It has been a while and I have had two fairly substantial weekends.
The first was 2 weeks ago. I did a little homestay at my friend Keiko's parent's house in Shimonoseki. We arrived late on Friday night and were greated with the most delicious dangos (nama chocolate, strawberry, and mikan). Her dog really took a shining to me and my fuzzy sweater, so much that it humped me for a long time, despite my efforts to politely throw it off me. The next day we woke up early and had a traditional japanese breakfast, full of things I wouldn't dream of eating at all, let alone in the morning. Small little fish and shaved daikon, eggs and salad, rice and miso soup. Then we headed around Shimono to see the sights. The weather was beautiful so it made touring around nice. We stumbled upon a wedding where they were delighted to take pictures with foreigners. No matter how embarrassed we were. Then we went to Kokura and saw the castle (which I would recommend going it. I liked it better than Osaka-jo). and to some shops. On the way home we stopped by her sisters house where she has the most adorable daughters and we saw the hinamatsuri stuff. So the purpose of us staying there was to learn Japanese cooking. We made tons of delicious food. Soba, sushi rice, renkon salad, gobo salad, fried saba, and a beef dish. We learned a lot. There was a small little party for us where I played with little Saki a ton. She is 1 and a half and is not the slightest bit shy. She would mimick me and by the end of the night I had her speaking perapera. Her family was so giving, just like most people I have met. I hope to return the favor to Keiko one day.
So the next weekend Kat, Marko and I decided to go to Hiroshima, again. After having to be coaxed into it a little we had a ball. The reason for going was to check out an indie club, but it turned out to be dead so we headed to a few other bars. We went to the local gaijin palace, Mac where Marko first pouted then started dancing away. I attempted to dance with an old Japanese man, but then he turned into a stalker! Kat and I had to run away from him all over the dance floor. Then we headed to a 'mod club' recommended by Marko called Slim Chance. It ended up being super cool. The music was great and it was filled with hip j-people. We were the only foreigners cutting a rug. The DJs all took their shirts off at one point and this provoked someone else to do it as well. We met some really cool J-folks. Glad I went in the end. Then the next day was Kat and I's hungover attempt to go to Ellen's b-day party. Sorry we missed the curry Ellen.
