October 26th 2020 - Day 2860

Ok, I know I promised you all weekly blog updates, but there are still times when it is hard to do when there is very little going on. Over the last month work has been going through an up down process, where one moment I am busy from dawn till dusk, and the next there is nothing going on at all. The only other major excitement during the weekdays is that I have started doing more English lessons in private, which is good practice for my Japanese and a good way to make some extra income. My wife has been hard at work trying to find work, or else looking after the house and me whenever I need it.

One major event from the last month was that my wife and I celebrated our one year Japanese wedding anniversary. To celebrate we had a magical day together out on the town. Specifically we headed to the shrine where we had our shinto wedding ceremony in the morning to pay our respects to the local dieties, an then went to the venue where we had our reception for a magnificent lunch. 

Other news, the new Pokemon expansion came out so we have been playing that almost non stop with our friends, and more recently, we went out to see a very cool play based on a game we love. We also brought a couple of my wife's Japanese friends, and we all had a spectacular time and a fun late lunch afterwards to catch up.

Otherwise we have mainly been keeping quiet and as far away from COVID-19 as possible. Probably going to be a bit more of that, but with the year almost over and life steadily stabilising in Japan to a state we can enjoy the outside again, we have several plans lined up for the rest of the year, so there may yet be a few things for me to write about.

September 27th 2020 - Day 2831

 The yearly outlook has taken a drastic turn on the work front. Monday and Tuesday were bank holidays, which was fun since my wife and I could continue to be lazy, and also take time to go to the Pokemon cafe. A themed restaurant as part of the Pokemon centre, it has basically everything we could have asked for. We had a lot of fun and made the most of our time.

Which is lucky because the next 3 days of work were no fun. For one thing, the usual workload has started to get piled on, and for another, the extra work is piling on too. Three days in a row of increasingly late nights, even when one of those days was working from home, and getting to the point of having to ride the last train on Friday. Even though the weekend rolled around quickly, and most of it was spent being lazy, it was marred by another request for some emergency work, so my Saturday night was ruined. But Sunday was a lot more fun. I helped some friends film an interview through zoom, and my wife and I went for a short walk that turned into a long walk with an hour of karaoke for the heck of it. Here's hoping the next week is not nearly so tough.

September 20th 2020 - Day 2824

 It has been a very unusual week indeed for me. Although quiet for most of it, it was by no means uneventful. For instance, one day this week I was at the office from the crack of dawn to be on standby, meaning I had to take the first train in for the first time in a while. And on another day this week, I had my yearly health check. Luckily it showed nothing out of the ordinary, but when it was over I then had to spend the rest of the day and work late on a new project. Friday was working from home again, and it was much busier than the last few days at the office, with a variety of new projects coming in, so I had to work overtime a bit, but thats ok since I was at home and I could get a jump start on the four day weekend. 

Speaking of which. For the first few days of the weekend, we spent most of it being chill or going for walk around the neighbourhood. We also had an online drinks party with a friend, which was a lot of fun since we could catch up after a long absence.

September 13 2020 - Day 2817

Been a quiet week on the whole. Had a few meetings at work, and worked from home one day, otherwise I've just been steadily knocking away each assignment as they come and in the mean time been making plenty of time for studying and some side projects. The weekend was quiet as well, mainly spent chilling inside or getting ready for some other upcoming activities, and also starting some new English teaching lessons.

September 6th 2020 - Day 2810

An up and down week this one, with some days quiet busy, and other days not busy at all. In particular, Wednesday was spent working from home, but there was very little for me to do that day, and Friday was so busy I was stuck at the office until 10 at night (first time in a while), so I guess these balance each other out. The weekend was once again spent being very quiet, shut up indoor to avoid the horrid weather from the typhoon, although we did still go out once or twice to get some food and to stretch our legs.

August 30th 2020 - Day 2803

A very quiet week on the whole, with only enough work to keep me busy during the day. On Friday I had to go out of the office for a bit for an assignment, but even that wasn't so trying as to take more than a couple of hours. The weekend was also quiet on the whole. My wife and I went for a few walks around the area, but on the whole we kept inside out of the heat and quiet.

