Slept like a log at Onyado Nono. I think I complained about the other one but slept very well there as well. I’m sure I’ll stay in another Onyado Nono in the future.

Breakfast at the Onyado Nono Fukui was pretty fancy. I thought the chirashidon was a nighttime thing on the restaurant board, but it’s what’s for breakfast! (Upper middle.) It was another buffet. I missed the miso soup because I wasn’t expecting it to be a white miso soup with clams. The salad bar also had pastrami so I tried a piece. It was serious pastrami which I never expected to be in Japan. There were also soba bowls but I was full already.

Next stop was Kanazawa, a place I’d been many times. I was hemming and hawing about what to see, especially since I’m pretty tired from all the walking I’ve already done on this trip. The woman at the tourist information desk said, why not the Noto Peninsula? Probably not a lot less walking but I knew I’d have a nice train ride where I could sit for a while. I got a little confused and looked at the schedule backwards so it turned out I had a little time to kill. Of course I went to a couple of stores looking for the pen I’m searching for. I was pretty much told, “Not a chance.” (They weren’t that rude but I got the idea.)

Interestingly there were artworks on the pillars of the station and I don’t think many people stop and look at. I only found them because I had a lot of time to wait for the train.

It was a nice 1 hour and 26 minute ride through the countryside.

I got to Nanao and there wasn’t a whole lot going on. There’s going to be a big festival in a few days where they roll three huge 12m (~40 ft) tall, 20 ton (probably metric ton) floats through the tiny streets. I saw them preparing the floats in various spots during the day. The first was by the fish market.

The second was on the shopping street.

The third was at the shrine where the floats all head to.

You can Google Nanao Dekayama to see the completed floats.

I also saw a small paving truck. I took a picture because I’m used to seeing the big ones back in the US.

Two other things are the fish market and the old shopping street. The fish market looked like a normal retail fish market and at the back there was a food court.

I got a small tuna rice bowl because the woman recommended it as it’s locally caught tuna. I thought I was just getting a tuna bowl (upper left) and so I added the thing I’m not going to mention on the upper right, but I was also given a giant bowl of miso soup with a large piece of chewy, bony, white fish in it. It was all fresh and excellent.

I got the small bowl because it was a late lunch but with the soup it ended up being quite a bit of food. I paid by credit card because I thought it was going to be expensive. My phone gave me an alert of the foreign transaction and it end up being only $16.90 USD.

I went to the main shopping street and it looked like some of it was under construction.

Several historic buildings wrapped in construction cloth. When I read the signs it said they were culturally significant and damaged in the Noto earthquake of 2023. Repairs are expected to be done in 2027.

I also saw a couple of prefab buildings being used for restaurants, similar to the ones I saw in Kesennuma post-tsunami.

I was able to find a tasty cake and cup of coffee at a cafe on the shopping street.

The trip back was to Kanazawa was an express train. It cost more, but it only took 57 minutes.

I checked into the Via Inn that’s inside the station. It’s far from the tracks so the noise I hear is mostly from the hallway.

I went to find some food and I was pretty seafooded out. There were two pasta restaurants next to each other and the brightly lit one was full of schoolgirls so I picked the fancier-looking one. I knew it wasn’t all that fancy when I saw the food delivery robot and ordering on iPads.

The craft ginger ale wasn’t bad.

I asked where they got the salmon for the salmon pasta and confirmed it was from overseas. Salmon is hard to fish for in Japan. Since the salmon wasn’t local, I felt OK getting a Napolitan spaghetti instead of the salmon pasta. I got a seafood salad (I know, I’m an idiot, I’m not really good at avoiding seafood) which had more tuna and salmon sashimi than most mains I’ve had. But it the fish seemed rubbery compared to the buttery smooth fresh-caught fish I had at lunch. It was fine, I was just spoiled at lunchtime. It seemed expensive at ¥3025 but again that’s only $19.00. Less than what I pay for a burger and fries at a lot of places in Portland.

Well I spazzed on the drinks picture. That’s OK. I didn’t get any Wilkinson this time. I’m not entirely sure why I keep posting pictures of Wilkinson for my sister. I am drinking the Pocari Sweat hoping it staves off any leg cramps. So far so good.

I finally made it Fukui! I wanted to stay here when I made my long trip south from Hokkaido to Kagoshima during my sabbatical vacation but there were no hotels available. Even the taxi driver in the next town over knew about the lack of hotel rooms that trip and had no idea why. It turned out OK since that was how I made it to Sabae and the Lacquerware town where I wandered around and met some interesting people.

I started my day in Osaka at the same breakfast spot again. Why mess with what works? I got a egg sando today.

You have to be kind of foolish to visit Japan during Golden Week. Today is the start of Golden Week and I am kind of foolish. The train announcement said the train was full but there were a few empty seats but it was busier than usual.

This has nothing to do with anything but here’s a picture of a building that looks like a chocolate bar near Osaka.

Fukui wasn’t that bad. I had no idea what to do and one of the several tourist information desks said maybe I should just stay in town since I was getting a “late” start around noon. I dropped off my bags at my hotel and went to the Loft on the way back to the station because of my crazy Zento Signature pen search and bought some scissors. I don’t think I’ll need them unless I go shopping for more clothes but I couldnt find my tiny travel scissors so I bought another pair.

When I got back to the station a different tourist information guy said, “Yeah, you can make it to Eiheiji Temple but you just missed the bus.” I decided to get a light lunch and then head to Eiheiji. I don’t know much about Eiheiji other than Steve Jobs wanted to become a monk there. I’d even forgotten it was an important Zen temple.

I did say light lunch, right? I overdid it.

The woman at the hotel suggested taking a train and then a bus but there is a single bus that goes straight from the station to Eiheiji that leaves about once an hour. Once I got to the area there was a busy tourist trap until you got closer to the temple grounds.

I have a few pictures but I’m sure there are lots more good pictures of Eiheiji online. If you do go, I would highly recommend going during a cooler time. The temple is built on a hill and is HUGE. I couldn’t believe how many stairs I went up to get to the main temple. There were Zen monks going to afternoon prayers or meditation. It was all very surreal to me. I think my maternal grandfather might’ve been a Zen Buddhist but I’m not.

It’s hard to see but there’s a monk ringing that giant bell once every few minutes (also hard to see the bell).

I tried to go to the waterfall but on the way I saw a sign that looked like it said “stop” and “not working”. I used Google Translate that told me there’s construction and the water has been diverted from the waterfall.

I got out my timetable and I ALMOST MISSED THE NEXT BUS BACK. Honestly, I’m not very religious and I also didn’t want to hang out in a tourist trap cafe so I walked fast to the bus.

Turns out Eiheiji is one of the main Zen temples in Japan and where monks go for their training.

Fukui is also known for dinosaurs, but the main “park” and museum are out past Eiheiji. The train station has animatronic models out front with informational plaques which were cooler than I expected.

