Cakes and some English Mistakes

 Strawberry shortcake anybody? This was Sato's cake and I was able to grab a bite before it was all gone.

 This was a chocolate cake and it was really rich. I couldn't eat all of it, so Sato polished it off for me. No food goes to waste when I am with him!

 I saw this sign when we were walking into the cafe, but I didn't notice the sentence underneath Merry Christmas until we were on our way out.

 What does this mean? "The wonderfully throbbing Christmas"? Were they trying to describe the lighting during Christmas time or the feeling of Christmas time? I'm not sure what was going on here....

This was at a Thai restaurant called, Don Muang in Sakae. I was out to dinner with some co-workers when one of them noticed something funny about the description of the craB section. Apparently, the owner feels that their crab isn't the best. I would have to, vehemently, disagree though, the crab curry is excellent! lol We were debating whether we should let the people in the restaurant know, but we figured that there weren't that many English speakers who come to the restaurant. We decided that it would just be more embarrassing to have it pointed out to them. Besides, it's harmless don't you think?

Hitsumabushi Lunch

 I was given two choices for lunch on this day, the eel or.....

 seafood hitsumabushi. It was a very hard decision to make! They both looked soooooo good and smelled even better!

 In the end I went for the eel. I was having a craving for eel and this really hit the spot. Both options were over rice and very hot! They came in these metal pots that were sitting in wood boxes, for lack of a better explanation.

 This was an omiyage that Sato's brother and wife brought for all of us. This is salmon on sushi rice. It was pressed down onto the rice and then folded with these leaves and packed into a wooden box. It was really good that I had about 4 pieces including the eel hitsumabushi, although I couldn't finish all of the eel. I passed it on to Sato who polished it off for me.

 Sato had gone to Osaka for a conference and I told him to bring back a cake. He said that this cheesecake is well known in Osaka for being one of the best cheesecakes in Osaka. That gold sticker showed an award that this cheesecake had won this year.

Doesn't it look good? I have to say it was the best cheesecake that I have had so far in Japan. The next time Sato goes to Osaka I may have to ask him to bring this back again. lol

Domesticating a Stray kitten named Monta

 This little guy is Monta. Sato and I found him and he is really NOT used to humans. He may look all cute and cuddly, but he does not like people coming too close yet. Every morning he greets me with a "Shyaaaa" (hissing), so I just say Good Morning! Then he says "Shyaaaa" and I interpret that as to mean "I'm hungry. Where's my food?"

 Awww! So cute! He is getting used to me and now sleeps in any position. Before he would only sleep in a back corner where I couldn't see him. Now, he sleeps out in the open....and often like this or leaning against his teddy bear.

 He is very playful and sometimes if I am not playing with him he will play with his own tail. I will hear him making a lot of noise and it's him running around chasing after his tail. lol

 Monta loves this toy! He will jump in the air chasing after it. This is him in mid attack.

 This is Monta in flight after the toy. hahaha I know it's all blurry from his movements, but you can see his front paws by his face in this picture! I LOVE it!!

 This is him wondering how the toy could have possibly escaped from under his paws.

This is Monta pretending to not care, and that it didn't hurt his ego, that the toy escaped from his clutches. When he is playing sometimes he ends up landing on me and you can see this look on his face like, "oh that's close!" and run back into his kitty apartment, only to come right back out and do it all over again. He also does this thing where he smacks my foot to see if I will attack him. I try not to jump, but it's always a little surprising when he does it and I can't help the reaction. He is getting a little chubby from all the treats that I have been giving him, but the plus side is that he comes really close to me to get them. He also sits on my lap when I feed him.

An Ice Skating Rink In Nadya Park, Nagoya

Recently, this ice skating rink was set up in Nadya Park. I don't think it is open yet, but they are pretty much ready to open. The ice has formed and all they need is customers. I'm thinking it's either open now or will be really soon.

 They were testing the lighting on the ice rink. It would be dark like this and then it would be.....

 illuminated like this all of a sudden. I think the guy in the bottom left corner had something to do with the testing, but I don't know for sure.

I really like the lighting that they did on this ice skating rink. It has a winter-y feel to it and makes it feel more like it's officially the holiday season.

Higashiyama Zoo & Botanical Gardens

 The fall leaves at the zoo was very pretty. It was kind of the main reason why Sato and I decided to go to the zoo. The animals were secondary, lol.

 These are Black Swans. They aren't the prettiest looking animals, but they are interesting looking. I'm used to seeing white swans, not black ones.....I didn't even know there were black swans.

This is a Ezoshika, a Japanese deer. There were others in the house area and they had big antlers, but they were a little far away to take a good picture of.

 I just thought it was funny that the crows were taking a bath in the deer's drinking water. The crows were having a full on shower at one point.

 We tried to take a picture of the Tiger, but this was the best picture we could get of her. She was continuously walking back and forth in her cage. I guess she was a little agitated.

Here is some more pictures of the fall leaves at the zoo.

 These are pictures in the Botanical Gardens. Sato calls this one "Toge-toge kun" or spiky guy. lol
In other words we don't remember what it's official name is.

 We couldn't get a very good picture of this flower, but the size and color of the flower was amazing that I had to share. It was one of the prettiest flowers that I have seen since the Dahlias at Nabana No Sato.

This is our final picture of our adventure at the zoo. A picture of us in front of some red and pink flowers.

A Rabbit On A Leash

 This rabbit, named rabbi, was soooo cute and friendly! She was brought in by one of the students at the school that I work at for show and tell. She was very mellow and very good with kids! She tolerated being pet by so many little hands like a champ.

I just thought it was funny that the rabbit didn't mind being on a leash! I have never seen a rabbit being walked, but apparently it is possible. Too cute!

Girls In The Japanese Lolita Fashion*

 Here you can see their outfits. We (my friend who is in this picture on the right) aren't really sure what they were dressed up as, but I'm sure it is some kind of anime that we don't know of. They looked cute though!

Here I am with them. I couldn't bring myself to do the peace sign when I was taking the photo. lol They were really nice and took a picture with their own camera too. Maybe they wanted to show their friends, "hey look, we took a picture with some foreigners!" I wanted to show my friends "hey look at their costumes!". I can only assume that they wanted a picture for about the same reason as I did. Oh yeah, we were waiting in line for the ATM at the 7 eleven in Sakae when we took this picture.

* I was informed that this post title was incorrect. That I shouldn't call this a costume or that they are "dressed up" since it is a type of fashion in Japan, so I have changed the title of this post. Hopefully, it is an appropriate title. (^-^) If not, the comment box is available!