"Little Town, it's a Quiet Village..."

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

-Andre Gide

When riding the shinkansen,

you can't really feel the speed.

You recline in plush seats,

and watch the fickle landscape of Japan

rush by outside the window.

I say fickle...

because I watched the weather change from

sunny sailboats

to blizzardy mountains

to rainy villages

in a matter of minutes.

But I think the most spectacular thing I saw

happened when another bullet train passed by us;

I could see the landscape through its windows,

like an old animation reel.

Watch the film and take a peek.

It brought me joy.

Katsumeshi is the local dish of Kakogawa,

the little town I live in.

I went to a New Year's/Welcoming Party

at an extremely formal Japanese restaurant.

Dish after dish came

filled with traditional recipes.

I really fell in love with this omelette.

They sweeten their eggs here,

serving them with a spoonful o' sugar.

Maguro was the final dish.

{Tuna.}

Just look at the size of it!

And this was only part of the fish.

Massive.

Won't get anything like this back in Utah...

Gotta eat as much of it as I can

while I can!

Iced sake.

Everyone at my welcoming party ordered alcohol,

and gave me their water glasses.

:)

And here you go, your dish of Engrish.

There is so much I could say about this...

But I won't.