Next I went to the castle ruins. There’s reproductions of parts of the castle like the bridge over the moat.

And a caste gate.

And I’m guessing the walls are reproductions too. The middle, where the castle buildings were, is the prefectural office and the police station. Why waste the space?

Then I went to the history museum and the Yoyokan gardens next to it. The gardens and a building were the villa of someone important. Nevertheless it was nice. The only picture I have is of some flowers because I was trying to get my phone to tell me what they were. Rhododendrons was what the phone said. That was my second guess after azaleas.

Oh and there were some ducks hanging out on the street. My phone was no help identifying them.

Two different women at the front desk told me I needed to try sauce katsu so I decided to give it a go. I think I picked the right place because there was a line.

It wasn’t even crowded inside. I guess they didn’t want to overwhelm the kitchen. It’s thin pork cutlets (still thicker than the paper thin crap the Korean pretend-Japanese restaurants in Portland have) covered in Worcestershire sauce. It was even better than I expected. The rest was a little mid. The miso soup was watery and the salad need tons more dressing (there was a lot of cabbage). Even the takuan wasn’t the best. Would I go again? Heck yeah.

So time to eat my bribe (I got it everywhere and it’s kind of sticky) and here’s my obligatory Wilkinson picture. I’m in a double so there’s two bribes along with two bottles of water. I am NOT drinking all that. I’m having to get up to use the bathroom enough times in the middle of the night without drinking all that.

Honestly I think I’d rather drink the water but I can’t count on the hotel having free bottles of water so I buy Wilkinson. Oh and I got my MacBook Air charger back. I had the Onyado Nono in Matsue ship it to this one (I figured I wouldn’t need to tell them the address of another hotel in the same chain) and it cost me a whole ¥710 for shipping. Sure beats buying a new one for ¥6800. Oddly enough I found out that you can’t buy the 35w one-hole charger (the one that comes with the laptop) in the US. They sell it in Japan though.

I think I spent a lot of the day shopping for things that weren’t available. For most of the trip I’ve been getting up before the alarm but this morning the alarm woke me up. I stayed up a bit late since I was having dinner at my cousin’s and there were stupid things I needed to do like post my awful pictures to this blog and play the NYT crossword puzzle.

Anyway, same breakfast place as before since the food and coffee are pretty good. This time I had the ham & cheese toast and I think that’s a winner.

Then after some more dilly-dallying I went looking for another Zento Signature pen. I already found one and I think that was pure dumb luck. I’m going to try in Fukui as well and if I can’t find it there I might just give up. I went to three different Loft locations. One told me they weren’t getting any more in at all. Another the girl told me she saw a ton of them in Sannomiya which is all the way out in Kobe. The other just said, meh, they’re hard to get. They’re on Amazon for 2x or 3x the list price and I might just do that instead.

Anyway, I went to Namba and yeesh. The lady at Bic Camera said I hadn’t registered my point card. Actually, I’m not sure what the hell she said because SHE SPOKE TO ME IN CHINESE. I said, Japanese or English. (I almost said a little German too and I could try Spanish but I only know a few words. Actually I think what I know is a very litle bit of Mexican Spanish.)

After that it was the fruitless Zento Signature search. Namba is a complete maze like Ikea. Once you’re in a building it’s hard to get out.

I finally found the Mitsutoyo digital caliper I’ve been searching for since the last time I was in Japan!  I know it’s probably just as cheap in the US off of Amazon but the web reviews say half of the ones on Amazon US are fakes. My sister suggested Factory Gear Namba (which AMEX has as Factory Geer Namba). They sell Milwaukie, Snap-On, Wiha, and all sorts of high-end tools.

My sister also reminded me that a bakery cafe we went to was nearby. I think it was only 20% or 30% Japanese. Lots of other nationalities represented. The loudest table seemed to be young Americans but a table of young Korean girls would randomly start singing. It was weird. The carbonara was good and the bread with it was even better. It is a bakery cafe after all.

I started walking badk towards Umeda (where my hotel is). I accidentally ended up in what I call China: Shinsaibashi. It’s usually full of Chinese people doing their retail tourism. Lots of high-end stores amongst more common touristy stores. The whoever-it-is-that-sells-Labubu store, Disney Stores, discount Rolex stores, etc. The Labubu store even had a security guard posted outside.

Anyway, I cut over to Midosuji, the wider street for cars that runs parallel to the shopping street. I didn’t line up to go in the Rolex or Omega stores (though I do like Omega watches) but I did peek in the Grand Seiko store. Every other high-end brand you can think of had big stores. The only one I can think of that I’ve never seen before is Fendi and I only know that name from rappers. Is it high-end women’s undergarments?

There is a Daimaru and inside is a counter where my mom used to go to every time she came so she could get a special traditional “instant” soup. The lady we would always talk to transferred to this branch years ago. She may have retired. I thought about seeing if she was there but thinking about my mom got me a little emotional so I avoided it.

As I went up the street further, I saw a Porsche store (for pikers) and also Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren stores. I used to bemoan the fact that I couldn’t ever afford one of those cars but I can barely keep my Camry from scraping on curbs. Instead of a supercar, I think I need a smaller car like another Civic.

At some point I made a mad dash back to my hotel room because carbonara always seems to speed my digestive system. Made it in time. Then it was time to go out and get my traditional Osaka snack.

I always have to go to Toki and have the matcha shiratama. Matcha flavored sweet azuki bean paste with mochi balls.

Then I went and got a massage. Actually, the sign said, “Reserve online, the next available appointment is 17:30.” It was only 4pm so I went back to my room and found out that I had an account set up. Signed up for an 80-minute massage. I felt kind of bad because I’m all knotted up but luckily I got the sturdiest looking woman there. Come to think of it, I’ve had tiny women at that shop beat the hell out of me too.

After my massage I  went to Mos Burger for dinner. Standard Mos Burger, mixed fries & onion rings, and melon soda.

I wasn’t completely full so I added a chili dog.

None of it tastes like what you’re used to in the US but I love it. Oh and I might as well give you a give you a Wilkinson picture. I already drank the Pocari Sweat. And you probably noticed there was a bite taken out of the chili dog before I took the picture. PROFESSIONAL FOOD BLOGGER. PLEASE HIRE ME.

Today was the day I was meeting my cousins and it wasn’t going to be until 3pm so I just wandered around Nishinomiya. But first I went to a coffee shop my sister recommended for breakfast.

Ham and egg toast with ketchup. I dunno, it was good.

The view was fine as well.

I guess they expect people to set up shop because there’s a two hour time limit. Japanese houses are small so people often use coffee shops to sit around and read or work.

I hung out in the hotel for a bit and then headed to Nishinomiya. My first stop was Nishinomiya Jinja, the main shrine for Ebisu, one of the seven gods of fortune. Actually, I think I really wanted to go to Hirota Jinja but its hard to get to. They’re both important Nishinomiya jinjas. Next time maybe.

