Sake and Shopping

My second full day in Japan consisted of relaxing and drinking sake. Although not much exciting happened in the morning, by early afternoon Zeb Sr. was ready to go to a town that has a sake brewery. The plan was to go to the small village of Sawai and drink sake at the cafe by the river.

Getting there was not a problem, and the train ride was just beautiful. It was amazingly green and lush compared to Tokyo! It was really quite a quaint town really. The problems started when we couldn't read the "closed" sign for the cafe; all we knew was that it was closed. It was time for a new plan!

We spent a good 15 minutes wandering around the nearby temple and forest before Zeb Sr. had come up with a new plan; sake from the convenience store by the sake brewery! It was a great plan! We even found a place to sit on some rocks down by the river! It was a wonderful experience! Between talking about jobs, the weather, family and colleges, a Japanese man even showed up to take samples of the water and wildlife of the river (at least as far as we could tell, that's what he was doing).

We were all in good spirits by the time we got on the train to head back to base. Once at base we finished the evening with pizza, beer, and water! All in all, it was a great day!

The next morning it was time to pack and get ready for a weekend in downtown Tokyo. Zeb's parents, Emily and Zeb Sr., were treating us to a good time on the town and a night of Beatles music, done by Japanese men.

On Friday we got on the road by about mid-day. The traffic wasn't too bad, but I can see how it might get to be horrible. The streets were tiny and there were a lot of cars. At least here they follow road rules. I'm interested to see if road rules are followed in Malaysia. After "taking the scenic route" to the hotel we dropped the car off at the hotel and caught the bus to Shibuya, home of the busiest crosswalk in the world and some of the most interesting shops too!

We had a good time just wandering the streets and looking into shops. I bought myself a pair of what I would call "sandal or thong" socks or not quite toe socks, but "big toe" socks. They're pretty funny. I have yet to wear them, but I'm sure I will soon.

I also noticed a lot of people passing out packets of tissues. Most of them had some type of ads on them and were passed out with little pamphlets as well. When I stepped up to one lady however, she wouldn't let me have any. I thought it was very strange for someone passing out things to stop passing them out to people who didn't look Asian. After buying a Japanese shirt at the "second hand" shop (which didn't look too much like a second hand shop) though I had better luck getting tissues. Actually the guy handing them out seemed quite keen to get rid of them!

While in the area of Shibuya, we also tried to go to the Energy Museum. We had heard there was a small nuclear reactor on display there. It was a shame that the museum was closed however. We think it had something to do with the fact that no one in Japan is very happy with the company that runs all of the nuclear reactor operations in Japan. Understandably so.

That evening we had dinner at an amazing Garlic restaurant! Zeb's parents have treated me so well! I can't even start to describe how thankful I am! They're great friends! It's been so much fun to be here with them!

After Skype-ing with my mom it was time for bed... it was a busy day the next day!

Warren, Zeb Sr., Zeb, and Emily!

Sake by the river!