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.

I set my alarm at 7 a.m. and took out trash to the garbage disposal area. This is one of the cons to stay in a monthly mansion. I am sure the other foreigners will hate this system. I still love staying at monthly mansion because the number of pros overweigh cons.

Two days ago when we went to visit the massage therapist, the massage therapist strongly suggested my daughter to constantly drink clean water to cleanse organs and accelerate body function. Yesterday she found a favorite water bottle with a straw. Since last night, she started drinking enough water frequently. This morning we already saw the progresses from drinking enough water. Her face color has gotten clearer and she had a smooth bowel movement as the first thing in the morning. It was amazing to see the water power.

I walked to my attorney’s office and handed some signed documents.   

My daughter had her right ear to open 2 more ear piece holes at the dermatologist. It was our one of the to-do-list items.

For lunch, we had the full course crab food. Right after we settled at the seat, my daughter asked me if my late dad loved crab or not. As a matter of fact, both of my late parents used to love eating crab, and they used to take us kids to eat dinner when we were small. My daughter felt my late dad’s energy even before we left the room. I told both of my late parents to enjoy crab together. right after I said that, I felt their energy around me. I started shedding tears for a while. I could feel that they were happy to stay with us for a while. It was great to feel their energy.

In the late afternoon, my friend and we went to take a one-hour cruise trip. The last time I took the cruise trip was maybe 30 years ago. It was the first time for my friend and daughter. It was a nice sunny day with gentle breeze. We enjoyed feeling the ocean energy.

After that, we stopped by at the pet store. My daughter has been wishing to have an Italian hound. Luckily, they just had the puppy this morning and the nice male worker let my daughter to hold the puppy. I was happy that my daughter naturally made her dream come true. Even though I could not purchase the puppy right away, she was so happy to be able to hold the puppy in her arms and spent some with the pretty puppy. One day when we move to our own land, we will have an Italian hound puppy for her.

I woke up at 7:43 a.m. I went to the closest drug store for shopping by myself. It is convenient that this store carries a variety of items not only medications but also foods and other daily necessities. I purchased some laundry hangers.

For lunch, we went to the Italian restaurant which I reserved the seats. It was one of my to-do-list items to have a full course Italian food. We enjoyed the taste and the decollation of the food.

We went to several stores for shopping.

In the evening, we stayed in the room to rest well.

I woke up at 5 a.m. which was not bad at all. I let my daughter to sleep until 9:30 a.m. Meanwhile, I chanted the Japanese mantra and prayers and did the laundry. Having a laundry in the room was great. I let the laundry in the dryer in the unit bath, which was satisfactory dried the laundry in few hours.

We had breakfast in the room. Having a kitchen with the gas stove was very nice. Staying in the monthly mansion makes our stay much more comfortable and convenient than staying in a hotel. I am loving it.

In the evening I went to the massage therapist’s office. The massage therapist was the same age as me. She was very kind and gave us lots of useful information and knowledge. We enjoyed having each other as company and stayed at her office for 4 hours.  

For dinner, I had sushi to go and my daughter had Mos Burger to go, which were our favorite foods from our last visit.   

Last night I went to bed around 10 pm and fell asleep right away. This morning, I woke up at 3:37 am and could not go back to sleep. I waited until 8 a.m. and went to the closest drug store which was located just 1 minute walk away. The nice worker told me about the tax exemption system. In order to use the system, I need to go to the town hall to get a certain document to prove I have been living in a foreign country. It was helpful information but I decided to pay tax to contribute to the Japanese people.

In the morning, I received 3 big boxes that I purchased from the online stores. The delivery person of Kuroneko-Yamato was very polite and friendly. The package from the post office was supposed to be delivered yesterday, but it was not delivered. Even though I requested the post office to leave my package at Takuhai Box, they stubbornly rejected my request and insisted that they need to hand the package to me in person. I could not receive the package today.

At 10 a.m., I had an appointment with the hair salon. My daughter and I had a set menu that included a shampoo, haircut, hair dye, and hair treatment. It took about 2.5 hours.

We had lunch at the Indian restaurant.    

In the evening, we went to my attorney’s office. I have met him several times in zoom, but it was great to meet him in person.

After the meeting, we still have energy left, so we went to an eyewear store. Making an eyewear was one of my to-do-list items.

For dinner, we went to the Izakaya. It was really loud and we felt uncomfortable.

It was a long day that we crossed off many items of our to-do-lists.

In the night, while my daughter was giving me a massage, I fell asleep.

We walked a lot and our feet hurt, but we enjoyed our first day of our trip in Japan.

Our international flight departed 20 minutes late, but arrived at the destination 41minutes earlier than the scheduled arrival time.

Again, a worker was standing by for me with a wheelchair. The worker supported me for the custom clearance procedure and took me to the turntable for the checked-in luggage.

I was blessed with 3 great timing events.

The first great timing was about waiting time for the suitcase. Once we arrived at the starting point of the turntable, I saw our 2 suitcases just dropped off to the turntable.

The second great timing was about the waiting time for the limousine bus. Once we arrived at the bus stop, the bus was there, and we made it to the bus. It was the great timing that we didn’t need to wait for the bus.

The third great timing was about my friend. When I texted my friend that I was in the limousine bus, the friend just happened to be close to the bus stop so that the friend offered me support to bring our suitcases to our accommodation.

I was so happy that we were embraced with these 3 great timing events.

I probably had some sleep for one or two hours but at the same time, I felt like I had been up all the time. I got out from bed at 2 a.m. and got ready.

My daughter and I took 2 flights. The first domestic flight arrived 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. At the arrival gate of the San Francisco airport, the worker was standing by for me with a wheelchair. It was a great support as it was a 20 minutes walking distance to go to the international flight departure gate.

Our seat in the international airport, I prepared for the extra leg space seat. It was very nice to have the extra leg space that I could get out from the seat even when my small chair table was out.

The flight was long as 12 hours and 20 minutes. I could hardly sleep.

***

It was the 49^th day of my husband’s late brother. I wish him a safe trip back to the spirit world.