The grounds were pretty impressive.

And lots of sub-shrines as well.

From there I walked towards a home improvement store but before I got there I ran into a shopping center near JR Nishinomiya station called “Frente”. I saw a Mr Donut and that’s my usual safe spot to sit for a bit but next door there was a small restaurant with people waiting outside and a sign that said they had handmade tartar sauce for their Chicken Nanban. I had to go in and try it. It was a lot of food.

I also had a cup of coffee. It looks light tan but that’s the crema.

I kept going to the home improvement store because it contained an Astro which seemed like the Japanese version of Harbor Freight. I didn’t really see anything I wanted so went back to the “regular” section and asked about Mitsutoyo calipers. I’ve been looking for them for a couple of years since I heard the ones on Amazon US can be fakes. I guess it’s a specialty item and they only suggested I go to SE Osaka (an hour away) to look for them.

I still had time to kill so I headed towards Hankyu Nishinomiya-kitaguchi station and the Nishinomiya Gardens shopping mall. This time a Hankyu train station was right in front of me so I just got on for one stop.

After shopping around “Gardens” and finding a Zento Signature pen(!) I headed towards my cousin’s. Or so I thought. I was going in the wrong direction and found a Hard-Off/Hobby-Off. I was still early so I checked out the used stuff. I like older computers so it was fun poking around. They have lots of other stuff too: cameras, musical instruments, anime figurines, etc. I also used their bathroom and it had a Washlet that was better than most of the hotels I’ve stayed in.

I finally made it to my cousin’s and saw three of the four who live in the area. One is slightly further away so he wasn’t there. I had dinner with my eldest cousin and she made lots of veggie-based dishes, knowing that I’m mostly eating out and not getting enough veggies. Sorry, no pictures.

I finally made it back to Osaka station and bought a couple things at Yodobashi Camera. Pretty boring, mostly a nicer USB cable than the ¥200 one I bought a few years ago at CanDo. I bought several that year and they’re pretty iffy.

I also bought a double cream puff because you are what you eat. No drinks picture today.

I should’ve known better. The cream puff custard was fine but the pastry was soggy. Oh well. What do you expect from a combini dessert?

I started off the day with a pretty good breakfast at the hotel. I like Wakayama. It’s really a suburb of Osaka but it’s a country suburb. The water (for fishing) is much cleaner and my buddy Moriwaki said it has the cheapest gas prices in Japan. Good thing, since you kind of need a car here.

I also got some more because, well, why not. I told myself the yogurt was good for me. The coffee was just OK.

The view at breakfast wasn’t bad either. No more miscreants over by the Lawson. (Sorry, it wasn’t a Family Mart like I said the day before.)

I discovered something else odd about the hotel. The sixth floor lobby looked much newer and when I left if I found out it’s a capsule hotel. I saw a picture and the beds in the photos looked really nice but capsule hotels are capsule hotels.

The fastest train takes less than an hour to Osaka Station and every seat is reserved. I’ve found that the slow trains really aren’t that much slower but then you have to stop at every station and maybe even sit sideways like in a subway. This is much easier.

After dropping my bags off I decided to head out and explore Nakatsu, which someone on the intarwebs said was interesting. The first thing I saw was a long line at Diamond Biriyani. Then I asked one of the locals who was cleaning his store if there was a shopping street. He actually stopped and walked me around the corner to point out where to go.

It kind of looked like an abandoned building. I saw one bread shop, a used record store that was just cardboard boxes at the side of the alley, and I think one coffee shop. I did meet some nice guys from Utah on the other end of the street. They rented some bicycles and were just stopping to buy some drinks from the vending machine.

I decided to go to Juso, which is either one stop on the Hankyu line, or a long walk across a bridge.

I couldn’t figure out how to get to the station (I had to cross all those lanes of traffic and then find the station entrance) so I just walked.

The first shopping street I found was the wrong one. You probably can’t zoom in and see it but it was seedy. All girls bars and “virgin” this and “sexy” that. When I worked in the suburbs of Osaka, the one thing people went to Juso for was the only topless bar we knew of. I never went.

Anyway, the next street over was the normal shopping street.

The TabiEats guys came here (you should watch their YouTube videos if you haven’t been watching them already) and I ate some of the things they did. First a custard malasada. One of the best doughnuts I’ve had in Japan or in the US.

Then some nice big pieces of karaage chicken from a stand that just sold chicken.

And then melon pan, one of my favorites. (That’s pan like the Portuguese word for bread.) They said the popular ones were the plain and the almond but they were out of the almond. They also had some of the plain straight out of the oven! I think this compares to the melon pan I got in Tokyo from the store next to Sensoji where they say they invented melon pan.

Then I asked Google where to get coffee. I went to a shop with a good rating and I thought it was odd that there were so many Southeast Asian customers. When I saw the menu I realized it was a Vietnamese coffee shop! Their new drink was a French Lemon Coffee and it was great.

I headed back to Umeda and killed a bit of time looking at Grand Seiko watches and cheap pens before checking into the hotel.

I didn’t realize Marriott had purchased the Sheraton chain. This place creeps me out a little because of that. I remember reading all the complaints about how the Bonvoy points were going to be useless too. When I checked for an Ethernet cable in the room, I found a New Testament and a Book of Mormon. When I used the toilet, the bathroom door was so close that I hit my head on the handle. Other than that it’s clean and maybe quieter than the older Hankyu Annex we usually stay in. It just kinda gives me weird vibes. Oh, and many hotels in Japan have cardkey access to use the elevator but here the card key selects your floor for you. No visiting friends on other floors or going to the ice machine, vending machine, or laundry room on other floors. They probably don’t even have those things. Like I said, weird vibes.

I headed off to find dinner and went to the Hankyu underground right nearby. I picked an older kushiyaki/yakitori restaurant and got the kushiyaki teishoku. Other than the chicken liver (which I ate) it was great. I’m not a big liver fan.

Then it was across the street to the Uniqlo. On the way I saw an idol group. Or a bunch of dudes dressed up like an idol group. I have no idea. Earlier I saw “train idols” signing train things at the bookstore. Japan is weird sometimes.

Anyway, after buying a couple of pairs of stretchy slacks and spending ¥15,000 in various stores, I was given four tokens to try to win a keychain. I ended up with a single hard candy. This is why I don’t gamble. I can’t even find it to take a picture.

So the final picture is of the obligatory Wilkinson/Pocari Sweat combo. 

Oh and my sister sent me on a quest for a FamilyMart striped shirt. I went to a dozen FamilyMarts before I finally found one! And the FamilyMart by the hotel has them too! (As well as several different flavors of Wilkinson, Grape, Grapefruit, Lemon, and plain.)

I guess I’m about halfway through my trip.

Let’s see if this picture from my window works any better. I stitched together several images using the “DoubleTake” app by Henrik Dalgaard. I haven’t used it in years. Looks a bit, uh, grey.

