2015-04-10: Killing Time Tastily

We bought tickets to Tsuwano. It's a 5 hour trip on the train. Hooray!

Rare Roast Beef? Yeah that train can wait!

We had a choice of rushing to grab a train or waiting 3 hrs for the next good one (I like to minimise transfers to minimise Mr Cockup coming to visit).

Tebasaki, sweet garlic sauce. About to leave Nagoya and don't know when I will get more.

And who checks the schedule when embarking on a journey with no actual knowledge of the potential success rate? Sick people, that's who!

Chicken Miso Katsu

Cultural Observations: Senpai / Kohai

In martial arts, especially here, there is a strong Senpai / Kohai tradition. This is where an older, more experienced student (Senpai) takes a younger one (Kohai) under their wing for guidance and so on. Obviously being a Japanese thing it is fundamentally more complex than that, loaded with rules and traditions and so on (I don't claim to really understand it).

Sambal Ooelek with the Cabbage. Unusually spicy for Japan.

At the various Izakaya where we while away our hours the relationship is often present amongst the office workers that come in.
The one we spent the 3 hrs waiting was a good example. Everyone in the place was male and part of a duo. Invariably one was older, dressed more conservatively and had his drink poured first by the Kohai.

Spring Onions are a huge vege here.

This appears in the TV ads as well. An awful lot of them have the usual "Guy buys product, it makes him great". In the Western world the viewer would know the guy became great because a Hot Chick would give him a salacious smile.

Ewa thinks I am great because I can entertain her on long train rides. 5 minutes of silly faces kills a lot of kilometres.

Here it is usually another guy smiling and indicating that the first guy has become a Better Person Through Consumption. It must play hell with westerners Gaydar.

Rating ?/10 (I don't see me fitting either role and Consumption is not why I am cool)

This was so good I am tempted to go back down to get a better quality pic. The girl with the yellow hair is happy and singing to her walkman. Then you notice that the blue guys are sad.

We arrived in Tsuwano around 2300 and the Ryokan guy came and grabbed us from the station.

Very Quiet but pretty. But very quiet and it is only 2300!

When we driving back to his place we said we were here for the Yabusame.

Sticks in the dark Spell Success!

Instead of saying "Oh that was last week / We don't do that anymore" or something similar he said he would take us to the course.
So, Success!