Sunday was a grey day. I had an hours walk with Coco. Stopping a lot to sniff some stuff. Not me but Coco. When we got back home he was tired but still wanted to play with his new toy, a stuffed pumpkin.
For dinner we went to a Taiwanese restaurant in Tokorozawa. I don’t know the name. And we were the only customers. But the owners were friendly enough and the food was quite OK. Although Chie’s Chinese dishes are better.
This weekend we went to Tokorozawa again. Coco had been waiting for us since our last visit. On Saturday I went for a walk with him for 1 hour and 30 minutes. It was still warm enough outside to wear a t-shirt and use flip-flops. At first Coco didn’t want to leave Chie behind but as we left the house behind he seemed OK and even seemed to enjoy the walk.
We went to a small baseball field not far away. And took a dirt road next to it to get out between some fields where they were growing some vegetables. There were so many things for Coco to check out, stop and sniff. At the end of the dirt road were some chestnut trees. And two men were sitting under the trees relaxing, drinking sake. They waved at Coco and me to join them so we walked over there and had a talk before we continued our walk.
Next stop was the tea factory. Coco got scared of some big trucks passing by on our way to the tea factory. And he got scared again when we arrived at the tea factory since they have an old dog there. And it doesn’t matter how small or nice the dogs are… Coco is afraid of them all. Anyway, I bought a bag of green tea and then we walked home.
In the evening we brought Coco to the Enya restaurant in Shin-Tokorozawa. It’s a kushiyaki (Japanese BBQ) restaurant that has an outdoor area where dogs are allowed.
We had so much food there. For three people. Including ginger ale and and beer and a bottle of white wine. Still it was only 10000 JPY (660 SEK).
   
After the dinner we went back home. And I shared an ice cream with Coco. One bite for me and one for Coco. I think he really wanted to have my bite as well… But that was MY bite, so he could not have it.
National holidays are great! Today we could relax all day long. I went to the gym in the morning while Chie went to a beauty salon in the Shinjuku area. In the afternoon we met in Shinjuku area and did some window shopping, mixed with some actual shopping.
At 5:30 pm we had moved to the Hongo-san-chome area to meet with Mina-sensei and Tomo-san for dinner. This time we went to a Chineese restaurant named ãƒãƒ³ã‚¢ãƒ¼ãƒ« (Ronahru). We had a several of the dishes you can find on this web page. Even some of the red colored dishes that were so spicy that my toungue went numb and started to tinkle. But still it was tasty.
In February my brother Jimmy and his wife Emma is coming to Tokyo. Today Chie and I went to Nezu to check the Sawanoya ryokan for them. It is located in Nezu on the east side of Tokyo. Here the atmosphere is more relaxed and they try to keep the old buildings and old traditions.
When we got to the Nezu station we saw some posters anouncing that it was the Omotsuri-festival (summer festival) in Nezu. And when we got out of the subway station we could here BONG-BONG, TOK-TOK-TOK, BONG-BONG-BONG from some taiko (drum) echoing between the buildings. We went in on a side street to see what was making the all the noise.
We followed them for a while and then continued to the Nezu temple. We had soma tako-yaki to eat. Walked around for a while. And then continued to the Sawanoya ryokan.
   
The ryokan was really nice. Friendly. And they spoke some English as well. They had a newly installed Japanese style bath with a view of a small garden outside. It was really nice. We think Jimmy and Emma will love it here.
On Saturday morning Chie and I went to Tokorozawa for a 3 days long weekend (Monday is a national holiday in Japan). We also wanted to play with Coco and celebrate his second birthday.
   
We celebrated Coco by having sashimi and sushi for dinner. Hand rolled sushi with hamachi, maguro (tuna), chu-toro (medium fatty tuna), and o-toro (fatty tuna) sushi. And many other dishes.
 
After dinner Coco got his birthday cake. He was so happy. Usually he always want to be with Chie. Preferably resting in her arms while being carried around. Now he did not care about her at all. Just the cake.
