Not actually home home. I'm going to my host families home which is home enough.

Now, I tried to be really cheap on this trip. Which mean I decided to go by bus and train everywhere. That being said, I took a bus from Sendai to Tokyo in the morning, a bus from Tokyo to Osaka later that night and took a train to Fukuoka that morning, then a train to Arao that evening. Needless to say I needed a shower, but saved a bundle.

The bus company I used was: WillerBus. The website is in English and the prices are cheap! There are different buses, from plain seats with no features, to capsule hotel style seats. Of course they get more expensive, but I think I paid about 25UDS each way on these buses and they were great. No one talks. Only women sit with women and they visit a rest stop almost every two hours or so.

Omurice and Tonkatsu

Between Tokyo and Osaka I was at the station for a while so I got dinner of my comfort food of omurice and tonkatsu. I finished it all in hopes to store up for the winter ahead. I then went to the book store to read an entire book while standing there for four hours.

Pictures from the Bus

Rice Fields, not perfect grass.

After that long journey, I came home and my host mother picked up me up the station. She fed me sweets, then I showered and went to bed.

Thought my trip was over? I have half a month more of playing around now! Look forward to me struggling while climbing a mountain, painting spiky chestnuts and going to Nagasaki!

Monkeys and fish, monkeys and fish, the best combination.

Beppu has two really fun attractions that we waited way too long to go to. They have an aquarium on the border of Oita (the big city) and Beppu. There is also a mountain park area that has the cutest little monkeys! Loudest too...

We went right at the right time because it was feeding time! What better time of the day than food time? These monkeys were screaming but went quiet while they ate.

Don't touch the babies, don't traunt/feed or chase them.
Don't look into their eyes. O.O

Yum yum yum yaaaams!

A whole monkey family!

Today I made Tonkatsu! Pork covered in panko flakes then deep fried. Definitely the easiest and tastiest thing I have made. I made fat little pork chops, but normally you pound it flatter. It's surprisingly easy to make and I used this wonderful recipe from JustOneCookbook.com! They have many different recipes that I want to try and her directions are very clear.

They came out great and took maybe 15 minutes max, because I made two. Pork and chicken is common here, while beef isn't so much. I only see shaved beef, instead of huge t-bone steaks. I also made rice and boiled quail eggs with it as well. Quail eggs are just tiny eggs, from a quail... of course. They taste no different than a chicken egg and they don't need to be prepared in a special way. They are just small and cute and fit better in my bento box instead of chicken eggs which I use to cook mostly.

So, my dinner came out great. I also made a bento box which is just a lunch box. I love cherry tomatoes, so that will be my vegetable (or fruit) for lunch. To top it off, normally you put tonkatsu sauce on it, but I only had okonomiyaki sauce, which isn't too far off. Overall, this was a great meal and I will definitely be making it again!