My day started from taking out garbage to the trash station in front of the building.

We went to the Himeji castle. It was a request from my daughter. I have been to there three or four times while I was single. I don’t have any good memories going there. But this time, going there with my daughter rewrote my memory to a good one. Even though we had to walk a long distance and my feet hurt, I enjoyed being there with my daughter.

My day started taking out 2 different types of trash: plastic trash and can/bottle trash.

My cough and throat were calming down, and my daughter slept in to recover from food poisoning.  

We went to the hot spring facility that was still new to this area. They had a free shuttle bus from the station. It only takes 5 minutes ride from the station to the facility. If I didn’t have a pain in my foot, I could have walked from our mansion.

It was a very nice place. We loved their hot spring. We had lunch at the facility and loved their food too.

At night, we watched the movie Kokuho at the theater. Even though it was a long movie of 3 hours, both of us were into the story and amazed at every beautiful scene. We definitely enjoyed the movie. And, both of our health condition got full recovered.

I woke up feeling sick. My throat was swollen and painful, and I could not say a word. I heavily cough with phlegm that made me tough to normally breath.  

I had an appointment with the one person whom I had met in zoom app and exchange some conversation via emails, but I never met her in person and wanted to visit her at her office.

I should have listened to my body. I was feeling sick and I should have asked her to let me cancel the appointment. It was a strong urge to stop me to go to her office for some reasons but as a Japanese, I could not cancel it and forced myself to keep my word.

Her office was located 40 minutes away from my mansion. We needed to take a train to get there. I was reluctant to go there for some reasons.

When we got out from the train, it was now my daughter’s turn to feel sick. While in the train, she started having a severe pain in the stomach. It seemed to be food poisoning. Right after we got out from the train, we entered to a bathroom in a store where she tried to throw up, but in vain. There too, I should have listened to my daughter’s body and cancel the appointment. But I couldn’t do so and went ahead to her office.

To be honest, I greatly regretted that I didn’t cancel the appointment. I made an appointment with her to give us a make-up lesson. I asked her if she charges us for the lesson, but she never answered. I thought she would do it for free as friends. She mentioned she would give us a  German thermal bath therapy for free of charge. We both were looking forward to it. However, everything didn’t turn out well. She was doing MLM type of business and sells make-up products. We expected to learn the technique to put on a makeup but she advertised us the products she sells. During the lesson, I had tough time to breath and my daughter needed to lay down on a chair because of the extreme tummy ache. Both of us were not ready to listen to advertising any unwanted makeup products. And, we were charged the high fee for the makeup lesson. She also added the fee of the German thermal bath, which I politely declined to pay though. I really didn’t feel comfortable. I fully regretted that I should have listened to the strong signs from my body and my daughter’s body.

After we came back to our hometown, both of our health got much better. It was a powerful lesson that I should have listened from now on.

My day started to taking out the garbage bag to the trash station in front of the mansion.

We had lunch at the hotel that I still had enough points to pay it off.

In the afternoon, we went to the Japanese garden. When we got out from the subway, it started sprinkling. We walked the Japanese garden in the rain. It was good in a way because there were no other tourists other than us. We found a rest area where there were some benches and roof to take shelter from the rain. From the bench, we enjoyed the sound of water fall with the gentle raining sound.  

I didn’t have any plan for today, because we were originally planning to stay one night in Wakayama. It was like a surprise gift for us to spend all day without any plan.

We decided to visit the herb garden in the northern mountain area. We took a cable car to get there. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery from the top of the mountain and the gardens and flowers. I am scared of heights and felt too scared to see the view from the cable car, but my daughter enjoyed the scenery from the cable car.

We woke up at 6 a.m. and left the room at 7 a.m. for the trip to Wakayama. We took the limousine bus to the airport and transferred to another limousine bus to Wakayama. The both buses had enough vacant seats. I could sleep deeply and comfortably in the luxurious cushioned seats.

We took a train to Kokawa station. From there, it was a 10-minute walk to the Kokawa temple. Right before the temple entrance, there was a cute looking café. We had lunch there. I met two women whose faces were familiar with me. I went up to them and greeted. They recognized me as well. We exchanged the contact so that we can keep in touch.

In the Kokawa temple, we could meet up my homeopathy teacher and her boyfriend. I met  other apprentices of the spiritual course. We were 11 of us. After we individually visited and prayed in temple, at 1 p.m., we gathered in the center area where the monks had a Goma taki ceremony. It was the very first time for me and my daughter to attend the ceremony. It was amazing.

