I went out to dinner last week with Keita (AirB&B host) and his two chums Yuki and Masahiro to this restaurant.  The main dish was udon.  You could say it's a Japanese version of tapas in as much as you choose a variety of bits and pieces, but then they arrive in a big bowl of broth not at all like tapas.  I was happy to let them do the choosing.  Included were big lumps of giant white radish, a pickled egg, orange and white striped half moon shaped something or others and what looked like spring rolls but I was told were fish cakes.  Frankly they all tasted much the same to me and not very tasty at that.

However there was a wide variety of other dishes outside the broth; some delicious little squid, deep fried chicken, asparagus, sardines and some very smoky bits of an unknown fish.  All of that was lovely.  We washed it down with beer and sake.

It was a lively evening and it went on after the meal.   Yuki (84 year old lady) went off for a taxi home bidding me farewell with one of her few English phrases "hansum boi" while Keita steered Masahiro in his wheelchair through the streets to the Jigger Bar St Louis.  It was only a few streets away.  No Atlantic crossing was required.

There we sank a few drinks, in my case the cheapest Suntory whisky on the drinks list which tasted just fine.  Amongst the staff was an Englishman.  I think he may have been the head barman.  His backstory was of coming to Japan to help his brother in a bar 12 years ago, the business went broke, he did various jobs then came to Kanazawa marrying a Japanese girl who spoke no English on the way.  The true and tested way throughout history of learning the local lingo with the least pain.  My thoughts turned to Yuki.  Perhaps not.

I walked home around 11.

You may have noticed in the picture in this post that there is a parcel shelf above the counter for people to put their bags on.  This is quite normal and in cafes and restaurants you frequently find a bin beside your table in which you can dump your shopping bag etc.  The best version I've come across was in Tokyo where Momo and I had bench seats in a booth.  You could lift the seat to reveal enough space to store your folding bike let alone your shopping.

Those of you in receipt of WhatsApp pics from me may remember one of a gents urinal with an umbrella hook beside it.  I had an opportunity to use one of those today with a so called rented umbrella.  I was taking a trip into the country and didn't have an umbrella because I'd looked at the forecast for the wrong place and it was going to rain in my place.  So Ishimura explained to me that because it rains a lot in Kanazawa they have developed what they called umbrella rental.  No money changes hands.  In lots of shops and public places like the station there are umbrellas to which you can help yourself on the understanding that when you no longer need it you'll return it.  I picked one up when I caught my bus to Shirakawa-go and since it was raining when I got back I still have it.

Neat is it not.