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.