This was another adventure day, mostly because Google maps isn’t good with Japanese ferry lines. I hoped I was going to make it from the train to the bus to the ferry with no problems (and I did). First was getting out a little early to get a morning set on the way to the train. I misread the options and Komeda Coffee didn’t have that much on the menu but it’s all I had time for. It’s just coffee and toast or a roll with a very small side. I added a salad.

I got a reserved seat on the train which I really didn’t need to do. I think there were three of us who were in the reserved seats. Not too bad but they did say once we left the Takamatsu area the Suica/IC card wouldn’t work on the train.

I got to Tokushima station, which I recognized and got my EkiTag checkin. I forgot to do it in Takamatsu. Oh well. It was hard to find and I had to ask two different people.

I’ve been to Tokushima station a couple of times before so I had an idea of which bus to take. I don’t think I’ve ever taken it in this direction before and while the announcement on the train said the trains didn’t take the train company IC card, the buses did.

I made it to the ferry in plenty of time and I had gotten a reserved seat, another reserved seat I didn’t really need. There’s no view from the reserved seat and there’s a much better first-come, first-served office spot but at least the chair was comfy. I ate my mini-omusubi with a mini-Coke and fell asleep for a bit.

I don’t have any pictures of the ferry because it’s really pretty utilitarian and hard to get a good angle of the ship. I guess before the Awajishima bridge was built this was the only way to get from the Osaka area to Shikoku and now it’s not used as often and is a bit beat up. I got off in the wrong direction too. My old work buddy Moriwaki and his wife were waiting for me.

First he took me to the ramen place that the locals go to. He said the guide books all tell you to go to another place but I’d actually been to this ramen restaurant. In Wakayama athey call it chukasoba, which is the old way of referring to ramen. I also had the sushi that’s just sitting on the counter. It’s pickled mackerel so it doesn’t spoil. Yes, I forgot to take a picture before I started eating. If you look a few years back you can probably see the same bowl of ramen. I may have even forgotten to take a picture last time as well.

Then they took me to a seaside area with some interesting geological features. (See how I’m avoiding trying to name the features? I don’t know what they’re called. Wait, I looked it up and it says “limestone cliffs” and “crystal blue waters”.)

Then we went to Yuasa to see where Japanese soy sauce originated. (Yeah, there’s a bit of an argument about where Japanese soy sauce originated but this is in Kansai so I’m sticking with this story.) We got to tour some museums and had some soy sauce flavored gelato.

We had some more time before dinnertime so they took me to their fishing spot. There were lots of little fish in the water that people were catching. Other guys were casting out much further for bigger fish. This is my fantasy, moving to Japan and fishing.

Dinner was at a nearby fried shrimp restaurant. The perspective isn’t really off, the shrimp were huge and tasty.

That’s about it. I’m staying at the sort-of-fancy Granvia Hotel. The lobby is great. The rug in my room needs cleaning, some of the letters on the wall upstairs are falling off, and the walls are as thin as I remember in every Granvia hotel. There was an outdoor lounge illumination (mainly just an outdoor lounge) which was nice. Oh, and check out this display in the lobby.

I got some more Pocari Sweat and Wilkinson Lemon so I don’t need to take another picture of it. The area around the FamilyMart was full of young miscreants (it is Saturday night after all) and I couldn’t understand the guy behind the register through his thick South Asian accent, but it was fine. The miscreants here weren’t all that scary. That’s it for today.

For the life of me I can’t keep the name of this place straight. Takamatsu. The other side of the island of Shikoku is Matsuyama. The ferry terminal is in Tokushima. The stop I met my cousin for lunch is Tokuyama.

The train noises last night were successfully masked by my Bose Earbuds. The thing I was most afraid of was the clattering of the wheels on the rails and they didn’t bother me at all. Phew.

Breakfast at the hotel was also pretty good. Surprisingly strong coffee out of the coffee machine too.

The view from my seat at breakfast was also pretty nice. I didn’t get a paroramic picture so here’s two shots.

I walked around a bit and checked out the old and dying shopping street we usually stay near. The only surprise was the newer spot I found for breakfast, a Greenberry chain restaurant, was gone!

Anyway, onto the train. Okayama Station confuses me. Take the wrong stairs or tunnel and you can end up at a dead end. Some of the platforms can have two different numbers, depending on how far you go up or down the same platform. Today I kept looking at the sign above the track where I thought my train was leaving and it had a different train number and Kochi instead of Takamatsu. I think I figured out that it was an arrival sign, which isn’t common, instead of a departure sign.

Oh, and a picture of my hotel from the train platform. You can see how I could hear all the train and platform noises.

I was excited to be in the double-decker car. Unfortunately I was on the lower deck. There are parts of the ride where all I could see was a concrete barrier and I think the upper deck could see over the barrier. I got to see parts of the inland sea during the bridge crossing so it wasn’t all bad. A short uneventful trip.

I got to Takamatsu station before lunch and got recommendations to see the castle grounds and a free observation deck, Also got a recommendation for a close shop for Sanuki udon, something the area is famous for. I got a small bowl of udon with a korokke and tempura chicken. Tempura chicken is not all that common!

Udon was always my favorite as a kid while my sister and my mom preferred ramen. I was quite happy.

After that it was off to see the castle ruins. The main tower is just a hole now.

There is a rebuilt castle turret.

There’s a beautiful garden (I talked to one of the gardeners) but I don’t take pictures of gardens because that’s all my dad would take pictures of. Gardens, trees, and plants. But I did sneak a picture of the nice gardener.

There’s also an old buidling that used to be the government offices for the castle. Lots of signs on the grounds say it’s not open and to do a walkthrough online. But it was open for a multinational art exhibit that’s only FOUR DAYS LONG! Running into something like that is heaven for Mr. I-don’t-plan-anything-in-advance. At the end there was a display from a local shrine and the young kid at the end was the head priest! There’s a festival tomorrow but I’m leaving in the morning, darn it.

So what did I go see next? The 2km long shopping street! The most Japanese government thing to do is to put a glass dome at the start of it.

But before I started down the long walk, I got a very good cup of pourover coffee.

I think there was some training going on so I saw things like pouring a little hot water out to make sure you don’t use less heated water in the spout, wetting the filter, making a divot in the middle of the grounds, spooning out any of the grounds that aren’t quite right, and then pouring the hot water around the outside of the grounds. It was the smoothest coffee I’ve had that was still slightly acidic.

The shopping street was impressive especially since most shopping streets in Japan are dying. I made it almost to the end of the covered arcade part before I started seeing permanently closed shutters. That end of the shopping street definitely needed renewal. The north end near the dome had Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Tiffany, and Coach stores. I wondered if everyone in Takamatsu was loaded. But not far away, the high-end brand name good were in the windows of pawn shops so there’s just a very fancy start to the street.

