Ho-hum Saturday and Plans for Sunday

Today was a nice, slow weekend day. I actually woke up at about 8AM, but I planned to be on Skype by 9 anyway, so I just got up and chilled. Had some peanut butter on a baguette with apple juice for breakfast while I attempted to watch a news talk show. As far as I could tell, it was following the recent life of past prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. I was just proud that I could recognize him. Of course, I really only know who he is because be made that trip to Memphis a few years back and he loves Elvis.

Anyhow, I spent the morning on the computer, and decided to ride my bike around and explore in the afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day, sunny and a little bit cool, and the bike ride was great. I rode around a big condominium complex until I was pretty sure I was lost, but I made it out okay. After having some lunch I came back home and napped. Today was linen-changing day, so I got to use new sheets. It's nice, every ten days you can trade in your used sheets for clean new ones. Definitely saves on the laundry money.

For supper Kat and I went to (drumroll please) the okonomiyaki place around the corner. What a surprise, I know. As always, it was delicious. Oh, but on our way out the door, my former roommate (whose name I still don't know how to say or spell--it sounds like Shua or Sure or something, I dunno) came into the Seminar House in a wheelchair with her foot in a cast! Turns out she fell off a bike and had to go to the hospital. Her new roomie and good friend, Suika, is taking care of her, and she seems to be doing very well. :( I feel so sorry for her, though. Very tough.

This evening I was supposed to meet my friend Momoko in the park. I arrived early and waited for about fifteen minutes, but I couldn't find her. You can see from one end of the park to the other, so I'm not sure what happened. I got an email from her later saying that she was there too and couldn't find me. How strange. Oh well, she didn't seem angry or anything. I do feel really bad, though, for not being able to find her. But we're supposed to try again on Tuesday, and hopefully that'll work.

I had originally planned to just laze around tomorrow, too, but I decided in a fit of planning this afternoon that I need to get off my bum and do something. So in the morning I plan to go to the nearby small city of Uji. It's only about half an hour away by train, so not nearly as hardcore as the Himeji trip. When I'm there, I plan to visit the Byodo-in, a villa-turned-temple dating from the Heian Era, one of my favorite periods in Japanese history. Uji is also known for its production of tea, so I will stop at the municipal teahouse (how cool!) as well. It's supposed to be a cheap, good way to see a nice Japanese tea ceremony. All in all, I should be there for several hours, and I'm looking forward to taking my time and poking around. We shall see.