After the ceremony, we went back to Wakayama. I had a hotel reservation to stay for the night. However, I had a strong desire to go back to my room within the day, instead of staying one night there. I don’t know why, but it was a very strong urge to go back. I went to the hotel check-in counter and talked to the young male worker. He was kind enough to waive my cancellation fee and let me cancel the reservation. I was thankful for his kind support.

We could take the final bus to the airport and came back to our room after 9 p.m. I enjoyed taking a bath and sleep in our room peacefully. It was a long day, but I enjoyed attending the Goma taki ceremony with my homeopathy teacher and her boyfriend, and my teacher’s spiritual guru.

In the morning we rested well. We cooked rice and had rice and natto as our breakfast in our room.

In the afternoon, we went to the bowling alley and played one game. I still had a pain in my right foot so that I didn’t get a good score. But we enjoyed bowling in Japan, which was the first experience for my daughter.

We picked up our eye glasses at the eyewear store. The lens and frame were much lighter than my current eye glasses that I made in America. I am so happy for my new eye glasses.

We stayed in the room relaxed in the late afternoon and evening to get ready for tomorrow’s trip to Wakayama.

We had lunch at the hotel buffet. We stayed at this hotel on our last visit for 10 nights and they gave me lots of hotel points for the stay. We paid our lunch with the hotel points. We still have some more points left after today’s lunch.

In the afternoon, we went to the beach in my hometown. I walked the beach sand with bare foot and soaked my foot in the sea water. While I was doing so, I talked with my late parents. I felt their existence and listened to me. I felt their love with my skin of all over my body.

On the way to the station, we stopped by at a café. They had a Sakura campaign and decorated the interior with pink. We had a drink and light snack related to Sakura that was decorated with pink and Sakura flavor.

In the evening we went to the massage therapist’s office. Our appointment started at 18:30 and we left her office after 12:30 a.m. the massage therapist was very nice and kind so that she taught us a variety of exercises to reduce our pain by fixing our posture and the way we walk. We were surprised at the fact we stayed there for 6 hours. We had fun to have each other as company, and all the technique and exercises that she shared with us were beneficial.

It was the second day of the hot spiring trip. I set my alarm at 7 am and woke up. My friends and my daughter were still sleeping. I got out from futon and chanted the Japanese mantra. Then my friends gradually got up and started getting ready. We went to the restaurant for breakfast. There, they served a buffet styled breakfast. We enjoyed our breakfast with a variety of food.

Then we went to the hot spring and had a morning bath. When we got out, the hotel workers invited us to Macha party, where they served a cup of Macha and the Japanese sweets. It was a nice surprise to be able to have Macha, which was the very first experience for my daughter to attend the macha ceremony.

The hotel offered one more wonderful thing. They offer the customers to write a postcard addressed to themselves. It was a nice opportunity to write some messages to my friends too. The hotel is going to send the postcard to us one year from today. We are all looking forward to next year.

We checked out the hotel at 11 a.m. We left our baggage at the front desk and went to the café and had a melon soda. It was a nice and calm moment with my dear friends.

Then, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our baggage, and got on the train. We hugged one friend of mine inside the train and she headed back to her house. The other friend was planning to visit her niece in the west side of Japan. She told us she had 4 hours to spend time with us before her bullet train. It was a nice surprise for us to know we can spend some more time with her. Three of us enjoyed the shopping and having dinner together.

After we saw her off to her next destination, my daughter and I went to the movie theater started at 18:35. The movie was パリに咲くエトワール, Paris ni Saku Etoile. It was an uplifting story for the 2 teenage girls who peruse and realize their dreams. It was the first movie for my daughter to watch a movie at theater in Japan. I hope it has given a great memory for her first theater experience.

I woke up feeling excited. Today was the hot spring day with 2 of my good friends. They came to Kobe to see us. One came from Tokyo area and the other came from all the way from Sendai. We gathered up at the station heading to Onsen. We often talk each other over the phone and meet in zoom, but meeting in person is definitely great.

Once we arrived at the hotel, two workers helped us to wear Hakama. It is our traditional clothing just like Kimono, but Hakama is a casual version of Kimono. They prepared different color and designs of Hakama and let us choose on our preference. I chose the purple-colored top and bottom. We took a walk around the hot spiring souvenir store area. Since my foot still hurt, I took my time and walked in a slow pace.

After we came back to the hotel, we enjoyed the buffe style dinner. Then, after the dinner, we fully enjoyed our main purpose of hot spring. I took my time to soak myself into different hot spiring tubs for more than 2 hours.

At night while we were enjoying some alcohol beverage, one friend, who is a professional palmist, gave each of us a quick palm line reading session. I should’ve had recorded the session, as she told me lots of positive things about me, which I forgot most of them. Only one thing I remember was she told me I am not greedy at all, which I agree with her.