I got back to the hotel around 3pm and wanted to sit my fat ass down for a bit. When I first got here I remembered the name “Clement” and went to the hotel. It was fancy. Turns out there’s a fancy Clement Hotel, and a Clement Inn for peasants like me right next door. I think I knew that when I booked my hotel because the room charge was more expensive than I expected but when I got my room it was on the top floor, beyond a card-key access hallway door. The big public bath is on the top floor too, but it’s on the other side of the card-key door. I think this is as close to a club floor for peasants as you can get. I probably decided to go for the nicer peasant room rather than a cheaper fancy room when I reserved this one.

Here’s the view out my window. That’s not cropped very well. It’s a panoramic picture. I should stick to taking multiple pictures.

I left to go to the observatory floor mainly because I had forgotten about the recommendation. Very nice for free.

The Seto Inland Sea.

The port area.

Several shots of the town.

The only other time I’d came here I thought it was a small town that was mostly cemeteries. The road on the left side of this picture is the one we came in on. The grey area below the trees is all graveyard. Turns out that’s just a tiny part of the city.

Anyway, off to dinner. I kinda wanted to go to….

but I came to my senses. I talked to the Tourist Info people and they said the famous local dishes were the Sanuki udon and bone-in chicken. There’s hime (young) and oya (old) chicken and I couldn’t find any of the oya at restaurants with bone-in chicken in the station. I had to go to an izakaya where the sign said you had to have one drink. He said oolong tea counted (I forgot it’s a cheat code in Japan for people who don’t drink) and I got that and a giant kaizen (seafood) salad.

I’m pretty sure the salad was meant for more than one. Those are not small shrimp in there.

Guess who ate most of his chicken before taking a picture? Like Tokushima, you cut the chicken off the bone with scissors.

Almost everyone was ordering the “old” chicken and the young guy sitting next to me let me take a picture of his chicken when it came out so I could get a picture of one that hadn’t been half-eaten. It was delicious. Very peppery and cartiliginous but I do like chicken. I didn’t like the local chicken in Tokushima that much (kind of bland) but this was great. You cut it of of the bone using scissors and hope that you’re not clumsy enough to splatter the chicken fat all over yourself.

Anyway, that’s it except for the snack I bought. I get a Bokksu snack box from Japan every month and they often have “financier”s in them. I thought I should get a fresh one when I saw a shop selling them.

And for my sister, an obligatory Wilkinson pic.

The big bath was completely empty when I went. I could’ve seen more stuff but this day wasn’t bad at all.

Well, it was raining when I got up. I was hoping that I could order a cab at the last minute but that didn’t happen. The hotel called several companies and no dice. I pulled out my apps to see if they could help and Uber even charged me a couple of times. The first time I had to cancel because it mistakenly wanted to take me to the station garage. The second time it timed out after five minutes.

Fortunately, it was only a little windy and it was only a hard sprinkle. I took a different way back to the station so I stopped and asked a very scary looking guy for directions. He was incredibly nice. Anyway, I made it to the station without getting completely soaked.

I saw a Doutor and went for a morning set. Smoked salmon toast! It was quite good.

Then I got on a longer-than-expected train. I think Yumi said this one was rickety and would sway from side-to-side quite a bit but it was fine. The other one I took two days ago on the Sanin coast wasn’t a smooth ride at all.

I got to Okayama before noon and it was pouring. It was also freezing, probably 10°F lower than the previous day. I kept looking for the new hotel my sister recommended and I passed it twice before just getting a map from the Tourist Info desk. I left my bags and went looking for lunch.

The station restaurants were a zoo. Lots of people traveling today. I kept going to the underground shopping area and some of it is closed for construction and with my great timing the construction was completing in another month. I kept walking in the underground to the mall and it was much more relaxed. It’s Thursday after all. I went to a chain omurice restaurant and got one of the lunch specials hoping the mushrooms would be good for me. Paid extra for even more salmon in my salad.

Soon after I felt absolutely wrecked. I think it was the sudden change in temperature. Fortunately I”m very familiar with Okayama Station and I could just relax. Unfortunately my friend Yumi had to work late and I won’t see her on this trip. In any case I dragged myself around a bit and decided to have some coffee. I walked into a Starbucks but walked back out. Hoshino Coffee was crowded but it’s one of my favorites. They were surprised when I only ordered a coffee.

I went to buy train tickets for the next few legs of my trip and the ticket office was quite crowded. I had to take a number and there were about 40 people ahead of me in line. It didn’t actually take that long since no one showed up for a lot of the numbers.

After that I checked into the hotel and sat around for a bit. The hotel is pretty much inside the station which means it sounds like I’m in the station. I can hear all the trains, the whistles, and the platform announcements. Good thing I have the SleepBuds.

Oh, when I checked in I told them I had the app and they said I could either have late check out or a vitamin drink. I took the drink.

Later I got very lost in the underground and found places I hadn’t been before. I went to the electonics area to pick up a charger because dumbass left his charger in the last hotel. I called the hotel and they’re sending it to another hotel where I’m staying five days from now. Since it’s in the same chain, I didn’t have to tell them the address. I bought a cheap Elecom replacement charger. I thought about buying a better one but this one was only ¥2000-ish instead of almost ¥8000 for the official Apple one. It’s getting very hot but it is GaN and other GaN chargers I have also get hot. I had a long discussion with the young woman at the Apple counter before cheaping out, btw.

Then I went to look for a new gel pen and the guy was very chatty. He told me about the new hot models and how they’re only popular because they’re hard to get. And the people buying them up are middle school kids who saw them on YouTube. He said they’re not all that special and pretty much talked me out of buying the pens.

Then it was dinnertime. I went to the tonkatsu store in the mall rather than the one in the station. I’m not sure which one is better. It wasn’t the best but It was good.

I got the filet, regular order, plus the half-size potato salad. I love Japanese potato salad. I used to get the large order but I can’t eat as much as I used to. Lots of Chinese people, probably from Taiwan (I know because they were all speaking Chinese.)

I went to the “drug store” and just like before it was mostly Chinese people buying OTC drugs since they don’t trust the OTC drugs in their own country. Actually, I’m not sure where they were from since I don’t think China Chinese people are allowed to travel to Japan yet. I also went to the Lawson to get some Wilkinson, Pocari Sweat, and some dessert.

The dessert tasted fine but the texture was weird. It’s a custard tart and the bottom was a hard cookie. I couldn’t cut it with the plastic spoon they gave me so I had to pick it up and bite it. In any case it tasted good.

And that’s it for today. Tomorrow I make another attempt to cross the Seto Ohashi. Last time I tried to cross it going from Tokushima to Okayama but the train was canceled due to high winds. i had to take a bus across Awaji Island to Kobe and take the Shinkansen back to Okayama. Oh well, I like the adventure.

