Learning to Love a Typhoon

From reading my last post, you would assume that I would be ready to rant and rave against Typhoon #10 for destroying my weekend plans. However, things sometimes have a strange way of working out.

Knowing that the typhoon was to arrive on Saturday, my friend decided to take Friday off and make the journey to Oita on Thursday night. Although I had suggested this to her, I thought her busy work schedule would have made it impossible. However, a phone call from her Thursday evening informed me that she was on her way to the ferry and I should be in Usuki by midnight. Hurriedly, I tidied up the apartment and headed out. Now, Usuki is about 80km for where I live and traversing previously untravelled roads in the dark, especially in Japan, is never as easy as it sounds. However, I arrived with about 20 minutes to spare.

We arrived home at 2am, both of us quite exhausted, and quickly went to bed until I was awoken at 8am by a phone call from my mother informing me that our bird had made an amazing recovery from its mysterious ailment that had disrupted her balance for two days. We lazed about the apartment for a couple of hours before heading out. We drove to Takkirikeikoku, a valley with a river that is so shallow and flat that you can comfortably walk barefooted along the riverbed for about 2km until it ends in a waterfall. The coolness of the river was a welcome relief from the heat of the day and my car; my car's air conditioning is terminally weak and keeping the windows open is a far more effective method of cooling. However in 35 degree weather, open windows only provide a slight relief. After the valley, we headed off for a peaceful lunch at a restaurant in the mountains and then off for a drive to see some of the sights.

After enjoying a yuzu flavoured ice cream cone and visiting the "oosanshouoo", we went back to the apartment and watched the movie "Kill Bill". I had watched it once before but it was my friend's first time. She seemed to enjoy it despite the violence; she did flinch when certain body parts were lobed off and the blood began to flow.

Off we went for dinner at a curry restaurant, a full tank of gas and a viewing of the stone bridges that are illuminated at night.

As the typhoon approached on Saturday, we decided to stay relatively close to home in case the weather turned bad. Off for lunch, then to the Ajimu winery. With the approaching typhoon, almost everyone had decided to stay at home, making the winery extremely empty. For Japan, I suspose the winery is relatively impressive but it certainly does not compare to those in North American or Europe. We were able to enjoy a few tastes of the wine and wandered around the facilities. Later, we headed to a waterfall that I had never been too. Again, the threatening weather ensured that no one else was there, allowing us to enjoy its beauty in solitude. Since the weather has been dry recently, recent rain would have made the falls more spectacular but they were certainly enough to impress my friend.

Feeling the rain approaching, we decided to head to the local supermarket to pick up some food for the evening inside. We decided to make yakisoba and bought the required ingredients. However, as the night progressed, we were too full and/or unmotivated to actually make it. Thus, the ingredients still sit in my fridge as I write. We watched another movie.


On Sunday, the typhoon had passed and we headed off to Beppu for the 2 o'clock ferry. In all, the weekend was very enjoyable.