August 23rd 2020 - Day 2796

Its been a very unusual week for me. For one thing, two days have been spent working from home, but no matter which day was spent working from where, its been very quiet indeed. Most of the time was spent editing various projects, so just enough to keep me busy without being stuck at the office (or the home desk) too late. The weekend was spent being quiet indoors. We did go for a walk on Saturday, but it was so hot we got wiped out. Sunday was spent being very lazy indeed.

August 16th 2020 - Day 2789

Monday was another bank holiday in Japan, but even then I only had three very quiet days of work, before my last summer holiday on Friday. We used the time to get out of Tokyo for a bit, and went up to Tochigi prefecture. There we convened with some friends for the first time in months, and tried to climb Mt Iwafune - the mountain used as an explosion site in many live action film and TV productions, and also where we shot some of our wedding video. However, we encountered a slight problem - the heat racked up, and coupled with the distinct lack of active exercise lately, meant we barely got half way up before we all gave it up as a bad idea. But the weekend was by no means a waste. My wife and I stayed with some of our friends who live up north, so that the following day we could go to the New Ginger Museum. No its not a new museum of ginger, it is a museum of new ginger. There is a song we really like based on it, but the museum is one of those places thats so mad its fun. We had a fun time up there, then headed for home. Then finally on Sunday, we went to go and see a new anime film, pottered about the Pokemon centre for a bit, and then had a nice lunch before returning home, properly roasted and very tired, but having fully enjoyed quite a week together.

August 9th 2020 - Day 2782

As I said before, my wife has been away for most of this week, so its been very quiet for me, even without the fact that there has been little to no work to do all week long. Monday I was working from home so I basically spent the day dragging out my remaining assignments. The rest of the week was spent knocking off one project after the other in quick succession, all the way until Friday when my wife came home. I then wrapped up my remaining few bits and pieces, and rushed back so as to enjoy the most out of the three day weekend together. Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent being lazy at home, taking care of odd bits and pieces, or else going for a walk and melting in the summer heat. 

August 2nd 2020 - Day 2775

Another week gone by. A bit of a quiet week on the whole though. I had Monday off work to recover from the long journey back home, then most of the rest of the week at work was quiet and uneventful. I had a few projects to do here and there, but otherwise I just got on with my own side projects and kept to myself.

On Friday evening, my wife left to go back to Akita to keep helping her family move home, leaving me alone for the weekend and most of next week. Despite the break in the month long rain and clear skies, the infection numbers are still climbing in Tokyo, so instead of going out and about I used the time productively. I got on with a bunch of housework, edited a few video projects, and also had a Pokemon tournament online with my friends. I did have to go out a couple of times to buy food, and once to go sell some old books and DVDs/get some fresh air. 

July 26th 2020 - Day 2768

After only two days of work, I had the rest of the week off, which my wife and I used to drive up to her home town in Akita. The drive up took a full day, but it was a fun adventure, and a good chance to see a part of Japan we wouldn't normally see. We then had two days helping to clear her old family home, as her relatives have decided to move home. Mostly we focussed on sorting out my wife's stuff and picking bits we wanted to bring back to Tokyo with us. While we were there, we also got to enjoy meeting our new niece, and catching up with everyone up there. It was good to see everyone on good form. We then had a day of exploring and site seeing. We finally got to see the bear park - a small mountain top conservation centre for black bears. We got to see them up close as well, and this had been something on our to-do list for a while, so it was great to be able to go at last. We then went for a wander around the Oirase Gorge - a secluded river gorge near Lake Towada. Despite the rain, it was a gorgeous bit of scenery and well worth the visit. From there we started our journey home, stopping for the night in Morioka city (we sadly didn't have time to explore the town or try the famous wan-ko soba, but more reason to go back). We at last returned back to Tokyo on Sunday afternoon, and after unpacking and returning the car, we finally clocked off and spent the rest of the day being very lazy and recovering.

