Blooming

The trees are starting to bloom here in Yokosuka.  After the incredible windy stormy days, it was a beautiful day yesterday.

I went into town solo while Tim did the taxes and hung out with William.  

I had promised someone I would show him the resale shops I had been shown.  Think St. Vincent de Paul.  Some items are awesome, some are kinda icky.  But, there are treasures to be found, for sure!  I had to explain that I had no house, and therefore can't buy some of the pottery and plates, yet. 

We had heard about a magazine for used cars.  I had to ask for one in a convenience store.  First, I was thinking they'd be free, like the Nickel.  And, I wasn't looking for the right kind of thing.  I didn't realize it would be the size of an old Sears catalogue!  Wow!  We were using our dictionary, our Hirigana and Katakana tables, etc. to decipher what was being said.  I even went down the hallway and asked a friend who speaks a lot of Japanese, and she helped on how old the cars are (Japanese year is Hasei 20, so we want a car Hasei 14 or more).  She gave us the hint of looking for the area code for which ones are in our area (since we can't read the Kanji for the city names).  Then Tim said, "Ah, it says there's an internet site for this magazine in English."  Ahh.... MUCH easier!  It was worth the $2.50 and the back ache from carrying it all the way back to here just for that!  

I did have my first official Japanese meal... at Denny's.  They don't serve American stuff there, it's just Japanese stuff.  I do want to report that I used my chopsticks very well.  And for the record, all the Japanese were using forks!!!  

On the way back, I bought strawberries for William.  The strawberries are so fresh and sweet here.  NUMMY!

When I got back, I had to do laundry. Tim finished the taxes, and then went and picked up our food.  Pretty mundane stuff.