorful, fruitful, chocolatey, all around high quality.  And this shop had coffee!  The black coffee was smooth and not bitter.  Math Teacher's latte was not sweet at all.  We were surprised to find a not-sweet latte yet still delicious.  Both the black coffee and the latte paired well with the chocolates.  The chocolates just melted in the mouth yet not sickly sweet either.

Sendai Hotel Chocolat

食べマスすみっコしろくま＆ふろしき

食べマスすみっコしろくま＆ふろしき was from Family Mart.  Look at their cuteness!  However, I had no idea what I was eating.  It was not cream, nor mochi, nor cake.  It was very sweet.  Family Mart has been very good with its dessert selection this year.

食べマスすみっコしろくま＆ふろしき

On the other hand, 7-11 was behind on the desserts this year.  I haven't found a satisfactory sweet thing for months now.

Eternals (2021)

The worst Marvel movie so far.  I don’t know what went wrong; the whole movie was just "meh".  Maybe it was one-dimensional characters; maybe it was too many characters at one time.

*SPOILERS*

Kumail Nanjiani even left the movie before the final showdown.  They killed off Ajak and Gilgamesh, too!  WTF!

The powers were pretty generic.  One person ran super fast.  One was super strong.  One could fly.  The only non-generic power was Sersi, but her powers were ill-defined.  She could turn rocks into water.  Later she turned a Deviant into a tree.  Finally she turned an Eternal into a real human.  Plot armor.

When they stopped a Celestial from awakening and destroying the earth, I thought, wouldn't the big red boss notice right away?  Of course the boss did, and he took Sersi away.  However, instead of killing her, he used mumbo jumbo plot armor that, "I want to read your memories."  🙄  The boss created Eternals and he could create as many as he wanted.  He didn’t need to keep anyone alive.

The only saving grace was the sex scene.  Go Marvel for growing up!

Maybe Marvel is running out of creativity ideas.  It's been 10+ years. No one can last that long.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

This was the movie that made zombie trend, but it never mentioned a word of zombie.  Instead, it called them "ghouls" or "serial massacres".

The black-and-white movie was difficult to watch; sometimes I couldn't tell what was going on.  Despite that, the acting was quite good.  I got each character's personality and motivation.

This was more about human interaction and less about zombie attack.  For example, one lady was completely in shock and couldn't help with anything.  One man wanted to be the leader but couldn't make a good decision.

*SPOILER ALERT* everyone died at the end!

Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989)

Fun, entertaining, campy.  This is what Ghostbusters movie should be about.  Two great movies to watch right before Halloween.

I'm not sure about the new upcoming Ghostbusters.  The trailer make it serious and dramatic, which is not the soul of the Ghostbusters franchise.

Preying Mantis / Japanese Grandma Cougar

Out walking by the river with Math Teacher.  He saw a preying mantis on the ground.  It looked like a piece of brown dry leaf.  Math Teacher wanted to move it aside because bikers on the trail might not see it, and it seemed like it had already been injured.

As we were talking, the mantis started walking towards Math Teacher's left shoe.  He moved, and the mantis followed.  Gradually the mantis arrived at his shoe, and then climbed up his shoe, and then tried to climb into his pant leg!

"Hey, you hussy!  You can't get into my husband's pants!" I shouted.

Math Teacher was afraid to shake it off so he walked slowly to the shrubs.  The mantis couldn't get inside his pants; so it tried to climb up outside his pants.

"Get off!  Did you not see the wife is standing right here?" I demanded.

Finally Math Teacher stepped onto the shrubs, shook a little, and then the mantis moved off his pant leg and onto the grass.

We waved goodbye to the mantis and continued our stroll.  Math Teacher said, "I bet you never thought I'd get hit on by a mantis."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Doutour while having coffee, a Japanese grandma sat down at the table next to us, then she started chatting with us.  So happened we lived in the same city.  She owns a drinking bar *hint* extroverted personality.

Then her focus switched to Math Teacher.  She said Math Teacher was cute.  She asked if he were my husband.  She said she wanted to kiss him and take him home.  Lastly she reached over to touch his beard.

SEXUAL HARRASSMENT!

Math Teacher was very uncomfortable and wanted to leave.  Fortunately the Japanese grandma started talking to other people and soon after left.

I have a bitchy resting face so I never get hit on, not from a preying mantis or from a cougar!