Well duh, I figured out why those guys were sleeping in the bath area. There’s a sauna and instead of doing the cold plunge they just return to human temperature by sitting in the chairs. I just went to the bath early and it’s so much nicer when there’s only three people in there.

I got up this morning happy that the only ambulance that went by was after 5am. There’s a hospital across the way (actually across a canal and a road) but it’s the view outside of my hotel room. I got up way fewer times last night. I figure I might finally be getting over my jet lag and also not overeating at a ryokan also helps me sleep.

I didn’t want to deal with a crowd at the big bath so I used the shower in my room. There’s a Seinfeld episode where Kramer replaces his showerhead with an elephant-washing nozzle. That’s kind of what it felt like. It was kind of shocking and also kind of nice.

I didn’t sign up for the breakfast plan so it was off to find a “morning set.” My sister found a couple of places online but they all opened at 9am, so I took it easy in my room for a while. The place she told me to try was good and looked like a nice date spot. I saw a kid and his grandma (I think) reading a review in a book of coffee shops. There’s a very nice view of the canal.

They could possibly roast their own beans as well.

I did the thing I’m always told not to do, which is ask for advice. They told me if I was hungry to get the gratin set. It’s hard to see from the photo but it was pretty big. The salad had an odd curry dressing (it seems like they really like their curry in Matsue) but the gratin was great. I figured I might not be walking around instead of looking for lunch so it was a good choice.

Then it was off to visit Izumo and the Izumo Grand Shrine. I timed things so well that I had to wait 45 minutes for the next train. That’s OK, I’m on vacation. I found two onsen foot baths that I didn’t want to take pictures of because both were in use! I didn’ t have a towel with me so I didn’t participate. It really is nice soaking your feet in the warm water but hard to use without something to dry your feet with.

Here’s the first train. This train should go all the way past the west end of Izumo to the sea. I had to transfer to get to Izumo Grand Shrine.

The transfer train didn’t look as nice.

I’ve been to Izumo Taisha before and it was much less crowded this time.

Being a Grand Shrine, there’s a lot of walking through the grounds.

This is the closest thing I have to a religion so I paid my respects. I’ve been here before, and Izumo Grand shrine is supposed to ensure marriage or relationships or something so it appears to work as well as any other religion for me.

There are many enshrined dieties here and the side shrines are bigger than most. This is one to the side. There was a wedding taking place and I know it’s rude to take pictures of them but they were just in my picture of the shrine.

 

I was told that I should see the seaside as well so I walked there. It’s a bit of a hike. Wouldn’t you know it, there’s a shrine there as well.

Not framed well but a huge tour group was arriving and I took a quick pic and got out of there. This particular picture spot is very popular so I was lucky to fit in a shot between other people.

There’s a bunch of toursity stores on the street from the train to the shrine and usually that means a lot of street food! I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t mobbed by schoolkids so I just got some warabi mochi. It was a little too sweet for me and I ate several before I remembered to take a picture.

I made it back to the train and thought I’d just missed the nonstop back to Matsue by ten minutes. I should learn how to tell time because I was actually 50 minutes early. I decided to head back out to the street to find something a little more savory to eat. I had to wait with a bunch of schoolgirls but I got a wagyu rice burger that was pretty good. The burger wasn’t very hot, but somehow the outside of it was so hot that it was hard to hold.

The train finally came and I was asleep for most of the ride.

It was later in the afternoon but I wanted to sit down and have a snack. I ended up back at my hotel before heading to the train station to buy the next day’s ticket. It was close to 4pm before I got some tea and a snack. I kept it light because I knew I was going to have an early dinner.

The problem with Matsue is that everything I found was an izakaya. I feel bad about going to a drinking place and only eating. I sorta feel bad about going to brewpubs back home just to eat too, but I’m sure I’m not the only one doing that. In any case, I found a soba restaurant next to the station and got the “Izumo” set.

Under the middle plate was the soba.

They eat soba in a different way here. You pour the tsuyu onto the soba and then pour the leftover tsuyu onto the second plate of soba. It made for a lighter taste. It was fine but nothing beats the soba Yumi took me to in the middle of nowhere in Okayama.

On the way back to the hotel I saw something else interesting happening in the canal. Crew shells! It’s really hard to ask about the crew shells because I don’t know any of the Japanese words relating to crew. I found out Shimane University isn’t too far away so I figure they have a boathouse nearby. It was like pulling teeth findiing out that little bit of info.

I got back early and got in the bath by 6:30pm-ish. It’s so much nicer when it’s not crowded. Plus I’m a boring old man and I’m not out late any more. I used to stay out late looking for local craft beers. In fact, I found a taproom in my wanderings today. Oh well. Time to relax. My legs are tired from all the walking and I’m only a week in!

Well, that was a day. I’m now in Matsue, which is quite a way from Hagi. Took me almost five hours to get here.

Got up, took another bath by myself in the smaller bath that could easily hold a dozen people or more at once. Got in a taxi at 8am and made it to the station at least 40 minutes early even with a stop at Family Mart (where I poured boiling hot coffee all over myself) it took less than 10 minutes to get here. The lids here are a little flimsier than I’m used to and instead of seating properly, it crushed and spilled all over my hand and the counter. The lady at the combini couldn’t’ve been nicer about it. Luckily, no burns.

East Hagi station was bigger and nicer but there still wasn’t much there. I couldn’t find an attendant and they didn’t have a video phone that connects to the JR call center. I asked a guy if I had to buy a ticket or use my Suica and he said he’d never taken the train from there. He was taking the bus. In fact, most people (and there were only like five) were taking the bus. He looked it up on his phone and read the instructions to me. Thank goodness because it was in harder Japanese than I’m used to reading.

I got on another rickety train but it wasn’t as loud as some of the others I’d been on lately. A pretty peaceful ride through the countryside. A bunch of people snuck on at the countryside stops. I never saw them get on but I’d see them get off and it kept surprising me. I really only noticed one European couple who had their suitcases blocking the aisle. (I think they’re at the hotel across the street from me right now.)

Oh, the stop at the combini was for my breakfast. I kept it light today.

I’m such a professional food blogger. This is not the only time today that I remembered to take a picture after I ate a bunch of my food.

The seas were pretty rough? Wavy? Man, I am not a sailor and can’t think of the proper term. Lots of waves. Even saw some surfers right after I changed trains in Masuda.

I’ve heard of Masuda because my drunk cousin’s kid’s husband is from Masuda and he wanted to move back. It’s not a small city, but I don’t think there’s a whole lot going on. There were several hotels by the train station. I had enough time between trains to go to the tourist information office to ask about local attractions. It seems like it’s all about one ancient poet and where he’d been. They said if I liked history I should come back.

I did see a real working phone booth!

And a sign for my sister that I’ll share with everyone. (Our favorite is always, “No smorking.”)

Eventually it was time to get on the “Express Train” for what seemed like three hours. My friend Yumi said it’s very rickety and rocks back and forth. She’s right! It hauled ass but we had a lot of ground to cover.

