Kristen and Shawn Visit: Part 1: Hanging in Okazaki and Nagoya

KRISTEN AND SHAWN ARRIVE

Because flying from America to Japan is super long and exhausting, we decided to hang out in Okazaki and just chill on their first day here. Which meant waking up leisurely, going to see Yamasa and some of the places I used to work, and then heading to the enormous Book Off over Seiyu so we could look at used things. Shawn was into this. After a delicious curry cauliflower lunch made chez me, we headed up to Okazaki Castle and walked around there being all touristy for a bit.

I ended up with ONE whole picture of our castle day, and this is it. If you look closely, you can see Kristen on the other side. Sadness that this is my only one. Perhaps Kristen and Shawn will send me their pictures later.

Then Krist and Shawn came to work with me in Daimon so that Shawn could meet my boss, Taka, because he drives race cars, and Shawn loves racing. Taka was kind enough to drive him around in his car and to offer to drive him around later.

After work, we headed to KARAOKE!!!! Since Kristen's all a karaoke lover, we had to go at least once while they were here.

Cesar, Carine, and Idit also came to hang out with us, and Kristen and Shawn managed to get into the Japanese songs we sang even though they didn't understand them. They, of course, both did some amazing rock ballads!

After karaoke, they got to go racing on a mountain in Gamagori while I went home to finish packing things up for my move and to hang out with Carine.

Next day, NAGOYA. I of course had to bring them to Toganji temple, because I LOVE it there, even if no one else here seems to have ever heard of it.



How could you not love this adorable little Buddha face with his elephants surrounded by such greenery?

Then we met up with Rachael for lunch at Nagoya's vegan restaurant, the Pupu Kitchen. It was my first time there, and I'm sad I waited so long. We ate vegan donburi, and it was totally beyond delish! Definitely recommended if you ever find your way to Nagoya. Just make sure you check the opening times.

After a brief tour of Sakae and Osu Kannon, we headed back to Okazaki for dinner with my new host stay family. Kristen actually tried to eat sushi, which was totally shocking to me. She didn't actually like it, but she TRIED it! She also tried pumpkin tempura and loved it. We were all very proud of her!

The next morning, we woke up super early and headed to Kyoto. More to come soooooon! :-)