Meeting with friends

About to get on the Hayabusa

Today we had another trip on the Shinkansen as we headed due south to Sendai to meet up with Doug and family.  He and his family, including 11 month old baby Dominic came to stay with us in Ingleton 3 years ago.  They couldn't repay the favour (Japanese houses are on the whole very small) but was happy to meet up with us for the day.

Our host took us to the train station and we got the local train to Shin Aomori.  We had to stand all the way which was a bit of a pain, but at least it wasn't raining so we got to see the scenery and we were in the back carriage so Tom could look out which made him happy.

Thirsty weather

We then got the Hayabusa Shinkansen to Sendai (the green one).  This was perfect scrap booking time and as we gave Tom the day off yesterday he had two days to catch up on.  Oh dear, he went into a big sulk, even though he agreed yesterday to have a day off and to do it on the train, today he seemed to think it a bad idea!  As we keep saying to him - this is a trip of a lifetime, many of his friends would never have the chance to experience anything like this and it doesn't come free.  We spend thousands of pounds on him on this holiday, the least he can do is record it AND he loves going through his old scrapbooks at home, he gets them out very often at bedtime to read and remember his holidays.  I won't let him off it - it is good to spend 1:1 time with him and to see how his writing has come along.  Put it this way, Mrs Bromley told us there was nothing at all wrong with his concentration, well as far as I'm concerned his concentration is as bad as it has always been, I have to tell him again and again and again to concentrate, to write, I have to help him formulate his sentences and he has trouble drawing straight lines etc.  He also still holds his pen in a weird fashion.  We were very very surprised when Mrs Bromley told us his concentration was fine, but I don't think it has changed at all.  Hummmmm, one for Mrs Clements...

Jōzenjidōri Street, Sendai

Anyway, an hour and a half later, he finished his scrapbooking and we arrived in Sendai.  The weather was awful, really really hot and very muggy.  We were met by Doug, Akemi and little Dominic - he's changed loads as he is now 4.  He wasn't in the best of moods today and had to be coaxed to do anything.  You can always rely on children to be unpredictable!!!!!  Oh hum, we couldn't do anything quickly today as it was so so hot and humid.

They took us straight for lunch at a craft beer / Italian place.  Tom and Matt had belly pork tagliatelle whilst I had lamb and mushroom quesadilla (apparently quesadilla is Italian!)  Between the 4 adults we managed 12 different beers (small ones of course) but there were about 30 different beers so we had to do it justice.

All 6 of us (look hard!)

We then carried on up a covered shopping street stopping here, there and everywhere to look at things.  I'm still trying to find a drop lid to replace our very warped one which is falling apart.  I failed.  Oh hum.  However, on the plus side we did come across a mini procession complete with drums, dancing ladies and people carrying shrines.  It made a lot of noise in the covered shopping area and was a nice bit of culture to enjoy.

      

We carried on walking to Jozenji Dori which is a famous focal point in Sendai - lots of trees in a line making a tunnel.  There we gave them an Ingleton pebble in the hope that they are able to pass it on to someone else who will actually post something on Facebook - we live in hope.

As it was heading to 3pm we then headed to Mr Donuts for a sit down and donut before getting the subway back to the main station.  There we headed to Yodabashi Camera where Tom wanted to do a spot of train shopping.  He had to go for his 4th choice as all the ones he initially wanted were sold out. We also got a baseball catching glove set (a small one for him, a big one for us and a ball) This should help me as his throws at cricket practice are now getting harder and harder and therefore hurt a lot!  Mac suggested I get a baseball catchers glove.

Dominic with Ingleton Pebble

Then we said our goodbyes to the Durgees and headed into the station to get a bento each and head home.  I was very happy as I found a bento which was mainly veggies.  We had an uneventful trip back, we all ate our bentos in record time and then enjoyed the smooth trip home on the Shinkansen before bumping along on the local train.

It was a long, hot and humid day, we were all exhausted.  We were met by Mr Kimura who had just returned from a business trip in Sendai (of all places)!  He drove us home in their boxy car which Tom was delighted about.  Then showers all round.  Bed for Tom and we sat downstairs to chat.  We took the remainder of our bottle of whisky down, which went down very well and before we knew it we were being treated to supper: a huge tray of sushi came out, as well as some roasted chicken and edamame.  We were forced to eat some, and more and more.  Wow!