Cass is flying off to France this Friday (or actually, early Saturday morning), so with a full week of school ahead, we needed to make the most of the weekend to do some last minute shopping, sorting, organizing and even start some packing. The cat's carer needed to be sorted as did the transportation to and from the airport as well as sourcing and sorting various drugs, supplements and other essentials. We also needed to do a targeted food shop so we had the essentials, but didn't hav food left in the fridge over the two week break.
Cass is doing her semi-regular trip to France with her mum, Valerie, again this year. They always plan on visiting three different cities or regions to supplement their book-ended stays in Paris. The TGV is again working its grand rapid magic, whisking them from Paris to Rennes to Tours to Limoge to Paris and all sorts of interesting points in and around these regions, as yet unplanned! We've got all the trains worked out and tickets delivered to Taiwan as well as all the hotels in every place. Cass and Val will sort through the various tours and sights when they arrive in the different spots: it's worked out well for them this way before. We booked a few special items that were likely to sell out in Paris, but I'll report on them after the fact in a few weeks!
I procrastinated quite uncharacteristically and vacillated between an inaugural trip to an icy cold, snowy Korea or instead taking in some sun in Thailand, the Philippines or even Sri Lanka again. In the end, after all my annoying decision-making of the past few weeks, I felt settled enough to make some very belated plans. I decided to head to Japan, but not to my usual stomping grounds of southern Honshu and Kyushu. Rather, I'm going to make the pilgrimage back to Nagano prefecture, where I first lived 30 years ago! I managed to make contact with my friend, and second boss, Hiromi, through some stealthy inquires on social media and other platforms....it's really quite amazing to find people after such a time with very little effort! I've bought a seven day rail pass, so plan to fly into Tokyo before getting the bullet train to Nagano (which, of course didn't exist last time I was there). After that, I've no idea. All I know is that I must thread my way down to the other end of the country to fly out of Fukuoka a week later. I have a tiny backpack of essentials only, so it should be quite the adventure!
Our weekend was filled with crowded shopping malls, or at least felt like it. The local Sogo department store was chock-a-block with humanity in a pre-Christmas sale frenzy. If we'd known we never would have tried to brave it! After fueling up at Din Tai Feng in the early afternoon, we cast ourselves upon the escalators, squeezed into lifts and variously dodged and nudged our way through unrelenting crowds of all types of shoppers. We eventually made the top floor where Japanese retailer Hands Tailung had some super-duper soft, large pillows. Cass had spotted them some time ago and she'd decided that these were just what our poor little arthritic cats needed to get comfortable. (As it turns out, as cat lovers everywhere will attest to, the little buggers seemed more interested in the packing the pillows came in.....perhaps they'll come around!). With this gigantic impediment in a large bag, we then decided to negotiate around Uniqlo, but the press of humanity was crazy inside. The line for the registers stretched right around the whole store, so we decided to score some bread and cakes in the basement then exit stage left!
Cass is still recovering from the after-effects of her lurgy so we didn't do too much else. We both took a recuperative stance in preparation for the big burst of energy we'll need next weekend and beyond. Photos: some quirky sign at Hands Tailung, Cass in the queue at Flavor Field patisserie, and with our shopping haul among the giant Christmas Hello Kitties! Video up top is of a purring Virgil, struggling to get comfortable with her arthritic joints. Cass is reading White Sands a most satisfyingly different travel book and I've found a Lee Child, Reacher book I hadn't read, Echo Burning.