Still having a rather tricky time with blog posting I just completely deleted a beautiful graphic layout - so this is what you now have....pictures first and some of the writing I saved!
I completely forgot to include our flying visit to Kobe, on the way to Gamagori. Kobe was the site of a massive earthquake in 1995 and we visited the museum which chronicled it - first very graphically with actual film footage of the collapsing city complete with sound effects. What came over from the displays, apart from many facts ( like nearly 7000 killed and 43000 injured) was the long lasting effect on the community - for the good, mostly. People helped each other so much at the time and that has been carried forward in initiatives to strengthen community and especially to improve the potential isolation of the elderly. Volunteering initiatives multiplied greatly...
So, Thursday night we chose our rooms, in the family guesthouse in Gamagori, spread out our futons and slept well on our tatami mats. Friday was a day of relaxing and just what we all needed. Not a lot was done apart from a short walk to the local convenience store to provision.
Friday night saw the 5 of us gathered together; Kouichi got home from work early at 4 and we looked forward to Masae, his Mum and Achiko, his older sister, and her children, Saimon, Shion and Seirin to arriving with -and for - supper!
Just before they all arrived we were able to see the final championship round of sumo wrestling on the TV - which we'd followed on our travels. Totally to everyone's surprise, the hot favourite - a Mongolian super hero called Hakuho was knocked out by another compatriot, Teru No Fuji. He was so happy to win against all expectations that he kept screwing his eyes up manfully to stem the tears - but he lost that fight!
Celebratory family gatherings are the same the world over...the children careering about and being indulged by all; lots of laughter; plenty of good things to drink (including a superior sake) and eat. We rolled our own sushi choosing fillings of fresh raw tuna, cooked shrimp, tuna mayo, salmon crumbs, aojiso - a delicious fresh green leaf (perilla) and kaiware - which is rather like the mustard sprout of good old mustard and cress. There was more...but these were my favourites, laid on a liberal spreading of beautiful white, clumped sushi rice and folded up into a cone of nori seaweed wrap. Yum. There were clams in miso soup and also in a succulent sauce with fine green leeks.
The most moreish part of the feast was Masae's delicious slow cooked pork - made with soya sauce, vinegar, sugar, mirin and sake.
When we could eat no more savouries we had sweet Gamagori mikan- the local oranges which are flavour packed satsuma like fruit. And Lou produced the box of yatsuhashi - the milky stuffed mochi sweets they'd bought in Kyoto. Sheer indulgence.
About this time we produced our gifts for the family - mixtures of chocolates, oatcakes, chutney, lemon curd, marmalade and smellies. They all went down very well indeed!
Masae proceeded to produce more sweets; Sakura (cherry blossom) flavoured rice wrapped in a preserved cherry tree leaf. Then she unwrapped some very fine tea bowls and made us superior macha (green tea) -the colour of spring grass - in the traditional way using powder and boiled water combined with a delicate bamboo whisk. This frothy, chlorophyll packed drink was a touch bitter to our palates but Shion drained hers with real enjoyment....Kouichi said the shogun drank it before battle to calm their spirits. It certainly calmed ours for we all had the most solid night's sleep since arriving.
The plan on Saturday was to drive to Nagoya to meet up with Lou's friend Emma from schooldays, and her fiancé, Wim, by 12 noon. There was another slight transport delay however.....the borrowed minivan decided to stop at the service station when we did - but then not go again...
We were very impressed by Kouichi's command of the situation as he got a mechanic/ tow truck and replacement vehicle sorted.
Whilst we waited I opened up my email to see a reflection had arrived from the Ignatian Spirituality Website;
"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.”
A good adage....and we just enjoyed hanging around at the service station, watching local vendors selling super fresh veg, plants and bonsai; Roger was plugged into his ipad practising his karaoke numbers - for that is what was planned for the evening ( and he was taking it very seriously!)
So with only an hour's delay we were on the road again - this time in a 10 seater minivan with lots of room to relax in.
In the afternoon we visited Nagoya castle in the sunshine and warmth. The blossom is beginning to burst and there were some festivities going on with lots of people dressed up.
So, an evening feast of snacks with a few drinks at an izikaya got us primed for the karaoke and I can report that Roger's homework paid off; he did an impressive Louis Armstrong impersonation duetting with Louise on Its a Wonderful World. I think Kate and I were maybe overconfident in our ability to busk it - but we had fun and I think our Everly Brothers Trio with Rog was the highlight - we even injected some harmonies into Bye Bye Love! We had chosen the private room option in a place called Big Echo...so at least we only made fools of ourselves in front of the 8 of us ( Louise's teaching colleague Eileen joined us, along with Emma and Wim, and she had a great line in Disney songs)
Today is Sunday...and like yesterday, it has dawned sunny...so who knows what today brings.......
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