The Monday Read

Oh Happy Day Edition Last Wednesday our new water heater was installed, just under six months after it broke in January. Apparently there are still serious shortages of water heaters, toilets, and all sorts of other products in Japan. The reason for this is that they are/were manufactured in China, and the lockdowns/supply chain issues […]

The Monday Read

Staycation Edition Managed to take a couple of days off last week, so took a short staycation at one of our favourite ‘local’ hotels (it’s about an hour and a half away by car, on the Oshika Peninsula opposite Kinkasan). The prefecture is running a travel promotion scheme (like the Go To ones earlier in […]

The Monday Read

Heat Edition Here we are, breaking heat records again. I am a fairly optimistic person, but climate change worries me. I have felt Sendai’s climate change in the 22 years I have been here. Everything I read or learn indicates that things are going to continue getting worse going forward, unless we hit a tipping […]

The Monday Read

Travel Chaos Edition Seeing the news of travel chaos from airports in the UK/Europe, I’m no longer as excited about the idea of traveling later in the year. Had been hoping to take a trip to Europe after the summer, and now it looks like I might have to go to Canada in the autumn […]

The Monday Read

H2O Edition Man, there has been a lot of rain this month. Feel like I’m in the rainy season in Thailand. I like rain, but mainly if I can stay home and listen to it through a partially open window. Sadly that hasn’t been an option recently. Maybe later in the year 🙂 YouTube Thank […]

The Monday Read

30-50 Feral Hogs Edition A couple of weeks ago 30-50 feral hogs (actually a boar and her… boarlets?) invaded my in-laws’ place and dug up their lawn. As a consequence, last Monday I spend all morning helping my wife and a friend of hers build a boar fence to secure the yard. I’m not convinced […]

The Monday Read

30 degrees in May Edition Man, it is hot for the end of May. At least the humidity isn’t bad yet, so as long as you are not in direct sunlight it is really pleasant here in Sendai at the moment 🙂 The yakiniku restaurant opposite my wife’s school is amazing. We’ve known the owners […]

The Monday Read

Elementary School Sports Day Edition My granddaughter had her school Sports Day this weekend, and although I wasn’t able to attend, I was really pleased to see her school continue with the ‘new style’ of sports day. In the past, sports days ran from morning to mid-afternoon, but recently due to Covid and climate change […]

The Monday Read

Being Ill Edition I caught a really bad cold this week: heachache, sore throat, nausea, lethargy. Even lost my voice for a couple of days. No fever though, which still seems to be a condition for doctors here to consider you for a Covid test. Feeling better now thankfully. The explosion of energy, creativity, and […]

The Monday Read

Perfect Weather Edition Really loving the weather at the moment. Warm, dry, sunny. Just perfect for me. Wish it was like this for more than 4-5 weeks of the year 😉 This week’s photo We had a one-night stay in a cabin just north of Sendai last week, and it was wonderful. Great weather, fresh […]