Saturday 19 April 2008

Frollicking in Fukui

After a few train journeys through the countryside and lots of guidance from the ever so helpful train conductors, we arrived here in Fukui on Thursday. I've almost given up trying to read the signs - just ask.
I'm also becoming an expert in nodding with gratitude. I like the custom and it speaks volumes when you can't understand or utter a word of Japanese.

We just missed the Cherry Blossom festival but the trees are still heaving and dropping their petals.

Fukui a smallish but lively town situated on the West side of Japan. It's been raining a lot so we've been kicking back a bit, cycling, browsing shops (a massive Muji!), eating in some great restaurants and even having some wacky sticker photos taken in an enormous noisy pink booth shop, much adored by teenage girls here it seems. Ric only needed a wee bit of persuasion to go in. We haven't tried the arcades out yet- though we're fascinated how popular they are everywhere we go and how they always seem to be heaving with men, on their own!

I've been surprised how tiring doing not an awful lot can be, or perhaps I'm just not eating enough. Plus it's hard work and tedious searching for veggie food and I'm becoming more and more casual about what constitutes a meat free meal! There are only so many times I can mutter appreciatively about spinach, onion and poached egg noodles!

Much to the amazement of the locals, I've been running along the wide river that runs through it every morning. To be honest it's just been really good to have Ric's friend here to show us round and take us out to the bars and restaurants we would otherwise have missed or not dared go in to. We went to the ¥100 Store earlier (like our pound shops) - what an amazing collection of odds and sods including row upon row of tiny toys, sweets, stickers, bits of tat to 'bling' your phone with, bizarre kitchenware, cellulite reducing gadgets, mouth exercisers, etc. I bought Ric a laughing cat mustard pot for his birthday in there. Cheapskate? Moi?
I got myself some knee-high socks with toe gloves! I've been good at resisting other bits of junk.

This keyboard keeps jumping to Japanese characters...bear with me...

I experienced a hilarious if embarrassing cycling incident today. We thought we'd be smart and pump up the tyres on our borrowed ladies bikes- everyone rides them. Found a great little bike shop, run by an elderly couple, and they let us use their pumps (much better than English ones I think-more efficient). I evidently pumped too hard though and as I peddled off down the road, pleased with our success, the front tyre exploded making everyone in the street turn to look. What an utter imbecile! So then I had to push the damn thing back to the shop, Ric laughing all the way (he's been drinking far to much Boss coffee), where I was greeted with much laughter and pointing. The universal language of bikes prevailed. Felt a bit guilty letting an old man fix it but he was so eager to help. He had to replace the whole wheel! Ric will never let this one go. What would my Southwark Cyclists comrades say?!

I think I'm getting used to being on holiday now!

Off for some Karaoke action now to celebrate Ric's birthday.



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