Expat Life in Japan! – Ep #5: DIY Home Projects | Local Japanese Discoveries

Expat Life in Japan! – Ep #5: DIY Home Projects | Local Japanese Discoveries

[Music] Welcome to our Japan life. This is Expat Japan episode 5. September was an incredible month full of home improvement projects and amazing adventures. Enjoy. Okay, so I have a funny story for you guys. For those of you that like scary movies and horror stories and all that kind of creepy stuff, last night Thomas and I are dead asleep in bed. dead asleep and all of a sudden we hear our doorbell start to go off like nonstop. I don’t It’s like 2:30 in the morning. The doorbell starts going like somebody’s literally out there pressing it and pressing it and pressing it and we we like woke up like what on earth is going on and we come out to check the door and we come all the way downstairs. Of course, we’re like still like in a coma. We don’t even like know what planet we’re on cuz we’re half asleep. We come outside and we check the doorbell [Music] and we check outside and there’s nobody here and we’re looking around. There’s nobody here and there’s no bugs or lizards sitting on the doorbell. We’re like, that’s really weird. The doorbell is still going off. Like, it’s still going off non-stop. So, we come back in and we come over to where the doorbell is inside. Let me show you. See that right there? That’s our doorbell, which is basically like in the hallway and Thomas gets a a you know, a step stool and he gets up there and he checks it, takes out the battery. Immediately the doorbell stops and we know there are no evil spirits ringing our doorbell at nighttime. I’m telling you, that’s a relief. I mean, we do live within like a very spiritual place. Like there’s a temple nearby and there’s a graveyard nearby the house. I mean, you just never know. Uh, bad news, we need to change that battery more often so that doesn’t happen again at 2:30 in the morning here in the home gym. I built out this home gym with just the basic equipment. um Olympic bar, squat rack, some adjustable dumbbells, um bench that goes into incline and all that stuff. It’s hard to motivate yourself when you got a gym to go to and you get to go lift weights in a nice airond conditioned room with a bunch of good-looking people and like, you know, you’re showing off, you’re lifting and all that, it can be a lot more motivating. But, uh, getting up every morning at your own house, as a lot of you know that have your own home set up, it’s a little bit more challenging. But, uh, just doing some squats. So, hey, we just rolled up to the Mackie Caverns, which is here outside the city of Mimi in Okyama Prefecture. Supposedly, these caverns are all lit up with really cool lights inside, and we wanted to come check it out. [Music] There’s people in here singing. [Music] You’re a tall guy like me. There’s a hallway here. I already hit it. She already hit her head. You have to crouch down for quite a while and walk under. I think the uh look at I look like a I look like a horror character. So apparently you can rent helmets here. We should have I hit myself pretty hard. [Music] What’ you think? Um way deeper than I thought they would go to be honest. But I thought they were going to be much more shallow. Pretty spectacular. Yeah. And even being here middle of the week. I mean, it was pouring today. I’m actually shocked at how many people are here. Yeah, it was probably about half a dozen people total, but we were in there mostly alone. So, it’s pretty awesome. Makito Cave. Check it out if you’re in Japan, especially if you’re in Okyama Perfecture. Train headed to Hiroshima Stadium. From there, we’ll walk to the to the uh the baseball game, the stadium, baseball stadium. Jump on this train full of people. The metro metro, the above ground metro, local train. You get off the train at Hiroshima station. They have signs that tell you how to get to Mazda Park and there’s this beautiful walkway that takes you there and you can see people walking to the game, all their jerseys and everything like that. So, pretty easy to understand. [Music] the Zoom Zoom Stadium. Yeah, let’s go Tigers. [Music] I’m over here in the tiger section. Then I had to get over here and see the band up close. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Are you ready? [Applause] [Music] [Applause] up. