Slept OK but not enough. There were four of us in the room and according to the ENT, three of us snored. He might snore as well but no one else was officially checking. The one of us who was actually drinking had a CPAP but he took it off in the middle of the night and it started whirring like a a jet fan. His brother tried to wake him up and I saw him hitting his brother on the head. No response. I thought he might’ve died but since I’m not the doctor, I went back to sleep. Then, without the CPAP, the snoring was incredible. Fortunately the Bose SleepBuds worked pretty well! The worst part is that we only got about 6 hours before everyone got up and hit the onsen bath again.

The breakfast buffet had a lot of food and here’s what I grabbed. I did not get any dessert but I did have half of a waffle later on and a small bowl of Himi udon (thin udon which was better than I expected).

Then it was back to Mrs. Kawasaki’s for lunch. Here’s most of the haul from the Favoré grocery store and German bakery. There was a lot of bread!

On the way back we stopped by one of the “kid’s” houses (they’re all my age) and I took a picture of her husband’s kei truck. He has a standard plate. I guess if you pay extra you can get a non-yellow plate for a small truck. It’s one of the small trucks with an extended cab.

Most of the afternoon was on the highway. I checked into the Hotel Global View where I’ve stayed before. It’s pretty nice but a little odd.

After all that food I just wanted something simple. There’s a Mos Burger in the bus center attached to the train station! Excitement too. They brought me that ginger ale on a tray and they spilled the first one all over. Fortunately it only got a little bit on my shoes. They were very apologetic as I left. I was saying, “It happens.” What I meant is, “I usually spill it myself.”

Finally, here’s a picture of why we need an extra bag on the way back. Presents!

I stayed at Toyoko Inn. It’s suprisingly inexpensive and the rooms are large. The downsides are thin walls and a unit bath where you have one faucet for the sink and the tub with a cutover for the shower. You have to reach out of the shower to the sink to adjust the temperature. It’s really not a huge inconvenience. The thin walls aren’t a big deal since I travel with Bose SleepBuds.

They also have free breakfast! My friend said it was kind of sad, but every time I eat it I’m surprisingly full. And the miso soup was better than some of the restaurant miso soups I’ve had on this trip. I’m not sure why I don’t stay at Toyoko Inn any more. I guess I’m just being boojy.

It was raining on and off during the morning and I went out for a bit to kill some time. I asked if I could wait in the lobby and they said, “Sure! Have some coffee!” The coffee is bad but it’s a comfortable place to sit and wait and there’s WiFi. Once I saw the police in the lobby and from what I overheard I think an elderly woman who wasn’t staying at the hotel had the same idea and kept using the lobby as her personal waiting area. That’s really not very nice.

The younger Dr. Kawasaki came to get me and we went to his parents’ house for lunch. We were all going to the same onsen, though the mom was going with a different group who all worked at a hospital with the Dr. Kawasaki the father of Drs. Kawasaki. After his mom left for the onsen we killed some time in Takaoka City. We visited Zuiryuji Temple.

We also visited the Takaoka Daibustu, which is one of the three Great Buddhas of Japan (although that’s contested like a lot of history and “best of” lists.”

Anyway, the reason this is late is because I was at a onsen with friends. Hitting the big bath and eating and then sitting around talking nonsense is the fun of it all. I took pictures of everything but I’ll only make a few comments. Some appetizers.

Sashimi!

Stewed fish and vegetables.

A pork belly and beef dish that was cooking over Sterno for a while. The beef was good but the pork belly was great.

Some fried things.

A soupy dumpling.

Rice with miso soup and Japanese pickles (daikon, rakkyo, and I think cabbage with Shiso).

Finally kinako ice cream.

I was quite full but the younger Dr. Kawasaki went and got ramen as well in a restaurant that was actually closed. He’s the youngest of the four of us and drank the most.

We went and visited the group with Mrs. Kawasaki (the mom of the rest of my group). They were having a 60th birthday celebration for the head of a care facility, from what i could gather. There were doctors and nurses and other random people.

Then it was back to our room to talk nonsense until too late. I think we only got 6 hours of sleep but that’s for tomorrow’s entry.