At Futaara at night

Shopping in Tochigi City

a swanky new pair of sandals:

And an assortment of various household goods:

and more:

This is for Show Me Japan.

Daiya River

Driving to work

Red light at Takiyacho

Fountain

Sunset

Or power lines. Your pick.

Waiting

Where is he???

Cotton Candy

Yummy Yummy!

As seen at Otariya festival.

Felis Cat Cafe revisited

Yesterday we went to a cat cafe. Though the actual name of the place is Felis Ristorante and Cat Lounge, we normally refer to it as "neko cafe". This one is not part of any neko cafe chain, it's an independent establishment and a cat sanctuary.

And this is what it is:

The cat bar, hehehe...

No photos, please!

Satisfied customers...

You can enjoy your meal surrounded by 30 cats...

Happiness lives here...

Or sleeps here... He just crawled under my coat and took a nap.


And here's a video:

This is my entry for the Show Me Japan meme. Click on the image below to see what other people are posting about Japan this weekend.

PS. First time we visited Felis was back in August 2009. Here's that blog post.

Yakisoba and karaage

(stir-fried soba noodles and fried chicken):

Yes, they will throw me into the fire...

Because that's what you do with old daruma dolls during Otariya.

Otariya mikoshi procession

on Orion Street where, thankfully, it wasn't snowing...

I don't belong?

says who?

Otariya 2011 - January edition

Here is the post we did about it last year - link.


And here is a video I put together from this year's event:

Yes Smoking

And how convenient - this cafe also has "kids seat"! Now when you roast your kid at least you can be sure that he/ she will be comfortably seated in a high chair.

Oh, the things we do for the safety and comfort of our children! And all of that without missing your daily dose of tar and lung cancer. Simply brilliant!


This is a Show Me Japan entry.

Omikuji

Udon

at my most favoritest udon resturant ever, somewhere in Ishibashi (Shimotsuke City).

Hand-made, thick, flavorful and yummy. Definitely not genteel sanuki style udon. This is pure Tochigi style.

Sainoko Lake

This is a Watery Wednesday entry.

View from Mt Kogashi

Banners at Tagefudoson

Tagefudoson is a temple complex.

At the supermarket

This is a post for all those who asked me to show more "daily life in Japan".
Enjoy!

Food shopping:

Cereal isles are pretty much the same all over the world, aren't they?

Not the section I normally frequent...

Because, honestly, I hardly ever go food shopping - my husband normally does it.

For me to visit a supermarket is such a rare event that I have to document visually.

Why don't I go food shopping more often?

I don't like shopping...

And why don't I like shopping?

Too many choices!!!

And when I have too many things to choose from, I can't choose at all.

So I just stand there like an idiot staring at the shelves...

And inevitably end up buying one of each, just in case...

So now you have it, a Japanese supermarket...

This is a Show Me Japan entry. To see more Japan-related photos, click on the badge below:

But where's the orange?

Or is this the "budget cut" version of kagami mochi?

Hanging up ema

Those little wooden tablets are called "ema".

Water dragon

As seen at Futaarayama shrine on New Year's Day.

This is a Watery Wednesday entry.

Lion at Takao Shrine

Matsugamine Catholic Church

This church is the largest (possibly in the world) building made of oya stone.

New Year's Day continued

Here are additional photos from our New Year's Day visit to the shrine.

My post from yesterday (along with a video) is here. And Mister's nighttime visit to a different shrine is here.

 There were a lot of people, and they all patiently waited for their turn to enter the shrine.

Once inside you prayed.

And gave a donation to the shrine. Yep, somebody threw a whole wallet. I wonder whether it was full or empty.

If you didn't have kids, you were more than welcome to bring your pets to pray with you. No, we didn't bring our cats. It was too cold.

And when your religious duty was fulfilled, you went back home and ate traditional New Year foods, like these ones:

Personally, I'm not a fan of osechi (that's what's shown above), and I almost choked to death on mochi in my soup.

Happy Year of the Rabbit to you!!!