Okinawa Five-Day Trip

Monday:  Cape Zanpa, Manzamo, Churaumi Aquarium, Ocean Culture Pavilion

The biggest disappointment was Manzamo.  It used to be grassland where people just drove up, parked, and walked among the weeds to see the cliff eroded by the ocean.  Now they put up a huge building selling tourist craps and charging ¥100/person to see the cliff.  What a ripoff.  The old Ryukyu King called this place Manzamo because it looked like it could accommodate 10,000 people (Man in Manzamo means 10,000).  With that eye-sore of a building in the middle of the grassland, the King would be seriously disappointed.

万座毛 entrance ticket ¥100/person

Needless to say, the aquarium is a must-see in Okinawa.  It's one of the only two aquariums in the world that houses whale sharks (the other one is in Atlanta, Georgia, USA).  Chura means "beautiful" in Okinawan dialect.  Umi means "ocean" in Japanese.  Churaumi means beautiful ocean.

沖縄美ら海水族館

Ocean Culture Pavilion was amazing for ¥190/person.  It housed two life-size ship replicas from Pacific islands.  It had maps, tools, clothings, music instruments, pictures, etc., about island life.  What surprised me the most was the museum claimed the earliest Pacific island life started around Taiwan/Philippines about 5,000 years ago and moved across the Pacific, landed in Hawaii/Polynesia, and then spread out.  I had originally thought it was the complete opposite route.

海洋文化館

Tuesday:  Okinawa Prefecture Museum & Art Museum, San-A Naha Main Place 

The Art Museum part was small but might as well enjoyed a bit of artsy stuff while we were in the Prefecture Museum receiving knowledge.

San-A Naha Main Place has dwindled.  I used to think it was the best place for expensive and cheap stuff all under one roof.  Now there are so many malls in Okinawa, Main Place was not impressive anymore.

Wednesday:  Nakagusuku Castle Ruins, Aeon Mall Okinawa Rycom 

Nakagusuku Castle Ruins was totally worth ¥400/person.  The grass was so soft and bouncy; that alone was worth the admission price.  The rock walls were amazing; they sat on top of the hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The wind was fierce, perfect for spotting invaders!

中城 Castle Ruins

Rycom Aeon Mall:  apparently they love Pokemon in Okinawa.  Pokemon stuff are everywhere!

Rycom Aeon Mall - Pokemon Store

Rycom Aeon Mall - Pikachu in traditional Okinawan dress

Thursday:  Okinawa Karate Kaikan, Shuri castle, Kokusai Dori

Couldn't believe we spent two hours in the Karate Kaikan.  We did not know that karate was originally called "Chinese Hand/唐手".  By 1930's they finally changed the name to Karate, or "Empty Hand/空手".  It was a move to get rid of Chinese culture and influence in Okinawa and to pretend karate was invented/originated in Okinawa itself, not imported from somewhere, *cough cough*, China.

At least I finally found the English name of a weapon that I was planning for a girl to use in my story.  It was called Sai, or a metal tool in the shape of a short truncheon).

空手会館

Shuri Castle was burnt down on Halloween, 2019 😢 We still went to visit it, just to pay respect and pay money to help it rebuild.

首里城

Another big disappointment was Kokusai Dori.  Even though it sold tourist craps, it was still popular among tourists back in the days.  Now half the crappy stores are not even open. 

Friday:  Okinawa Peace Memorial Park

Look at the website; the park needs to charge more money.  This was for Math Teacher; we're collecting WWII peace memorial parks for him.  He found three people with his family name engraved on the plaque.  For me, it was just sad, sad, sad.  There was a video of a boy about five-years-old couldn't stop shaking after being rescued from the cave he had been hiding.

Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum

I did education everyday!

We were very lazy people so we started everyday around 9:30 ~ 10am.  Because of the road condition in Okinawa, it took forever to drive anywhere.  Basically we could only hit a couple touristy destinations a day.

Roads in Okinawa were so well-paved, so smooth with barely any bumps.  On the other hand, the dividing lines are barely visible for half of the streets that we were on.  Sometimes we couldn’t tell if the roads were two lanes or three lanes.  Also the street signs were so weathered the words were peeling off.  We were better off using the GPS on the phone.

The biggest surprise was American Village.  It has developed so much, so many new stores, new restaurants.  So much shiny lights and so gaudy.  The seawall and the ocean are right in front of our eyes.  It's trying to imitate the beach life of San Diego.  It's not quite there but good enough for tourists. Math teacher had the best coffee mocha at Zhyvago in all of Japan so far.

