Kunimitsu Melissa

Impromptu road trip

2009-11-16T18:07:00.002+09:00

When Masayuki picked me up from work on Tuesday 29th October he said “I’m starving and I really want to eat udon. Let’s go out to a restaurant.” After we’d enjoyed a dinner of hot udon soup and oden- simmered tofu, eggs, vegetables and meat on skewers. He offered “Let’s go for a drive.” Not unusual, we often take a drive of twenty or thirty minutes around the outskirts of the city to unwind. Usually he doesn’t have a goal in mind had just drives wherever his mood takes him.
We can watch local TV on our navigation system, so after cruising along enjoying the broadcast for an hour or so, I suddenly thought we’re a long way from Kochi. We had driven all the way to Aki City. My husband then said that we had two choices, we could just drive back to Kochi or continue on to Muroto and watch the sun rise over the ocean in the morning, then go sightseeing as Wednesday is now our day off. We chose to continue on. Arriving in Muroto about an hour later, we found a quiet parking area, laid the seats down to form a bed the settled in for the night. While it’s comfy enough for a quick nap by 3am we were cold and uncomfortable so we decided to keep driving whilst we warmed up. We drove about another hour and crossed the border to Tokushima Prefecture. We napped again, this time in the front seats until the sun rose just after 6am. It was a pretty sunrise over the ocean and a beautiful day with gorgeous blue skies.

At Hiwasa we visited Yakuo-ji a famous temple were you drop a one yen coin for every year of your age as you climb the steps to the temple. Rolls of 50 coins are sold there. After visiting the temple we bathed our feet in the foot onsen, a piping hot foot spa at the local service area the drove slowly back to Kochi along the scenic route with great views of the coastline. We capped of a relaxing day with Nabe – a Japanese hot pot. Delicious.

Aussie Trip

2009-11-03T11:22:00.004+09:00

Last month we both had a great time catching up with family and friends in Australia. Even though it was the longest vacation we've ever been able to take together (9 days), it was still incredibly hectic and unfortunately we couldn’t catch up with everyone we would have liked to.

We originally planned to leave home on Wednesday morning the 7th of October but an approaching typhoon meant that we wound up leaving at 1am the night before so that we could safely cross the series of bridges that lead to the mainland. On Wednesday we spent the day in Osaka. We saw the midday performance of Cirque du Soleil's Corteo. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/world/en/jp/index.asp It was spectacular, more amazing than we could have ever imagined, we laughed, we cried, and held our breath in disbelief. After the show we went shopping at Shinsaibashi and ate okonomiyaki.

On Thursday morning we had a great time visiting the Osaka Aquarium. http://www.kaiyukan.com/language/eng/exhibition/index.htm The cleverly designed building allows you to view the massive tanks from a variety of levels. The sea otters are really entertaining to watch and the aquarium’s star attraction the huge whale shark is actually a Kochi Prefectural local from Tosashimizu. We also visited the neighbouring Suntory Museum and did a spot more shopping before heading to the Airport late in the afternoon.

We flew overnight and changed planes on the Gold Coast before arriving in Melbourne at mid afternoon Friday.

We checked into our hotel, then went to Rod Laver Arena, so that Masayuki could register for his MTG tournament. Next it was sightseeing time.

Late in the afternoon we went to the Eureka Tower, Melbourne's new tallest building. We enjoyed a great view of the city as the sunset from the Skydeck on the 88th floor. http://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/index.asp There are lots of places for you to sit, relax and savor the view. In the evening we enjoyed dinner at Southbank with Alison, Brad, Kate and Dale.

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday, Masayuki went to his tournament and I explored the Myers and Burke St with Eliza. Saturday evening Masayuki and I went for a stroll around the CBD and had dinner at Chinatown.

On Sunday we split up again, Masayuki went to his tournament and I visited the Queen Victoria Market. We met up again at the hotel at midday and waited for Dad, Mum and Caz to come and pick us up, then off to Morwell. Once we arrived in Morwell, we were able to meet our niece for the first time - Carolyn and George's little cherub Louise. She totally kept Aunty Lissa and Uncle Masayuki entertained watching her playing and toddling around. She got the most devilish laugh, he he he hee.

Monday morning we drove out to Gormandale to visit Julie, Chris and baby Thomas on their farm. You can still see how close the fires came last summer. It was so good to catch up. Driving back into Traralgon we saw the most spectacular blue skies, you'd have never have guessed it was raining only an hour before or that it'd be pouring again only two hours later...Victorian weather!

Next stop was Carly and Jordan's house for lunch. They've done a beautiful job decorating the interior with artful feature walls that inspire the palate of the room. After lunch the whole family met to have family portraits done that don’t involve wedding dresses. Capping off the family day the whole family had dinner at George and Carolyn's new a house, it has a huge deck outside and a lot of potential for a great family home.

Tuesday we hit the local shops, had afternoon tea with the relatives and a delicious dinner catching up with all the old Captain Hurley Rovers and their families. Wednesday it was time to get organised for the return trip, we pack our bags, had a final family dinner then headed for the Airport hotel for an early night and an even earlier morning. Our flight went well, there beautiful views over the Great Barrier Reef. Driving home was very draining; we stopped for several breaks and eventually made it home around 2am. Before we knew it, it was Friday morning in Kochi and back to work.

New Car Fever

2009-11-01T14:10:00.010+09:00

My husband is head over heels in love with our new car, considering he's a car salesman that might seen like a given but since our Delica D:5 arrived late September he's gone nuts.

He's constantly telling me how much he enjoys driving it and how glad he is that I talked him into getting the blue/grey one instead of the white or black like just about everyone else he works with. They'd never had that colour in stock before and he was extremely nervous about choosing a colour he'd never seen. It turned out to be a really cool gunmetal metallic finish with a hint of blue, that changes colour in the light. His co-workers thought we were crazy when we ordered it, but now they ask him to bring it in and show customers.

He worked out that it's the first car in over 15 years that he has fully chosen to buy - coming directly from the factory, not dead stock, no limited choices, no company stipulations, no car crash, just exactly what he ordered, his big baby. I have to admit that he has to do some serious fast talking to talk me into it. It's a big vehicle and I had certainly never envisaged owning a van let alone driving one. It handles a lot better than I expected and it hasn't taken me long to get used to it. You can take a peak at Mitsubishi Japan's website http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/delica_d5/index.html click on the utility button to see inside. I love how easily you can transform the seat configuration. Ours is the 2WD 8 seater.

Although it's technically supposed to be my car I only get to drive it once or twice a week, he's always got some new excuse. I don't really mind driving the other car, except that the Delica always comes back tweaked, so far he's fitted - a reversing camera, ETC system(like e-tag) hidden in the glove box, non-slip mats and storage boxes under the seats, different tyres/rims, a 'shinny' exhaust pipe, a carbon fibre protector to stop luggage scratching the edge of the boot when it's being lifted in or out. On top of that he has been washing it at least once a week.

The best part of it all, it's really comfy to travel in, and we're constantly going for drives and on trips. It almost feels like we're dating again.