04-08-2006 (Part II)
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Like how Tokyo is just so big, and at times you feel a little like a trapped animal in some wierd cage of suits and buildings. Anyway, the mom then said that when she was in college she went to Tokyo for nursing school, she spent one month over there and then came back. She said she often recalled the wild "discos"- that was a little laugh- Hiromi kinda started teasing her about it... actually Hiromi didn't even know that her mom had been to Tokyo: へえ～初耳だよそれ(Hee, hatsu mimi da yo sore!). And then she's even like, "and what's a disco anyway?", "I mean I've heard of bars and dance clubs and stuff, but DISCO?" She was teasing her so I kinda took sides with the mom and made a comment about how cool discos must have been back in the day, and even though you may knock it, I'm sure it was pretty アツイ(atsui).
So, meanwhile, I'm trying to be sly and catch a glance at Hiromi through the rear-view mirror. But every time she looked back in the mirror she was just looking at her mom the whole time. I did notice though that she had pretty eyes, just like her sister Mie, but on a whole her sister is quite more beautiful, I mean a lot of it has to do with the fact that I sat in class so long and inevitably grew a little thing for her- I kinda knew that even before I came out to meet her but, nevertheless, Hiromi was very cool and cute to boot. We started talking about what to do next and they said, "Well, since youv'e come all this way why don't we take you to 琴平町の金毘羅(Kotohira no Konpira). Which is a pretty famous temple in that area. But! but... even before that they wanted to grab some lunch, so of course we had to find some of 香川(Kagawa) most famous dish: さぬきうどん(Sanuki Udon). We ended up going off the path towards the temple (I tried to stop them) to the most famous Udon place in that area, it was a place up in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, called: 山内(Yamauchi Udon).
Needless to say, this place was the real deal- if was family owned and operated, like everything in the Inaka, half of the store was the workshop where the pound out the noodles with big wooden hammers, the other half was a sitting room for the customers. Of course, everyone was really staring before I busted some Japanese, it definalty seems like that's all it is, you have to show that you can speak Japanese or them will just sit there and give you the Yuri stare all day. Hiromi paid for my noodles, even though I was first to say let me get this cause you guys are showing me around everywhere... to no avail. Seriously, THE BEST UDON I'VE EVER HAD. The noodles are just completely different, 硬め(katame). And it wasn't just squishy tastless Tokyo type noodles- it had a real nice taste/after taste- even just the noodles themselves. They were speckled with little black dots, not quite sure what that was but , overall lunch was a great success. Took a few pics of the place and of us and the noodles and everything, of course I was probably completely embarrassing them so I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. あら、ひろみさん顔から火が出ってるよ(ara, hiromi-san kao kara hi ga detteru yo). Her mom was laughing a little bit.
We all finished eating and started heading for the temple. The parking alone was like 10 bucks... again they wouldn't let me pay. We started to walk, the place was like a huge stairway up the mountain that ended at the top when you reach the temple, or so I heard we actually didn't make it that far. We had only gotten just a little ways up the mountain when they started asking well, "what should me do now"? OK, there was tons of stuff to do, everywhere, it was like a huge tourist attraction, so I figured that what they meant was lets start winding this down we have other things to do today. VERY hard to read though. The mom was getting a little winded too walking up all the steps, we were both trying to keep up with Hiromi. I could tell that Hiromi didn't have any interest in the place, lol, she was like burning up the steps. The mom and I were falling behind, me trying to take pictures and she trying not to pass out. ha ha but she had mentioned that she was into Yoga, so she is fine, not to worry. ; )
The mom then said kinda out of nowhere, "I'm gonna catch a breather, you two go up to the next temple up there by yourselves, I'll just wait here." ~OMG nice... I'm thinking. The first time I get with just me and her- we can talk about fun stuff, kid stuff, after all she was 23 and a year younger than me. We started talking and she mentioned that she went to 徳島大学(Tokushima Daigaku), but already graduated a little while ago and started her job. Unlike Mie, she had been in Shikoku her whole life.
To be continued...
Reference:
へえ～初耳だよそれ- What! You've never said that before!
アツイ- Popular, hot.
琴平町の金毘羅- Konpira Temple in Kotohira city.
香川- Kagawa region of shikoku.
さぬきうどん- Sanuki Udon!!!
山内- Yamauchi Udon shop, literally "In the mountains" Udon.
硬め- Harder style noodles.
あら、ひろみさん顔から火が出ってるよ- "Hiromi, your face is all red!" Literally: "Fire is coming out of your face."
徳島大学- Tokushima University.
