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| On our way to Akira and Masami's house in Nose (pronounced no-say) which is technically in Osaka prefecture. It's an hour train ride north then they picked us up in 2 cars. They were so generous this entire trip and welcomed Jen and I and Bob and Steven and Miki and Eric and Yumi. We stayed with them last time we visited Osaka and now we're going to their old school wooden Kominka house that they rennovated themselves during the pandemic so they could live and have a jazz venue. Akira is a jazz pianist and Masami a jazz flutist, what a pair! |
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| on our way for a grocery stop |
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| mmmm mmmm mwha Jen pray tell that rumor is so deliciously divine indeed |
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| We had no idea what was going on other than Akira asked me months ago and gave me 3 choices, ramen, fine japanese dining, and soba, so i picked soba. I had no idea it would be this beautiful countryside multi course dining experience on a perfect sunny day right out of a ghibli movie. The entire trip was like a ghibli movie |
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| the walls |
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| it was a delish drink and the soda water -ing of stuff like this and highballs is a great thing in Japan |
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| finally on to the main event the soba |
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| we were all stuffed but the meal continued, this was duck soba |
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| This table and this view could be yours. Every bite at this place was a banger, the view was amazing, there was a breeze, the sun, friends, it chokes me up now that i list it all out. How lucky are we. |
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| young persimmons |
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| They got an Akita puppy, his name is Ten |
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| Male Akitas can get up to 130lbs! |
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| says they have jazz concerts sometimes, sometimes guest musicians, the schedule, 500 yen, please feel free to come by |
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| we were all amazed to see the house and then continued oooh-ing and aahh-ing as we went inside and for the rest of the weekend. |
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| as we were marveling at their idillic house the farmer from next door brought over a huge crate of potatoes. Then 2 of their friends came over and were milling about like it was a big functioning happy community. Then the neighbors across the street said come over and take a look at our even older house |
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| the roof is zinc maybe? |
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| just look at the wood panel that makes up their front gate |
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| they pulled out a bunch of fans for all of use to choose which we wanted |
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| the kindness we were shown on this trip was moving. |
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| We went to Rurikei Onsen that's actually in Kyoto prefecture (and Akira and Masami's house is in Osaka prefecture). These pics are from the Onsen website since we obviously didn't take any photos inside. A lot of it was co-ed areas but there's big separate men's and women's sides. Nothing like getting naked with your pals and just newly met acquaintances |
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| the outdoor hot springs |
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| then we split up on the men's and women's sides. This is the men's outdoor area where dudes hang out naked to cool down |
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| its a whole resort so they have all kinds of facilities and amenities and experiences |
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| back home for takoyaki time, octopus batter ball street food from Osaka. Akira is from Osaka (i'm not sure about Masami). The front row has "weiners" because Bob somehow is allergic to shellfish now and somehow that includes octopus and squid. Bob said he was stuffed because they would make an entire row for him every new batch so he ate at least 15 of these hahahahha |
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| Then we walked down the road to see the fireflies and on the way back i was so sleepy and jet lagged i was falling asleep walking. We went up the ladder to the second story of the house and Akira kept handing down futon after futon and blanket after blanket for our entire party to sleep on downstairs. Thanks to my earplugs I didn't hear any snoring.... |
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