SHIZUOKA, SHABU SHABU and SHOPPING

WE'RE BACK after two great days with sayaka:s family in shizuoka. takashi and michiko are lovely and after the first day of takashi taking us out on the lake, yesterday we just had a chill out morning at home looking at old photos, having a  long brekky, doing not too much.  we took them out to lunch and we had a shabu shabu meal, description below.  just great.

the house is in a pretty
normal suburb, small winding streets with mountain views
at the end. about 3 hours drive from osaka

as always - powerlines in asia are a work of art

when i did this edition of prints years ago i never imagined one of them would end up in a japanese home. the family says this woman looks like sayaka to them.   a premonition perhaps . . .

poor cal - bearing this indignity with cool indifference

this beautiful wall hanging has been made by michiko. 

it's applique and cutwork, not unlike the technique of

 textiles form laos.about 1.20 x 50 cm, it hangs 

on the wall in the lounge room.

shabu shabu 

しゃぶしゃぶ

food is cooked at the table in these beautiful copper and steel blows - two different cooking broths and many others to dip into. stacked traysof finely shaved beef and portk are brought to the table and you dip and cook it for about 2 seconds.  side dishes of spring onions, bok chou, oyster mushrooms etc are 'help yourself' as is the soft serve ice-cream. i had iced black coffee and icecream for dessert.  but i made a terrible mess of the soft serve, swirled it right out of the glass and down the side, very unattractive. our lovely waiter made me another one.

cal, advertising dad's shop in coordinating colours

shopping

we whiled away the afternoon wandering around a humungous shopping centre, i could do this all day, such as array of stuff - japanese shopping is a real treat. shop displays are often strange to my eyes, and the range of things to buy is endless.

no comment

kewpies by the bucketload

takashi knew right where to find the massage chairs, you can try them out for a max of 15 minutes but i think a couple of old guys were living in that department. we all had a go, they were amazing

we drove straight home from the shopping complex and stopped at lake hamamoto to look at the view before leaving. this is the same lake we were on yesterday - it looked so peaceful last night - like a japanese woodblock print.

LOVERS SANCTUARY   this section of the park on the lake was dedicated to young love.  couples lock a padlock onto the fence with a message about their love, this fence  goes on and on just covered in locks. i:ve seen the beginning of this happening at echo point in the blue mountains, put there by japanese tourists.

under the lovers bell

more characters   below, a chicken, i:m reliably informed :0|

 i like this funny sign for dog owners     

on the left is boy and bear, well known characters

 the one above looks like cal :0)

on the right - eel man, an eel on his head and don:t ask about the piano skirt - i have no idea

eels are really big in shizuoka district, a local delicacy, caught in the area.

the little man below is also an eel man, eel and sweet potato treats apparently