July 19th 2020 - Day 2761

Good evening readers. As you may have noticed, it has been getting quite hard to keep up with posting on this blog on a daily basis. Nearly 8 years ago, I started this blog to keep my family and friends up to date on how life is going for me out here. Since then, I have built up an exciting life and surrounded myself with loving friends and the love of my life, and I've found a job I find great satisfaction from working on. Basically what I'm trying to say is - I have way more going on on a daily basis than I did 8 years ago. Add to that the fact that lately there hasn't been a lot to write about, I've decided to step back a bit from blogging on a regular basis. I will still keep writing and keep everyone informed, but now it will probably be a weekly basis, or when something fun happens.

So, to keep things up to day, the last couple of weeks have been a bit of an uphill downhill process. Work goes from being maniacally hectic and stressful to having very little to do, but on the whole I usually have enough to keep my busy until closing time each day. On the weekends, my wife and I have been keeping each other company and busy, mostly playing games and going for walks around the area to stretch our legs.

A couple of interesting events from the last couple of weeks. Last Saturday I went to go and see a new Kamen rider themed store in Tokyo station (which by comparison to pre-corona times is now a complete ghost town with very few people walking around). And yesterday, my wife and I rented out the theatre room on the ground floor of our apartment building and spent the day binge watching anime.

July 7th 2020 - Day 2749

Yet another long day, with so much work coming at me that I had no time to eat lunch away from my desk, and I was even later than yesterday, if you can believe that. In fact one annoying project only started in the evening, so it was past 10 by the time I could go home.

July 6th 2020 - Day 2748

Starting the week off with a mountain load of work all coming at me in pretty quick succession, and as a result it has been a very long day at the office.

July 5th 2020 - Day 2747

After a chill morning at home, my wife and I went out for an excursion at mid day. Partly because she needed to cast her vote in the election for Governor of Tokyo, mostly because in a few weeks we will be travelling up to Akita to visit her family, and we decided to get a few things for her new niece who was born in January. We had a fun time selecting various bits and pieces, and while we were at it had a nice lunch while out.

After stopping to do a food shop on the way home, and then chilling for a bit in the afternoon, the rest of the day was mainly spent getting the usual Sunday afternoon chores done, and then sitting down together in front of a good film.

July 4th 2020 - Day 2746

Earlier this week, it was my wife's birthday, and to celebrate it, we decided to get out of Tokyo for the first time in 4 months and head down to the beach town of Enoshima. No we did not go swimming - the weather was not exactly in our favour, but we went down to check out the tourist scene and explore the area. Enoshima itself is a peninsula, with a series of temples and cave formations to explore as you climb said peninsular. There is a also an interested tram ride that takes you along the coast from there through to Kamakura, which is also a bit we went to go and see. It was lovely to see a new bit of Japan (new for me anyway) and especially good to be out exploring and getting away from the stress of central Tokyo. And best of all, it was great to enjoy another birthday trip with my wife.

July 3rd 2020 - Day 2745

Rounding off the week with a slightly busier schedule in the office. A host of new assignments started coming in during the afternoon, and of course I worked on them steadily until closing time. And by the time I finished I felt ready to start and exciting weekend.

July 2nd 2020 - Day 2744

As part of the new scheme at work, I was able to work from home today, which was great because a) I did not have much to do for a big part of the day, and more importantly b) I could celebrate my wife's birthday with her at home. Admittedly a lot of work did come in the afternoon so I had to buckle down and focus, but otherwise it was a really nice day spent in comfort.

July 1st 2020 - Day 2743

The new month started off with an incredibly quiet day indeed. Apart from the company wide meeting in the morning, there was very little for me to do until the afternoon, when a couple of translation requests popped up, but even then it wasn't enough to keep me late into the evening. This meant I could leave with plenty of time to help out around the house, and then chill for the evening with my wife.

June 30th 2020 - Day 2742

Once again, only a slow trickle of assignments to work through today, so I could buckle down and work through each one until that trickle dried up. And once again I could leave at a reasonable hour and spend the evening at home chilling with my wife.