Japan July 2016 Monday

Our first day at the museum went so smoothly. Really. The jet lag kicked in just before we needed to wrap up at 6. Then we went to an Ojiya restaurant. It was magical. Super woodsy, with whatnautical jimcracks everywhere. The Ojiya was a bowl of umami. Something so tasty and evenly ingrediented that it was just a big bowl of salty pleasure.

The walk home:

We walked through a shopping arcade on the way home. These figures are supposed to make it stop raining, but they're kinda creepy.

I love a figure of Colonel Sanders, so I had to stop and snap a photo:

At one point we stopped to light some sparklers. Japanese sparklers are awfully pretty. I don't understand why the custom is that we hold them with the flame below our fingers. That's a little nerve wracking.

Across from our hotel is the home / restaurant of a lady who has a beautiful bobtailed cat named Pudding. His bobtail is striped, he has a single teacup-sized striped spot on his side, and striped ears. We petted him yesterday, and did so again this evening, disturbing her dog, so she came out to say hello. 

 

We had a long conversation, aided by our tour manager, during which she decided that I would be huggable, so she hugged me, and then we got to talking about cats, so I showed her a picture of our second oldest. She thought my cat was fat, so she started rubbing my tummy and indicating that she looked like me. This woman was so much like my mom ten years ago. She opened her outer jacket and indicated that she had no boobs, and then up-slapped mine. 

No really.

You can imagine how much my crew was enjoying this. I should stop to say that I’m wearing the plumeria in my sprout that so horrified the people of Vienna and Budapest. It has the exact opposite effect on people here. It’s a) taking Nagasaki by storm and b) emboldening them to say and do almost anything.