I got to Matsue, one of my favorite places, and I’m not liking the hotel or the hotel’s neighborhood but I was mostly just hangry. I tried to be fancy and picked a place that’s I thought was in a chain with the fancy spot we went to in Yamaguchi City two years ago. I came to find out Onyado Nono is just part of the Dormy Inn chain. The rooms are the same (nice, that’s not the problem) but the place is HUGE and chock full of foreigners. It takes forever to check in and out. Plus it has fake tatami mat flooring so you have to check your shoes at the door and walk around in your socks. Haven’t they heard of inside shoes or slippers? It’s just weird.

Anyway, I dropped off my bags and headed to the history museum. It wasn’t as impressive as the museums in Hagi, but whatever. Just one room of displays and it was mostly of the history of the castle. They have an impressive castle, one of the five “original” castles in Japan, and tons more tourists so I guess they’re winning?

I tried to find a late lunch but the combini was picked over and the first place I found was so close to the castle that it was overrun. The history museum I just complained about had a cafe, but they only served sweets. I ordered what I could get which was actually quite good.

Then I got nickeled and dimed by the Lafcadio Hearn house and the Lafcadio Hearn museum. (I did not pay for the samurai house.) His Japanese name is Koizumi Yakumo so I couldn’t ask anyone about him until I remembered the Japanese name. For some reason I kept forgetting the surname Koizumi. Anyway, there’s a separate fee for his house and for the museum. The house was a small Japanese house with a beautiful garden and made me wonder why I was getting fleeced. The museum told much more about the life of Lafcadio Hearn and was much more interesting to me. I kind of got emotional after seeing it all. He had a pretty impressive life and this was much more interesting than his houses in Kumamoto and Tokyo where I’ve been to in the past.

Anyway, back past the castle. Here’s an obligatory picture.

On the way back to the hotel I got a cold microwaved korokke (croquette) because I as still hungry. The flavor was great. The texture, well, it was a microwaved fried croquette after all.

In my room I found a bribe.

I sat in my room for a bit and headed out looking for dinner. This whole area is drinking establishments and I’ve quit drinking. Last time I had a beer it messed up my digestion for a week. I discussed this with my doctor a while ago and he said most of my meds have the side effect of stomach problems. Drinking doesn’t help so I’m not pushing it.

On my way out I saw a sign saying how nice it was today and the time of sunset. Then I remembered the sunset over Lake Shinji is supposed to be one of the top five sunsets in Japan. I asked at the desk if I could just go tomorrow but tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy. I had about 30 minutes to make it the the “ideal” spot which was supposed to be more than 30 minutes away on foot. I kept going, though, and I made it. I don’t walk as fast as I used to but I guess it’s faster than the hotel’s estimates. On the way I talked to a guy who seemed like a local and he was super nice. I remember people here being pretty friendly and that’s one of the reasons it’s one of my favorites.

It was worth seeing. Then it was another 25 minutes (by Google standards) back to the train station to look for food. Right before the station I saw a curry shop that was rated pretty highly so I stopped in. It was soupy and not that flavorful. Soup curry is not my favorite, but it was good.

Earlier I said I took another picture after I ate half of something and here it is. The salad was great. There’s also a bite out of the weirdly flavored karaage, maybe sansho pepper? It’s slightly bitter. Not my favorite but it was good.

Would I go again? Probably if someone else wanted to go.

On the way back I saw a guy night fishing and a couple of guys talking to him. One of the guys started back in the direction I was going so I asked him about night fishing and he said I should come back and try it myself. Another super-nice local. They were fishing for suzuki, Japanese sea bass.

I hit the combini on the way home. Not sure when I’ll drink the Wilkinson but buying it is a tradition.

Oh, and the bath area was the mess I expected. I walked in and a bald naked guy was pacing around, hitting himself with a towel. Several others napping, in the changing area and in the bath area. Another guy doing weird exercises in the water. I’ve never seen that anywhere else. Well I suppose there was that time that a group of loud old Korean dudes all got into a tiny jacuzzi with me. It was all weird but harmless. At least Japan and China are still beefing and it wasn’t like the time I went to Fukuoka and the bath was like riding in a Japanese subway with naked Chinese dudes.

When I got out of the bath the bald dude was outside housing a bunch of free popsicles. Remember how I said you were supposed to walk around in your socks? He was wearing the slippers out of his bathroom. Eww.

I didn’t sleep for crap and even had a couple of nightmares until I finally took some stomach medicine. The medicine is called Stomaze and is for overeating. At least that’s what they told me at the drug store near Granny Harajuku in Tokyo. It worked just fine.

I was thinking the last time I came it was about 47 years ago and my dad was about the age I am now. We also had crummy sleep and all he could do is complain. I had a great time and will likely come again but I did make some mistakes. I just noticed another one: I’m kind of sunburned. Oh well.

I had breakfast and I think my thinking was correct to only get two of the four meals offered. The breakfast was pretty big. This picture is before they brought out the miso soup and the rice.

Hagi itself seemed a little spread out so I started looking for rental bikes online. I only saw something called “Tricycle” on Google Maps so I ended up renting an old mama-chari from the hotel (the standard town bicycle). It was, like the hotel, a little old.

When I fnally saw a “Tricycle” late in the day I knew I’d made a mistake. The bike on the left is the hotel bicycle. The two on the right are “Tricycles”. Notice what they don’t have? A THIRD WHEEL. Notice what they do have? A BATTERY AND AN ELECTRIC MOTOR. I could’ve used that today. My legs are shot. I’m not used to pedaling, and I’m certainly not used to pedaling a bike made for munchkins. Oh, and I think the Tricycle rates are cheaper than what the hotel charges. But I am fat and needed the exercise.

The first thing I did was ride south across town to Hagi station to see about tickets for tomorrow. Turns out the Hagi station is unmanned and is mostly a railway museum. I found out when I got back to the hotel that the East Hagi train station is the main train station. I was right by East Hagi station when I visited Shoin Jinja but didn’t go.

OK, next ride is back to the middle of town to the Meirin Center, where they moved the tourist information from Hagi station. Meirin is an old school building where the children of the lord’s retainers (i.e. the kids of the rich and powerful) were educated. Eventually it was converted to an elementary school and now it’s a museum. It’s a nice museum with history of the school as well as a display of the local geopark.

The next stop was Shoin Jinja. My das was kind of obsessed with Yoshida Shoin. He is known as the start of a small group of influential young people who were important in the Meiji Restoration. When Commodore Perry arrived to force open the Japanese borders, Yoshida Shoin tried to sneak onto the ship. He was rebuffed and then imprisoned by the shogunate but studied and taught while in prison. He was placed under house arrest where he continued to teach. Evenutally he was executed at the young age of 30. His students went on to become the first Prime Minister and start what became the University of Tokyo’s engineering school and start the Japan Mint, AMONGST OTHER THINGS. Kind of a badass who inspired more badasses. And he’s from Hagi.