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Full experience at the Maza Zoom Zoom Stadium. Tigers won 72. quite a spectacle. What do you think for your first game in Japan? Honestly, it was like so many words I couldn’t describe it. Breathtaking, great atmosphere, tons of fun. I just would recommend it. 10 out of 10. Yeah. Amazing experience. Another Japanese uh spectacle here at the stadium. Honest. Go Tigers. [Music] Hey there. Hey, check out all the red spider liies that are blooming right now. So apparently bees bloom right when the start of autumn comes in Japan. I guess the red spider lily really signifies like the changing of the seasons and it’s really beautiful. How far away from our home? This is 6 milesi away. 6 milesi away. Right here in Mania City, Okayyama Perfeure, Japan. Beautiful. [Music] I got a little project working on. I have a door on the bottom of our gym on the bottom of the barn that’s was really old and dilapidated. I tore off all the old crap as you can see off the front of it and I’m going to rebuild it with some sideboards that I have. So, that’s the way it’s starting. Should take me just a few hours. Easy project. [Music] But as you can see, I’ve uh was cutting the planks and I’ve laid them out on the door. Now I just got to sand the wood a little bit and then I’ll nail it in or screw it in. Whatever I have, nails or screws, and then my door will be complete. [Music] is the final product. Now, I might do some sanding on it, but as you can see, that really crappy thin little particle board was on there and then I redid the entire thing. So, good addition to the barn. Now, I just got to go buy some hinges at the store and we’ll get it on. There’s my wife doing finishing sanding on it. [Music] Now it’s time to stain. [Music] This is the door on our big garage which was all pitted out and nasty and now it uh looks beautiful. So yeah, that’s the door. Cruising around in the truck, found this incredible swimming hole. Big waterfalls everywhere and bridges. Amazing spot, Maniawa. And it’s full of these natural wonders, man. It’s uh quite incredible. [Music] [Music] Found this little guy just hiding down here under that big rock. Little crab. River crab. [Music] Hey there. Hey, we’re getting one wall done. Painting this room. Master bedroom here was going from this to that. Well, hey there, beautiful. What are you up to there? I am Uh, cutting fabrics. Cutting fabrics. Japanese fabrics. We’re going to be opening and launching a Japanese style Etsy store with all types of really cool goods and things from Japan that you Japanese cabinet. Yeah. all types of vintage stuff and things that are hard to find in the United States but are, you know, relatively easy to find in the really dark, dusty corners of the countryside of Japan. So, really cool materials. So, look forward to that and linking that up in the description once it’s up. Yeah. Oh, we’re doing some painting over here. It’s still not complete. We’re waiting for Amazon Japan to deliver our paint. our local um our local like supply store ran out of the paint we liked and not so we had to order it online. And our stinky cat is on the couch being a being a punk. [Music] So, as you can see behind me, we finally got these two walls done. First coat. Anyways, I’m sure you don’t want to see us paint the second coat, but we’ll show you a picture of the final product. [Music] Today we are coming to you from the deep in the mountains of Japan where I’m going to be doing some gold panning. Now, I uh am going to keep the area where we’re panning kind of undisclosed, but I will I will say we’re in the Okyama Perfeure, which isn’t really known in Japan to be a heavily uh gold rich place with a lot of uh known gold mines or plaster or plaster gold in the rivers. However, the area that I’m at right now is really mineralrich and has a lot of quartz. and I was here not so long ago and found some stones that uh had evidence of gold in them. So, I’m going to do a little bit of panning and see what we can come up with. Um, keep in mind we’re uh on a piece of land where we’re allowed to do this. In Japan, they’re um particular about being on private property and things like that. So, if you go out rock hunting or you go out gold panning, just make sure you have uh permission to do so and that you’re not breaking any laws. Anyways, let’s see what we can find. We’re also going to do doing some rock hunting and some rock counting around here. see if we can find some cool crystals and jade and cool things like that. So stay tuned. Hold on. Wait. I’ll try maybe one or two more. My best bet might be to uh look for gems, gemstones or perhaps quartz rocks that have veins gold in them. Uh we should be finding a couple of those. So, we’ll take pictures of those at the end to show you what we’re finding. [Music] Did you find some rocks? Yeah, you