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My friend Gil decided to come and visit while I was in Japan. He only came for 4 days, but it was fun. Here he is snoozing with Bogie, our host for these few days. We went to the Tsukiji Fish Market and got some fabulous fish. We stopped at Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple along the way.
The next day we took Gil to the Nissan Car Gallery. Here he is in a brand new Nissan Fairlady Z convertable.
We went to Sugamo open market. I love shopping in Japan.
I had the responsibility of keeping Gil "in line" the day before when we went to the fish market. Believe me this was no easy task. I insisted that I needed a break, and gave the job to Toshiko on this day. She was beside herself trying to keep him within view. He kept flitting around taking pictures, running here and there, being fasinated by everything. Geez.... so she finally put a scarf leash on him. Too bad we didn't have a collar handy.
We went to Naomi's parents shop, an Izaka-ya. They are a little restaurant near Shin-Kawasaki train station. It's called "Aozora" which means "Blue Sky". If you find yourself nearby, look them up. The food is excellent. Japan has the best food in the world. Food is not appreciated to this degree anywhere else in the world.
Naomi and her mom working behind the counter.
Mark and I at Aozora
Naomi brought Happy over for a visit. He's a cute little pug isn't he?
The day before I left for Japan, I visited the Koyama's. I was treated to teppan-yaki (grilled meat)... Mmmmm.. Yummy.
Koyama kids, Kaneko and Junko. Yoko, I missed you and Mu-chan! On my next visit, we'll plan to see you too.
Here is my "older brother" Shigeru. He is Lila's daddy. She is such a daddy's girl.
T-san, who I worked with 20 plus years ago when I worked at Flying Tigers in Chicago, came to see me off. We had fun reminiscing and talking about cars... he loves cars.
I've been home three days, and I miss Japan already. I miss the Japanese style "Ofuro" the hot baths. I miss the "washlets" the bidets.... they are found in department store bathrooms too. I even found one at a rest stop off the highway in Hokkaido. I miss the food.... I miss the stores where I found the fun Japanese things, like clothes and bags and other gifts.... but most of all, I miss all my friends already. It was a fabulous trip, having the best time with everyone. I can't wait to go back and bring Mike with me. I want to show him my other life... My Japanese life.