Occidental College
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Today Was the Perfect Day
Blogger: Miranda Sieg
And here's why:
So Japanese are super into Western sweets, which I don't understand because Japanese deserts are the best thing ever, but there you have it. I guess they're just a sweet-loving culture. Anyway, so this morning I woke up to the sunniest, most beautiful day I've ever seen. It wasn't too hot either, nor むし (humid). My host mom had mentioned she wanted to go to a dessert place today, and told me the wait would be long as it is Golden Week, and today specifically is Children's Day. We drove for about an hour into the mountains. My neighborhood is fairly rural, but there is actually a downtown. Where we went makes my town look like a metropolis. I saw cows. In Japan. Anyway, so we had about an hour wait and visited some clothing stores across the street from the lovely building shown above, and went to get a traditional Japanese snack called Karinto.
So after that we went back to the restaurant. The building actually houses a pretty famous sweets and baked goods company, so people were buying anything from bread to soft-serve. We went into the restaurant part, which was all you can eat (for something like $15/16!). There wasn't much 'real food.' You could get salad with a small selection of toppings, or kare-raisu, or spaghetti and that's about it. What was truly remarkable, (of course) was the deserts! I can't believe I didn't take any pictures, but they had rows and rows of beautiful cakes laid out, it was amazing. I ate enough cake to last me for the year I think.
So, belatedly I should explain. My house is right on the route to a pretty famous zoo, so most Saturdays and some Sundays we get kind of blocked in. Add to that the effects of beautiful weather and free admission for kids (children's day), and you get some serious gridlock. Anyway, on the way back from cake a) my host sister fell asleep in the back she was so full, and b) my host parents didn't want to try getting into their driveway so they asked if I wanted to go to a matsuri (festival). Of course I said yes, and it was really awesome. The photos are below (sorry, don't remember how to make a slideshow ^.^;)
I don't have much to add other than that I'm doing good and looking forward to my own zoo trip tomorrow! Good luck with finals!