got some good stuff. [Music] Standard ring light. Um, I haven’t figured out how to set this up yet. I don’t know what’s going on here. This came with absolutely no instructions, but I’ll figure it out. All right. Now that we’ve done our little sound check and microphone microphone is on. It’s working. We’re going to try this ring light. H. I’ve never used one of these before, but like that the the hype all about it. Like everybody seems to use these. Obviously, I’m last to the party as usual. But let’s turn this on. [Music] I mean, that’s pretty bright. Supposed to be like not so you don’t have any shadows on your face when you’re talking to the camera, but that is bright. Let’s try a different setting. Oh, that’s blue. That’s warehouse lighting. Feel like I’m working at a trade show right now. That is very blue. [Music] I mean, I I always want to be more tan, but not like that. Maybe let’s go down back to the I think this is the natural in like the natural light setting. Let’s turn I think this is on max blast. Let’s turn this down. Okay, that’s better. That’s definitely That’s definitely more forgiving. I mean, with this thing blasted all the way up, I can see exactly where I would need filler. Um, we’re not trying to accentuate that. Do a different setting. Lower. Okay. It’s better. Better better. Even that even the the the tans the the tan setting is better when it’s low. So, okay. This will be fun to play with. Um, if you guys have tips and you already are using these things, let us know. Uh, we always take into consideration what our audience says. So, that’s why we’re trying to upgrade some things and make the content better. So, it’s the last part of summer. It’s midseptember right now and uh really super rainy in Japan and especially here in Maniawa City in Okyama. Look at these incredible blossoms like these like summer flowers, late summer flowers. Check them out. And they’re like full of butterflies. Most beautiful colors, too. Check this out. Like earlier in the year, I was thought I was doing my neighbor a favor and I was pulling all what appeared to be weeds out of the garden and the wife of my neighbor came running out in Japanese and she wasn’t yelling at me or anything like that, but she was just like, “There’s flowers. Those are flowers.” Turns out she wasn’t wrong. So, next year I won’t be pulling out any weeds. I’ll be leaving them. This is the first time that we’ve tasted these really expensive Japanese graves. They’re huge. Friendly. Pull the cluster out so everyone can see these clusters. They’re these perfect clusters. Promised land. The land of Canaan. Being that it’s our first time tasting these, we want we want a little response from you two. Yes. Okay. All right, Owen. All right. Pop in your mouth. Compared to other grapes, how does this one taste? These are Japanese grapes. Really sweet. More juicy. Really sweet. Almost like candy. Like candy flavor. Almost like synthetic grape flavor. And the skin is a more a lot more tough. Yeah. But like juicy inside. It’s very juicy on the inside. The skin’s a lot tougher, but they’re not. They’re delicious. Do they have seeds? No. No, there’s no seeds. Seedless. Oh my god. It tastes just like the candy. [Music] Smell good. Those purple ones, too. Look at these. You can’t even the purple ones. Oh, the purple ones. No smell. [Music] [Music] They’re They’re having some sort of festival at the train station.

Join us for an exciting vlog showcasing the authentic joys of expat life in Japan’s breathtaking countryside! In this episode, we dive into fun DIY home improvement projects, explore the mesmerizing Makido Neon Caves in Niimi, Japan, and cheer at an electrifying Hanshin Tigers baseball game against the Hiroshima Carp at the iconic Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium.

Get a front-row seat to our everyday adventures as we share heartfelt stories about living in Japan, from navigating local culture to embracing the charm of rural life. Perfect for anyone dreaming of Japan travel, expat life, or seeking inspiration for living abroad! Discover hidden gems in Japan, immerse yourself in Japanese culture, and see why the countryside is a must-visit for travelers and expats alike.

✨ Keywords: Expat life in Japan, Japan travel vlog, countryside Japan, DIY home projects, Makido Neon Caves, Niimi Japan, Hanshin Tigers, Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, Japanese culture, living in Japan, Japan adventure, rural Japan, expat stories, travel Japan, Japanese baseball, authentic Japan, expat vlog.

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