Japan 2 (7.Sept.)

It's Sunday and I'm rested.

Off to explore!

My friend's apartment on the far left, 2nd floor.

From the street in front of his apartment, looking towards the direction we came from.

Yes, they have gardens and grow plants.

Must be the biggest van I saw in my time in Japan.

Nature preserve/forest just a 3 min. walk from his apartment.

His school/ekaiwa (hagwon) (institute), which is a kindergarten.

2 buildings, actually.

His building. His class is on the 2nd floor.

Lovely plants in the front.

How far is this from his apartment? About a slow 2 min. walk.

A student's home on the same hill (maybe just a block away).

Look at the mountains (and dragonflies) in the distance.

So much architecture in this neighborhood, like classical Japanese,

. . . Western . . .

Oh yes, these apartments do exist here too.

Such a quaint little place.

I like it.

Back on the bus, you can have your own stop button.

Now in downtown Kumamoto.

Trolley.

150 Yen ($1.50) to use it, no matter how many stops you're traveling. Same fare.

They had a special medic exhibition going on.

Shopping area.

The BEST store in the world!

(For Americans: this is like Target with Dollar Tree prices--only better!)

The name of this particular shopping block.

Looking down the right . . .

. . . and the left.

Traditional clothing shop.

They had the summer wear at that time.

Wow, Korean.

Whoa, and still with a type-o!

Don't look at the ABC Mart, but the mist coming out.

It was over 30 degrees Celsius, so it was really nice.

Down yet another street/section.

This is Kumamon, Kumamoto's mascot.

He is EVERYWHERE!!!

So Greg volunteers at a cat cafe every weekend. This Sunday morning (around 10:30 or 11 am), we come in and Greg helps clean the place for when it officially opens @ noon.

They wanted me to relax, so I kept myself busy with the cats . . .

This one was meowing nonstop when we arrived. I guess it really likes attention.

Tense moment.

Oh, these 2 big cats have territorial issues.

To stare, or to sleep . . . which will win?

I think he fell into the aquarium.

What's here?

These 2 studying the exotic unknown object before them (aka. my Starbucks bag).

Don't even think about it.

This cat is amazing. He's blind, yet very self-sufficient.

So tempting . . .

Whoa, that's too close for comfort!

Don't know what happened, bu he always looks like this.

These cats are not helping her clean.

Up on a glass shelf.

Curled in a hammock.

Ugh, life is tough.

So many adjectives can go here.

I like this "lion gaze."

So, which one do you want, kid?

The sign.

They take in abandoned or abused cats, take care of them, and even give them in adoption.

Too bad I found out I'm allergic to them though.

Afterwards, we met a friend of Greg's (Victoria) and had lunch together.

Don't know what this is called, but it's a mixture of beef, vegetables, and egg.

You mix'em up and then fry them on your table.

Pretty good--and filling!

We decided to go to a karaoke. After a few failed attempts, we got one that was like the noraebang rooms in Korea, only this one had "room service" of unlimited soft drink refills. There was even a phone to call the front desk.

Also, the selection is so much better! In Korea, the selections are very limited, but not in Japan!

LOVED it!

The screen where the words pop up. The red thing in the foreground is where you look for your songs and select'em. Plus, my melon soda beside the red thing.

Greg belting out timeless tunes.

This guy is a great singer, by the way.

I tried this one, and failed miserably.

I have new-found respect for Josh Groban singing this song.

I found it both too high and too low for me.

WEIRD.

Oh yeah, the name of the place we went to.

After that, it was off to Greg's Bible study group. Very nice people, I liked them. They also seem to be right on, as far as understanding the Bible goes (I was only with them for 1 hr., so I don't know a lot, but the little I saw, I approved).

With the Bible study over, it was off to a choral practice Greg was going to try for the 1st time.

I got to sit and listen in to them practice.

AMAZING!

Then was when I found out they were an opera choir. That explains a lot.

My mind was blown and it'll be great to see/hear the good things coming from them--especially that Greg joined.

This is my friend's train stop.

I like the handmade-ish sign.

Of course Kumamon would be found there . . . He's EVERYWHERE!