C'est Comment Nous le Faisons, Bébé

Translation: This is how we do it, baby.

Buzzed. That's how I felt after a couple of drinks down at Ye Olde Happy Hour. This is one of the supreme benefits of not eating much (I skipped lunch, without any qualms). The downside is that thoughts enter your head like, "Ooh, that looks like a good place to get steak frites," or "Hey! I could totally go for a cassoulet."

As good as the latter sounds on a chilly, mildly rainy night, I had enough sense to just come home and make dinner. A big bowl of spaghetti, pomodoro/basilico sauce with lardons fumés, plenty of fresh bread. And yes, that is a micro-mini bottle of Heineken. I even had the wherewithal to serve myself dessert: A tiny chocolate pastry from a local patisserie, followed by the requisite demi-tasse of coffee.

All to the tune of about €3 in raw materials, and not too much time in the kitchen. Oh, how glorious it is not to be in a hotel anymore!

Let's see how this goes when I get home all tired from work this week...

Back in Kuzuha Town

I'm back in Kuzuha, and despite being in the suburbs and unable to get internet and all that stuff that makes being in a dead zone between Kyoto and Osaka crappy... I love it. I have the choice of spending my last day either in Kyoto or Osaka - my choice - and better than that, I've missed having all my family around me.



Especially Riho. She's adorable, isn't she? Tonight, she taught me a local Osaka children's song, one that proudly counts off the things the city is known for. You know, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, gyoza, battara - and it goes on and on about various Osaka specialties. It's somehow fitting that after almost three weeks of touring around this country, I'm back in the place where everyone thinks with their stomachs.

Maybe that's why I feel so at home here.

Although I barely fit through the doorway anymore. I have no idea how the Japanese stay so slim.