Like how Tokyo is just so big, and at times you feel a little like a trapped animal in some wierd cage of suits and buildings. Anyway, the mom then said that when she was in college she went to Tokyo for nursing school, she spent one month over there and then came back. She said she often recalled the wild "discos"- that was a little laugh- Hiromi kinda started teasing her about it... actually Hiromi didn't even know that her mom had been to Tokyo: へえ～初耳だよそれ(Hee, hatsu mimi da yo sore!). And then she's even like, "and what's a disco anyway?", "I mean I've heard of bars and dance clubs and stuff, but DISCO?" She was teasing her so I kinda took sides with the mom and made a comment about how cool discos must have been back in the day, and even though you may knock it, I'm sure it was pretty アツイ(atsui).
So, meanwhile, I'm trying to be sly and catch a glance at Hiromi through the rear-view mirror. But every time she looked back in the mirror she was just looking at her mom the whole time. I did notice though that she had pretty eyes, just like her sister Mie, but on a whole her sister is quite more beautiful, I mean a lot of it has to do with the fact that I sat in class so long and inevitably grew a little thing for her- I kinda knew that even before I came out to meet her but, nevertheless, Hiromi was very cool and cute to boot. We started talking about what to do next and they said, "Well, since youv'e come all this way why don't we take you to 琴平町の金毘羅(Kotohira no Konpira). Which is a pretty famous temple in that area. But! but... even before that they wanted to grab some lunch, so of course we had to find some of 香川(Kagawa) most famous dish: さぬきうどん(Sanuki Udon). We ended up going off the path towards the temple (I tried to stop them) to the most famous Udon place in that area, it was a place up in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere, called: 山内(Yamauchi Udon).
Needless to say, this place was the real deal- if was family owned and operated, like everything in the Inaka, half of the store was the workshop where the pound out the noodles with big wooden hammers, the other half was a sitting room for the customers. Of course, everyone was really staring before I busted some Japanese, it definalty seems like that's all it is, you have to show that you can speak Japanese or them will just sit there and give you the Yuri stare all day. Hiromi paid for my noodles, even though I was first to say let me get this cause you guys are showing me around everywhere... to no avail. Seriously, THE BEST UDON I'VE EVER HAD. The noodles are just completely different, 硬め(katame). And it wasn't just squishy tastless Tokyo type noodles- it had a real nice taste/after taste- even just the noodles themselves. They were speckled with little black dots, not quite sure what that was but , overall lunch was a great success. Took a few pics of the place and of us and the noodles and everything, of course I was probably completely embarrassing them so I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. あら、ひろみさん顔から火が出ってるよ(ara, hiromi-san kao kara hi ga detteru yo). Her mom was laughing a little bit.
We all finished eating and started heading for the temple. The parking alone was like 10 bucks... again they wouldn't let me pay. We started to walk, the place was like a huge stairway up the mountain that ended at the top when you reach the temple, or so I heard we actually didn't make it that far. We had only gotten just a little ways up the mountain when they started asking well, "what should me do now"? OK, there was tons of stuff to do, everywhere, it was like a huge tourist attraction, so I figured that what they meant was lets start winding this down we have other things to do today. VERY hard to read though. The mom was getting a little winded too walking up all the steps, we were both trying to keep up with Hiromi. I could tell that Hiromi didn't have any interest in the place, lol, she was like burning up the steps. The mom and I were falling behind, me trying to take pictures and she trying not to pass out. ha ha but she had mentioned that she was into Yoga, so she is fine, not to worry. ; )
The mom then said kinda out of nowhere, "I'm gonna catch a breather, you two go up to the next temple up there by yourselves, I'll just wait here." ~OMG nice... I'm thinking. The first time I get with just me and her- we can talk about fun stuff, kid stuff, after all she was 23 and a year younger than me. We started talking and she mentioned that she went to 徳島大学(Tokushima Daigaku), but already graduated a little while ago and started her job. Unlike Mie, she had been in Shikoku her whole life.
To be continued...
Reference:
へえ～初耳だよそれ- What! You've never said that before!
アツイ- Popular, hot.
琴平町の金毘羅- Konpira Temple in Kotohira city.
香川- Kagawa region of shikoku.
さぬきうどん- Sanuki Udon!!!
山内- Yamauchi Udon shop, literally "In the mountains" Udon.
硬め- Harder style noodles.
あら、ひろみさん顔から火が出ってるよ- "Hiromi, your face is all red!" Literally: "Fire is coming out of your face."
徳島大学- Tokushima University.