Ghost Ramen

21 May '16

A very tiring day.  Most stores open at 10am here so I went to Crea Mall with some of my friends around then.  "Crea" roughly translates to "clear"; what is called the mall is a maybe mile-long shopping street.  Since the street is open to the sky, it is dubbed the "Clear Mall."

We found an arcade where we collectively spent around $7 USD (only one dollar less than I have spent on the actual app...) trying to get a Neko Atsume plush out of a claw machine. No luck.

I found a bunch of lovely skirts on sale and got two, as well as a button.  Anyone that knows me well enough can imagine my exitement when I found the following pattern on a skirt, as well as a fabric button at the checkout:

After getting distracted by the mushroom print, I realized I had been seperated from my friends.  It wasn't a big deal because the mall was just one long, straight street.  I kept on walking until it started to fade into a less touristy area and found more shops, as well as a cemetary and shrine.

Pet's Always Come First!

Mushroom prints and now animals?  (I found my friends AND baby animals!) This day could not have gotten any better (even though it did).  Have a look at an adoption center.  Every cage had a face of a different, what I assumed is, breeder.  I think they might pay to have a representative of their newest litter showcased here.

Ghost Ramen

We came across the ticket ramen place that Loftus Sensei had told us about.  You buy your meal ticket from a sort of vending machine then sit down and hand it to the chef.  The ramen was amazing!

After lunch we headed to Shinrinkoen Station (about 20 minutes from the Kawagoe train station) with Loftus Sensei.  We took a short bus ride to Shinrin Park where we rented bicycles and rode around the park for an hour!  It was a lovely escape from the city and all the green reminded me of home.

Shamelessly taking photos of unsuspecting children and train passengers.   Look at the kids on their way to school!  They all wear little baseball caps of the same color... kawaii!!

And look at the book covers!  You can buy them in a lot of stores.  They are made out of paper or fabric and come is all sorts of different designs!  (In Japan it is inpolite to read books on the train without a cover.)

After we got back from cycling we met up with some of the others and Loftus bought us all dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.  He is extremely knowledgable about Japan and always is a treat to have at our table.

Sayonara,

 アナ