On Friday night I met up with Antoine in Sannomiya. Actually, Kuniko was around Sannomiya that night as well, and we were able to drink together both before and after the main event, so that was kind of a bonus. Antoine and I hit some of our favorite spots – we started at the Belgian beer place, then had some Indian food at a lonely restaurant on a busy street, and next moved on to Achaho and finally the New York. All over the world, inside of Kobe.
At the end of the night we met up with Kuniko’s party nearby, and we met some of her coworkers. I met Kawano sensei for the first time, but the other members were regulars, and they seemed to be having a great time. We sat around drinking for a while before realizing that we were in danger of missing the last train, so we high tailed it out of there and got home after one a.m.
That made it tougher to get out of bed and head to Takinochaya (Waterfall Tea House) station in Tarumi. It was my first time at the station, and it was a very small one perched on the hill high above Tarumi. The view was beautiful, and even though it was pouring rain you could imagine what it must be like on a sunny day.
The reason we were here was to visit one of my students, Mr. Nakamura. He had invited us to his place for lunch, and so we met him and his daughter at the station, and together we walked to his place about 10 minutes from the station.
He lives with his wife and two kids in a small company sponsored apartment complex, and so we entered and set up shop in their living/dining room. His wife served plenty of food – some seafood au gratin, potato salad and fresh vegetables, and a Bulgarian stew that was really tasty. She turned out to be quite the world traveler when she was young, and her English was quite good still. The conversation was very nice, and we played with their kids and talked after eating. It was a very pleasant afternoon.
We headed home afterwards, and spent the rest of the weekend pretty much just at home. We did some shopping, got haircuts, and did other chores, but mainly it was recharge at home and stay out of the heat and humidity. A good weekend to recharge the batteries.
