Yesterday I had hoped to go exploring outside the Ishinomaki and Yamoto areas, but it was raining pretty hard so I decided to do some things around the apartment instead. Around three though, I wanted to get out of the apartment, so I decided that I would go shopping for a few things. On a whim, I sent Brittney a text message to see if she wanted to join me. She accepted, and forty minutes later we were headed toward Ishinomaki in my car.
We stopped first at UniQLO and both ended up getting some new shirts. The store is decently priced and now I have some Japanese style in my wardrobe ^^
Next, we went over to the mall and window shopped for a few hours. It ended up being a lot of fun, though we were both pretty tired when we finally left. Brittney came over to my apartment and we enjoyed some anime and snacks until around eleven thirty before I walked her halfway home.
Even in the dressing rooms, there is a spot to take off your shoes.
Today, something along the same lines happened. This morning was rainy, and so I spent some time writing letters and trying to reorganize my apartment. I wanted to walk down to the store to grab something, and when I walked outside I discovered that it had stopped raining. The air was warm and fresh, and it just felt like an amazing and gorgeous day, so I sent Brittney a text that said it was far too beautiful of a day to be lazy. She suggested that we go exploring, and around two-thirty she was at my apartment. We decided to get some ice cream at seven-eleven (have I mentioned yet how much better the 7-elevens are here as compared to the states? The only thing they are missing are Icees).
Some bamboo.
Still a little directionless, we headed down a random street near the rice fields and just followed the roads to the other side of the highway. We continued to walk along the roads among the fields until we hit the nearby hills, then tried to find a road to hike along. On the road at the foot of the hill, we were surprised by a very friendly dog. We took turns petting him, and his owner appeared behind us and told us that the dog's name is Yu. While Brittney was trying to tell me how to switch to the picture mode on her camera, Yu suddenly jumped off the ledge he had been standing on and into Brittney's very surprised arms. Apparently he became impatient and wanted our attention.
A family shrine. Brittney said she thought it was for the mountain gods.
Petting Yu.
We left Yu and continued on our way, finding the road that would lead us up the hill, but it had some "do not enter" signs so we continued along the main road. We came across another little road, one that looked like it might lead to a shrine so we followed it up a ways. Turns out, it was more like someone's backyard, which once may have had a shrine.
We found some of these extending from a bush. Neither one of us knew what they were.
There was a mound of chopped wood with a bunch of weird mushrooms growing off of it.
The main road led us back under the highway and to the original span of rice fields. Since I had to be back at my apartment by five-thirty to get ready to go with Miyuki-san, we headed back. We stopped by Brittney's apartment to get some water before we went over to the store so she could get some ingredients for her dinner.
The random slice of sun and blue sky.
Unfortunately, I had to leave her in the store and get back to my place. As I left, it began to sprinkle and then started down pouring. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was pretty soaked.
I spent the rest of the evening with Miyuki-san and Beth-san, and Beth-san's friend. We went to AEON mall, to an Indian restaurant. It was really yummy (sorry, I forgot pictures). We then did a little window shopping before they dropped me back at home. It was a lot of fun.
Tomorrow I will be hanging out with Naomi-san, a woman that I met at the Ohanami. I am going to meet her at one at Ishinomaki train station, and I am not sure what we will be doing after that. This week has been a really good week =)
No comments:
Post a Comment