Anyway, I went across town to the east to go to Shoin Jinja. They also have his house where he was under house arrest and the school that he moved from his uncle’s house. There’s also a museum that has his writings including those while he was in prison and before he was executed. He was a very eloquent man.

I remembered it was a slog to get to his gravesite and the site of the house where he was born but obviously I’ve got nothing better to do and what else was there to do?

Part of the reason it’s a slog is because it’s uphill. And it gets steep. I think we argued with my dad about this last time we were here. Well, I went up. Rode part of the way to his uncle’s house where the schoolhouse was originally located. The schoolhouse is the size of a large garden shed.

From there it got so steep that I had to push the bike up the hill. On the way there’s a “golf” area where old people play golf with giant balls and what look to be croquet mallets. I stopped and asked where the grave was and the guy pointed to the area next to the recreation field.

Here’s the view from the grave area.

I was quite a way up. No wonder I feel like it was leg day at the gym. Here’s his grave as well as the graves of some of his followers.

There’s also a monument next to it that I think I remember so I bet we did slog up this damn hill with my dad.

It was way worse last time because we were here in the summer.

TIme to go west across town to the history museum. When I got close I passed a coffee roaster but the aroma hit when I got a half-block away so I had to go back. I had a a very good cup of coffee and a tasty Hagi orange pastry. I forgot to take a picture of those but here’s one of the store.

And of the roaster.

And of the pastries. I was told people come and buy several and they told me which ones to eat right away and which ones you could freeze for later.

Also, this is kind of my sister’s thing, finding interesting cafes and such, and since I’m not taking any Wilkinson pictures today this’ll have to do.

The history museum was cool too. I’m learning Japanese history by seeing all the museums from the various prefectures and cities and Hagi and Yamaguchi Prefecture love being the heart of modern Japanese politics. They even had the “only display” of two oarfish, both in formalin and shown vertically. I’ve heard of oarfish and how rare they are so I was excited to actually see them.

One of the things I learned about is the castle town area right by the hotel. Although the Meiji government tore down most of the castles (maybe all of them?) the museum said there were some walls left. As I was taking the narrow neighborhood streets back to the hotel, I actually found some of them.

Parts of the castle are just parts of people’s houses now, and only a block from my hotel.

Anyway, I got back to the hotel about the time it started sprinkling. I’m not sure if it’s raining now or not since it’s dark out. Google says it’s raining but it’s been saying that all day. And most of the day it was beautiful out.

I had dinner at the hotel and I expected it to be a lot of food. It was. Fortunately, it wasn’t as much as the ryokan. Here it comes:

There were only two beef bites in this dish but it was so good. And it was so rich that you wouldn’t want much more.

Did you see the fugu? Pork, beef, and fish. So good. 

Tomorrow I have a five hour train ride to the next stop. At least I hope it’s only five hours. I take a local train for a ways and get on a Super Express. But there’s a notice online that says that due to “issues” “some” of the Super Express trains are canceled. It’s a big warning that’s very vague. I’ll let you know when I find out.

I ate too much last night. I am eating less in general and I figure it’s partly because I’m getting old, and partly because I don’t need to stress-eat any more. One of the “old guys” I have coffee with said something like every week at work is another year off your life. I haven’t seen any scientific basis for that but it sounds good.

Anyway, back to my overeating, I generally have been making bad life choices and now that I’m taking my meds with dinner with a lot of water, I have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It doesn’t help that my blood pressure meds contain a diuretic. Last night when I got up my stomach felt kind of funny and I was pretty sure it was because I ate too much. I was hoping against hope that the breakfast wouldn’t be that large. I knew that it would likely be pretty large.

I knew I could probably force myself to finish that but then the kept bringing out more plates. Rice gruel and the miso soup I was expecting.

But then fish and eggs.

I finished most of it and declined any additional rice. Fortunately the Pepto Bismol I brought helped.

The lady who drove me to the train station told me she moved to Karatsu from Nagoya because she loves fishing. And Karatsu has everything she needs (supermarkets, doctors, etc) and if she needs to go to a big town then Fukuoka is only an hour away by train or car. Now Karatsu is on the (fantasy) list of places I could move to.

I left a little early and took two different trains to Hakata station. It was kind of an adventure, taking one rickety old train local train and then transferring to another when I got closer to Fukuoka. The second train was one of those weird train lines that converted into a subway. It confused me enough that I asked the station attendant if I needed to pay extra (I didn’t).

I forgot how crowded Fukuoka is and that’s with no Chinese tourists. It didn’t help that it’s Sunday. The train platform itself wasn’t that bad. I took a shinkansen to Tokuyama station where I had lunch with my cousin and her husband. Tokuyama is really a smaller town and even with a shinkansen station there’s not much to do. The first restaurant we tried to go to was missing (probably closed during the pandemic) but they had a backup restaurant we went to. I got the lightest meal on the menu.

My cousin got chirashizushi.

My cousin’s husband got a slightly fancier sushi plate than I did but he ate a bunch of it before I could take a picture.

Then I got on a local train back to Shin-Yamaguchi station, backtracking a bit. From there I got on a bus to Hagi.

I’m not too sure about Hagi. I’m here for two nights and I’m at a “resort hotel”. I guess Hagi’s dropped in popularity and the taxi driver pointed out a big hotel that they converted into an assisted living facilty for the elderly. There aren’t as many hotels here.

I picked the resort hotel because the last time I was here (when I was a teenager) most of the hotels were huge halls set up for large groups to have raucous parties and we didn’t sleep very well. I’m guessing that it’s not like that any more. The hotel web page said there was a Joyfull family restaurant near the hotel but it’s at least a 20 minute walk. On the way I saw a local Italian restaurant so I went there instead.

It was fine. It was boiling hot inside, they played loud Beatles music (I’m not a fan), and the food was OK. At least it was interesting. I got a tandoori chicken salad. The greens were still a little wet and the chicken was chilled.

I got a spaghetti doria. I think doria are a Japanese thing. They’re usually rice on the bottom with cheesy cream sauce on top and then baked in the oven. This one had meat sauce mixed in wit the cheese and spaghetti instead of rice. I guess the only minus is that it could’ve used a little more salt.

They were nice and I shouldn’t really complain. It was fine. I’ve just been getting great food so far.

Anyway, the resort hotel is one of those giant onsen hotels. Somehow I selected a Japanese room which I suppose is good since I sleep quite well with a futon on a tatami floor. The room also has a very nice bathroom area and a separate toilet and there are two big baths, one that’s outside. The inside bath area was huge and I was the only one there. They also had the option for dinner and breakfast and I only got one breakfast and one dinner so I don’t know what the food is like yet. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

I only got the two meals because I knew the ryokan would have too much food and I was afraid this place might be the same. I do need to fit into a plane seat in a couple of weeks.