Solo shopping day.
My DIL was still feeling poorly, so I decided this would be a good day to take the hike up to the department store again to finish my Christmas/souvenir shopping. It is an easy walk - no more than a mile - straight down their street and straight back so I had no concern about getting lost. I managed to get there, buy what I wanted and get home without incident.
On the way home I went over an overpass and saw these posts. I think maybe they are to keep cars from parking on the sides of the bridge? They were the entire length of the bridge, and it wasn't until I got to the other side that I realized they had these lovely bronzes on them. I had to take out my camera and walk back until I had one of each in my photo collection.
My son brought home a feast picked up from small shops on his way home from the train station. Delicious sushis and rolls, chicken sticks (breast meat, dark meat, heart, liver and skin) and - the most interesting - takoyaki.
My son described the process to create this delicious treat (one of his favorites). The chef puts a little bit of batter - like a pancake batter - into the bottom of a pan that looks kind of like a round-bottomed muffin pan. He rotates the pan until the batter starts to cook into a coating on the sides of the pan. Then he adds a piece of octopus (tako) to the pan. As the batter continues to cook, the chef "rolls" the battered octopus into a ball. When it's done you have this kind of a dumpling with a piece of octopus inside. Ours was served in a bamboo boat like shown in this photo, but without the red sauce. Instead ours had Japanese mayonaisse. Fish flakes finish off as garnish. I love octopus and enjoyed this treat very much, although next visit I want to try one without the mayo and fish flakes; the flavors were a little distracting.
After dinner my DIL took over KP duty so my son, grandson and I could spend some time together. One of my favorite memories from this trip will be the joy of watching my son play with his son. They enjoy each other so much! It was on this evening that the baby was happily successful at sticking out his tongue on prompt. We could tell he not only knew what he was doing, he was proud of his little self for the accomplishment!
I'm so proud of my son and my daughter-in-law. They are wonderful parents and it's a joy to watch the three of them function as a family.
P.S. On my way home from the department store I had picked up more ice cream treats. They were even more delicious enjoyed while awake.
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