Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 22

Weekend 22: April 2-3, 2022

Day 152: April 2, 2022

Saturday - Weekend Stroll

Good morning everyone! It's a beautiful day today. It would be a waste not to go out and enjoy the sun. I left home for my usual weekend stroll a little before 10AM.

Tomino (barbershop) - Rumoi City

Time to get my haircut

My first stop for this weekend stroll is Tomino to get my haircut. The barber, probably the owner as well, was a sweet lady who was very patient as I struggled to communicate with her using my broken Japanese. She laughed so hard when I told her "hansamu ni misetekudasai". I wonder why?

The torii to Garyuzanshokaku Temple

Garyuzanshokaku Temple

Check out the intricate design on the temple facade

From Tomino, I headed up the hill until I reached the Kotobukicho area of Rumoi City. I saw the Garyuzanshokaku Temple along the way and decided to check it out. The temple grounds of Garyuzanshokaku Temple are the largest that I have seen here in the city so far.

COOP Rumoi

KitKat original

KitKat Black Chocolate

KitKat whole grain

From there, I headed back home to prepare for my nomikai with friends. I passed by Coop to do a quick grocery shopping. There were 3 KitKat flavors that I haven't tried yet so I made sure to include them in my groceries.

Nomikai with friends

Thank you Chi-sensei for being a great host

Chi-sensei picked me up at around 6PM. I helped her make pizza and prepare the other dishes for the nomikai at around 7PM. After finishing the preparations, Chi-sensei headed out to pick up the other teachers. On the other hand, I went upstairs to Kutsumi-sensei's apartment to help her pack her belongings.

Time for a group photo before calling it a day

Chi-sensei and the other teachers arrived at around 8PM and we had an awesome nomikai until 11PM. It was another memorable day for me as the last time I bonded with them was last December before the winter break.


Day 153: April 3, 2022

Sunday - Biking Around Rumoi City

Hey guys! It's another beautiful day! Yesterday while walking around Rumoi City, I saw quite a number of people biking already. That made me excited to use my bike as the last time I used it was almost 5 months ago. 

Rumoi River as seen from Odori Hashi (Boulevard Bridge)

That's why the first thing that I did upon waking up was to bring my bike out of storage and pump air into its wheels. After making sure that everything is working properly, I headed out to Kutsumi-sensei's apartment to help with her stuff as she is already moving out today. Sadly, everything was done when I arrived. I just bid her farewell and thanked her for all her help and for being an awesome supervisor.

From there, I biked to Odori Hashi (Boulevard Bridge) and took photos of the scenic Rumoi River.

Rumoi JR Station 

Rumoi Roadside Station

I then went on a quick trip to the Rumoi JR Station before biking to Rumoi Michi no Eki (Rumoi Roadside Station). I bought some drinks at the Lawson convenience store at Sakaemachi before crossing another bridge to Akemotocho.

Uminofurusatokan

Golden Beach Rumoi

From there, I pedaled to Uminofurusatokan. Sadly, it was still closed. Regardless, the view of the Golden Beach Rumoi and the Sea of Japan was truly marvelous.

Eifukuji

Eifukuji - 永福寺

I decided to bike back home to rest a bit. However, I did another quick stop at Eifukuji at Asahimachi to take some photos of the temple and its bell. 

Menya Miyabi

Menya Miyabi's Spicy Miso Dandan Ramen

When I got home, I rested for a bit but decided to bike again to look for a place to eat lunch. This time, I biked to the eastern side of the city. This brought me to Menya Miyabi which is a ramen restaurant. I tried their spicy miso dandan ramen which costs 1000 yen.

Aagaman Rumoi

Just when I got home, the doorbell rang. It was my neighbor Keisuke-sensei inviting me to dinner at his place. We called in a take-out order at Aagaman and picked it up after an hour. 

Dinner with Keisuke-sensei

I ordered the curry and nan set while Keisuke-sensei had the curry and rice set. The food was great but the chat was better. I talked about a lot of things ranging from life in the Philippines to the unique culture of Japan.

Overall, I learned a lot about the Japanese language and culture this week. I also ate a lot of food. Regardless, I'm very excited with each passing day as my wife and daughter would be flying to Japan soon and we would finally be reunited.

See you next week!

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Location: Rumoi, Hokkaido, Japan

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 7, 2023 at 7:15 AM

    You're lucky to have so many Japanese friends. It's hard to make one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neil Alvin NicerioApril 7, 2023 at 11:43 PM

      It takes time. Well that's really how we make friends right?

      Delete

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