Back Again

Not that i really went anywhere... It`s just been a while since i posted. I`d like to claim that i was really busy or that i was called away on important (and top secret) business but that`s lies. I was just lazy. The heat has a lot to do with that but actually i`ve been faring better this year in the Japanese summer than in previous years. It seems that this year Ulala is the one suffering through heat exhaustion and general malaise. No, it`s not that bad. My mother tells me that my last post worried her. Of course, worrying is one of the primary functions of motherhood, but upon re-reading the post (something i try very hard to rarely do) it did seem a bit glum. In fact i am in a really good state. I don`t have enough fingers and toes to count all my blessings but the big ones are: a loving family, a loving fiancee, great friends, a good job that i enjoy with a decent paycheck, relatively good health, a nice apartment, and an intelligent mind with which to enjoy it all. Now that i`ve said that i`ll likely get hit by a bus or some such thing but *shrug*, that`s tomorrow and today is great.

Moving on, Ulala went to Nagoya this past weekend, which was a long weekend here in Japan. Monday was "Umi No Hi," which is variously translated as "Ocean Day" or "Marine Day" and has little to no significant cultural importance other than providing a much needed long weekend in July. Ulala had a wedding to attend (to which i was not invited! - another strange cultural difference: here in Japan you don`t bring dates to weddings unless they are specifically invited. weird.)

We took the train up on Saturday morning and then came back late on Monday night. Overall we had a good weekend in Japan`s third largest city. Saw some sights, ate some eel. I`ll let the pictures do the talking.

this thing is in the center of town and looks like it`s just waiting for an action movie bad guy to fall on it, impaled on his comeupins.

this dude is the public transport mascot. he`s a "Shachihoko" or something like that - the golden fish on the tops of the Japanese castles.

Nagoya Tower

bridge in central park



since when did warning signs start using Ebonics?

in case of... be prepared



one of the best things about Nagoya is the all day breakfast you can get at lots of little cafes. sweet.

the eel. Noriko, Ulala`s cousin, was a wonderful host and took us to this super famous eel restaurant where we had to wait for over an hour in line but it was worth it. I`m not normally a big fan of eel but summer is the season and this was apparently "the place" and i have to admit that it was fantastic! The servings are nice and large as well.

the view from our hotel room. it was a cheap but new (and ridiculously clean) business hotel.
I would recommend it to anyone on a budget.