Kanpai Christmas
Slept fairly heavily and well on my futon, getting up at around seven. Hiroko was up and Romy off walking one of the dogs. Sitting companionably around the kotatsu (which squeaks with hiding cats when you put your feet under it) we watched some TV. Some mentions of Melly Ch`istmas! here and there among TV articles about a local woman jazz singers dying of cancer, with the scowly host in tears in a box in the corner of the screen, and the dangers of wheels coming loose from trucks and hitting houses. Meanwhile Hiroko gave me tea until I could speak.
Soon joined by Toby and Romy and Jennifer. And milling around with us and the five pets were a series of visitors. My favourite was an older lady in her 70s bursting with vigour and clutching big spilling bags of satsumas. Like a laughing whirlwind. Another, a nice youngish guy, appeared late at night when only me and Hiroko were about, and showed us some magic tricks. Between tricks he told Hiroko about how he had attempted suicide and had just got out of hospital His marriage had broken down and there was some business about access to his daughter. When the story got too bad he`d do another trick. Like something from a play.
During the day we went off to the local supermarket. Toby and me strolling about being fascinated by the products on sale: particularly liked a coffee creamer called Creap and Meltykisses, chocolate cubes. There were thousands of imaginative beer snacks (surely a signifier of an extremely sophisticated society) too. Entire dried squid seems to be a favourite to go with beer.
In the fish section was fascinated by entire octopus in plastic boxes.
I sensibly bought some beer, and then some baby chopsticks in pink and blue for Klaudia and Oskar.
In the afternoon Romy, Toby and I went for a pleasant walk down to the nearby Pacific. Hiroko`s area fairly quiet, but every square foot seems to be used for agriculture or housing or business. But there were laden orange trees in gardens, tea bushes, paddy fields and so on everywhere. Everything grows here. As we walked down to the sea, Toby explained that it was thanks to having a Gemini brother that I got to see the world.
Saw a heron and a dozen or so Japanese cormorant flying in formation. We walked for a while on the beach between the sea and a long thin strip of pine woodland that acted as a windbreak along the coast to protect the crops inland. Then walked back inland passing a small temple and graveyard.
In the evening off to another local restaurant. We squeezed into the car and it wouldn`t start. Hiroko, by now quite keen for her first sharpener of the day, called the local garage and the man arrived with jump leads inside five minutes. Funny drive there with Hiroko talking to numerous people on her cell phone, while steering erratically and parking abominably.
Relieved, we scrambled out into the restaurant for another feast. It was kanpai! (cheers!) with lots of drink and then an extended feast amid murmurings of "oishii" (delicious!) every now and again when things were delicious, which they quite frequently were. A tempura of fried small fish and spring chrysanthemum rather top. Tried mackerel sushimi again. Had it once in London and it made me gag. Here it was especially fine and made me gag too. All other raw fish very fine however. Just mackerel which is odd because I love it grilled.
Home with a driver for the car, and the tiny Hiroko hiding on the floor in the back in case stopped by the police. Chuckling, she explained that she is an important local figure and it would be on TV if she fell foul of the law.
I am taking lots of photos... but they will have to wait till I return to be uploaded. Merry Christmas everyone!
Below a temple gargoyle, teabushes in Makinohara, octopus and squid in the supermarket. 
Slept fairly heavily and well on my futon, getting up at around seven. Hiroko was up and Romy off walking one of the dogs. Sitting companionably around the kotatsu (which squeaks with hiding cats when you put your feet under it) we watched some TV. Some mentions of Melly Ch`istmas! here and there among TV articles about a local woman jazz singers dying of cancer, with the scowly host in tears in a box in the corner of the screen, and the dangers of wheels coming loose from trucks and hitting houses. Meanwhile Hiroko gave me tea until I could speak.
Soon joined by Toby and Romy and Jennifer. And milling around with us and the five pets were a series of visitors. My favourite was an older lady in her 70s bursting with vigour and clutching big spilling bags of satsumas. Like a laughing whirlwind. Another, a nice youngish guy, appeared late at night when only me and Hiroko were about, and showed us some magic tricks. Between tricks he told Hiroko about how he had attempted suicide and had just got out of hospital His marriage had broken down and there was some business about access to his daughter. When the story got too bad he`d do another trick. Like something from a play.
During the day we went off to the local supermarket. Toby and me strolling about being fascinated by the products on sale: particularly liked a coffee creamer called Creap and Meltykisses, chocolate cubes. There were thousands of imaginative beer snacks (surely a signifier of an extremely sophisticated society) too. Entire dried squid seems to be a favourite to go with beer.
In the fish section was fascinated by entire octopus in plastic boxes.
I sensibly bought some beer, and then some baby chopsticks in pink and blue for Klaudia and Oskar.
In the afternoon Romy, Toby and I went for a pleasant walk down to the nearby Pacific. Hiroko`s area fairly quiet, but every square foot seems to be used for agriculture or housing or business. But there were laden orange trees in gardens, tea bushes, paddy fields and so on everywhere. Everything grows here. As we walked down to the sea, Toby explained that it was thanks to having a Gemini brother that I got to see the world.
Saw a heron and a dozen or so Japanese cormorant flying in formation. We walked for a while on the beach between the sea and a long thin strip of pine woodland that acted as a windbreak along the coast to protect the crops inland. Then walked back inland passing a small temple and graveyard.
In the evening off to another local restaurant. We squeezed into the car and it wouldn`t start. Hiroko, by now quite keen for her first sharpener of the day, called the local garage and the man arrived with jump leads inside five minutes. Funny drive there with Hiroko talking to numerous people on her cell phone, while steering erratically and parking abominably.
Relieved, we scrambled out into the restaurant for another feast. It was kanpai! (cheers!) with lots of drink and then an extended feast amid murmurings of "oishii" (delicious!) every now and again when things were delicious, which they quite frequently were. A tempura of fried small fish and spring chrysanthemum rather top. Tried mackerel sushimi again. Had it once in London and it made me gag. Here it was especially fine and made me gag too. All other raw fish very fine however. Just mackerel which is odd because I love it grilled.
Home with a driver for the car, and the tiny Hiroko hiding on the floor in the back in case stopped by the police. Chuckling, she explained that she is an important local figure and it would be on TV if she fell foul of the law.
I am taking lots of photos... but they will have to wait till I return to be uploaded. Merry Christmas everyone!
Below a temple gargoyle, teabushes in Makinohara, octopus and squid in the supermarket.
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