American Village deco

Zhyvago coffee mocha

Lequ Hotel:  this was the hotel that we stayed at.  No one, not even my own Japanese teacher, could decide how to pronounce its name.

Lequ Hotel - Pokemon display

Credit Card Use:  Okinawa still barely uses credit cards.  Not in the Prefecture Museum, not in Peace Park, not in airport!!!  Luckily because of American military presence, lots of restaurants/shops will accept dollars and give back yen.  Unluckily they use horrible exchange rate!

Misdo Halloween Party

I probably moaned every time I had Mister Donut.  It was that good.  The Halloween Party donuts were their regular donuts but laced with more chocolates.  I thought it'd be really sweet and melt my teeth off, but no.  It was the same deliciousness without the overbearing sweetness.  I could enjoy them a lot more.

Misdo Halloween Party - in cute little packets

Misdo Halloween Party - the packets stand up!

Misdo Halloween Party - out of packets

I TAKE THEE: one-star rating on Amazon

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 25 SEPTEMBER 2021:  Just finished the free book promotion for I TAKE THEE.  Some mofo gave me one-star rating.  Amazon didn't label it as "verified purchase."  It was a global rating so it was someone outside US.

I TAKE THEE

I couldn't say it didn't hurt; I just needed to keep reminding myself.  2000+ people bought free copy of I TAKE THEE and they didn't find it that bad to leave a one-star rating.  Also, 15 people found I TAKE THEE good enough to buy book 2, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, for $0.99.

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD

So yeah, let me continue with book 3, TO HOLD & TO CHERISH, and forget about that asshole.

TO HOLD & TO CHERISH

20 September 2021 Update:  two people gave me four-star ratings!  One even left a great review and Amazon labeled it "verified purchase"!  Hopefully other readers will understand and ignore that one-star rating!

25 September 2021 Update:  one person gave me a five-star rating!  Thank you thank you whoever you are!

06 October 2021 Update:  another reader gave me one-star rating.  I'm sad😢.  On the other hand, I sold book 1 on 01 Oct and book 2 on 05 Oct; the retail prices, not on-sale promotional prices.  So I assumed there was a reader bought book 1, read it, thought it wasn't too bad, and then bought book 2.  Big thank you! 😊

25 November 2021 Update:  I'm up to three 5-star ratings now.  So happy!  😍  Big thanks to all my readers!

Nakai & Nakano Half-Day Trip / 中井駅中野駅半日遊

First, Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall:  Hayashi Fumiko was a famous author in Japan.  This was her old house (¥150/person entrance fee).  We were provided English pamphlets.  The grandpa receptionist spoke fairly good English.

林芙美子記念館

It was a beautiful traditional Japanese house.  It had several sections, all facing a serene garden.  Apparently she designed the house in sections so that she could put people she didn't like (e.g. the book editor) in outer sections that would never enter the inner house.  She also had a study and a library, and a relatively modern kitchen for her time period.  Visiting this house gave me ideas on how to design my future house, once I become a multi-billionaire best-selling author. 😜

Second, Goryo-Jinja:  a neighborhood shrine.  A university was on the way, and the neighborhood was extremely affluent.  We saw Mercedez-Benz, BMW, Audi parked everywhere.

Third, Tetsugakudo Park:  a beautiful park with many different old-timey buildings.  It wants to be au naturale so the ground is not paved.  It neighbors a river so it made tiny waterfalls in the park using the river water.  It has a kiddie playground.  Different flowers, trees and plants are nicely located.

哲理門

六賢台

Last, Araiyakushi: a neighborhood temple. We happened upon an antique fair. A vendor was selling several beautiful vases that caught my eyes. Unfortunately, I'm not artistic enough to have flower arrangements at home. ☹️

新井薬師梅照院 1

新井薬師梅照院 2

By this time I was starved.  So we wandered into a Thai restaurant called The Spicy Cafe.  I was probably ravenous because the Pad Thai was delicious with a large portion size.  Unfortunately they didn't have Thai Iced Tea.  Wha..... 😕

Finally we arrived at Nakano Sun Plaza and got onto the train at Nakano Station to go home.

My legs were so tired they almost gave out.  It was a fulfilling half-day trip.  I would definitely go back to Tetsugakudo Park and explore more of the buildings and see the beautiful flowers in different season.

I'll probably go back to Nakai/Nakano only in winter.  For some strange reasons mosquitos were fierce and aggressive in this neighborhood.  I had three bites on the right leg, two bites on the left leg, and one bite on the left hand.  As long as the mosquitos stay over there, however, I will not complain much.