Birthday Video, Women Video, Confessions 23:23

To mark the start of a new academic year in Japan, I've decided to get more serious about my writing. It's after 11pm on April 1st and I have committed to writing a post each day for the next year (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022). Can I do it? I certainly hope so. What do I intend to write about? Well...whatever transpired each day...at least, of interest. Hmm...my life seems very interesting to me so maybe I will allow my readers to help me decide after a while.

So today April 1st, 2021, I got up...well was awoken by the need to go to the bathroom but with no desire to get up. What's new. I eventually got up about 6:53 am and headed to the bathroom. Of course, my alarm, set for 6:55 was going off on my phone and I couldn't stop it. The last thing I wanted to deal with. I honestly felt like crawling back into bed. But I didn't.

After relieving myself and opening the curtains to allow the natural light in, I prepared to have my morning prayers and bible reading. Did I open the window and take a deep breath of the mornings freshness? I can't remember. Anyway, I did my devotion and really enjoyed God's Spirit with me for the near hour quiet time.

By now it was just about 8am and I looked forward to the NHK news that happened on the hour every hour, in English, thank God. I had only recently (since mid 2020) learnt about the NHK app which is a Japanese news network broadcasted in English. Can you imagine after 4 years I hadn't known about this service? Interestingly, many people, including myself, have had a negative impression of NHK since being in Japan...even Japanese people..hee hee. Anyway, I listened to the news time until 8:15am and then switched to my Jamaican app for Beyond the Headlines on Radio Jamaica. Wow, this is turning out to be quite a lot for the first day of writing...hmmm.

I love listening to Beyond the Headlines as they highlight pressing matters in Jamaica and around the world and interview some very interesting people. I listened until about 8:30 or 8:45...I can't seem to remember but usually the sports starts at 8:45 and I often stop the app at that time. Today I might have allowed it to play however.

So what did I do today? I didn't quite have a major plan except to get food as my house was quite empty. I've just not been in the mood for food and shopping and besides, I think I eat too much. So I wanted to go to the 'cheap' supermarket called Tachiya. Oh I just remembered I did plan to go to Tachiya to buy 2 coconuts and make 'drops'. But I had disappointments on the horizon. First when I got there a few minutes after 9 am, they said they opened at 9:30 am. I had almost 20 minutes and I thought, if only I had brought my book. But why didn't I know the opening hour you might ask. Well they used to open at 7am before COVID19 but all that changed and I really wasn't shopping there as often anymore.

Well, since it is sakura (cherry blossom) season, I decided to find the closest green space. I figured there must be some sakura there.

It was quite a journey to the park and a few wrong turns and steep hills later, I found it. It was quite a disappointment. From what I could see the sakura trees had already lost a lot of their blossoms. But at that time in the morning it was still beautiful...I pause here to say it is midnight sooooo now I am into April 2. Hope I don't make a habit of this. Anyway i had certainly gotten in all my exercise for the day after the 30 minute ride from my house to Tachiya and the extra ride to the park. Time for some shopping!

No coconut!!! Plan for the day thwarted. Went on with the shopping and realised I would not be getting everything here as I wasn't too excited by the prices. So afterwards i dropped the bag from my shopping at hoe and set off for another supermarket closer to my house. Missed the darn thing. It's not my usual supermarket. In fact it's quite new. About a year old or so. Anyway, it's close to my house and I heard they sell additive/chemical free vegetables. The prices weren't bad at all actually. I bought some stuff but still realised I might want to check my regular supermarket for some potatoes and so on.

Drat and double drat. I didn't buy the oranges at Felna supermarket and now here I was in Big Value Express and I didn't like the oranges I was looking at. Not to mention, they were a little more costly. Well I certainly wasn't going back to Felna.

I hadn't eaten anything before I left home earlier that morning so at minutes to 11am, you can imagine I was hungry. Finally home and had some fruits and natto for breakfast. Not my usual thing at all...can't say what has been going on with me lately.

Finally I could dive back into the book my friend Mayumi had given me, 'Confessions'. I finished the book and took a nap. I was exhausted for some reason. Very unusual for me to nap during the day. It must have been an hour or so, not sure. But I knew there were at least two other things I wanted to get done that were not originally on my list. The video requests. One for a surprise birthday and the other to give support to the atrocities being meted out to women in Jamaica. I wasn't in the mood honestly, but I didn't want them on my mind into the next day. Got some bright colours, but on way too much lip gloss, totally forgetting this is mask season! Failed to find the mesh I have for the mask that would have prevented the lip gloss from soiling the mask. Oh well. Selfie stick in hand, I made my way to the river, as I often did, but this time not for a jog or to catch some sun.

I can't tell how many 'takes' I took. But I was done with shooting the videos. Had two old men wondering what I was doing. Who I was talking to, one asked in Japanese that was too fast for me to catch at the time.

Back home and there was just so much to do in my messy apartment. But I was hungry and had to prepare something to eat. Dinner I guess. I searched for a Japanese drama movie and watched it while eating.

Oh that dreaded email from my company. I guess it couldn't be helped. I had several reports outstanding and more than likely this report was requested which was why I got that email. I determined to complete all the reports I had outstanding, and I did.

My thoughts travelled to all the other things I had not done as a result of pushing to do all those reports and the video, but I was happy I got those things out of the way. I did try to clean up and pack away the groceries...but the kitchen is still a mess from dinner, unfolded laundry now about three days going and un-replied emails to apartment realtors as I restart my search for a new apartment. Guess I'll have to pick things up tomorrow...I mean later today since it is 12:22am. Oh, Stacy.

Time management is the next skill to be learnt...again.