(Day 12) Lexington Queens

Not every day can be an alcohol-infused riot. Or can it…well, we don’t find out in the AM anyway. Today Janelle went back to school and Sis and I headed up, up, up into Saitama. We headed as far as Omiya and then jumped ship to explore this little port of call. I’ve been here before, but on a rainy Thursday, shopping and eating comfort food beckons us to come hither. And hither we came!



Since it was just me and Sis, we dove right into Baqet once again. I’m sorry, but stuffing myself with bread is kind of the dang funnest activity I could think of right then. Oh tiny little breads, how many of you can I squish into my tummy?




Eating here reminds me of when I was a kid and my Mom would make buns and she’d give me a bit of dough and I’d make tiny buns called “bundys”. I think I was probably on to something.

After B was done school, we met up in my former neighbourhood, Urawa. Did I mention I used to live here? Well, I did…for two week periods in 2008 and 2009. That’s living, right? You see, Maya and her wonderful family were kind enough to welcome me then and I luckily got invited back for a follow-up visit. Phew! I guess I must have not been too annoying… ha ha. And then there was Chobi…



Maya’s mother made a delicious feast of my absolute favourite dish, the almighty O-inari-sama.


O-inari-sama on the top left. I think I ate almost twenty! Or maybe seven. I don’t remember.




Juuuuust catching up on the local economy and whatever. You know, Japanese news stuff.

We were gifted with very pretty furoshiki and snacks for our hotel room. How kind! I also love their house because they have the most interesting little tchotckies.


Sweet pencil.

On a much, much sadder note, the next day, Chobi passed away. I like to think that he waited to see me again, though that seems rather unlikely. Yes, the dear, sweet, little white fluffy dog is gone, but not forgotten. RIP Chobi-chan.


Ps – just napping here, but this was my last picture of him. Wahhhh

On the train ride back into Tokyo, I had a very odd brainwave that we should go clubbing tonight. It’s odd because I don’t do clubbing. But it seemed like a good idea. And heck, if this passed-out salaryman in Shibuya can get his party on, so can we!


Those train guys couldn’t bother that guy if they poked him with a pig prong. He kept yelling at them to leave him alone and let him sleep. Right on.

So we went back home and went about prepping ourselves for the big night out. By “big”, of course I mean maximum two hours between leaving and arriving back. I’m getting too old for this stuff.


Yeah, I look like a vampire. I can’t help it, honest.

So we went, found the place, logged a couple of hours on the floor and called it a night. I did end up throwing back a couple of libations and wore sunglasses in the dark club (hello, it was hella smoky in there) but all in all, a successful night of young-person partying was under my belt. You know you are old when you call it “young-person partying”. Lots of English and they played…the Offspring? Um, I’m not even joking – they played “Pretty Fly for a White Guy”. Probably because there was some lame white chauch that requested it. Whateva. You can’t win ‘em all.

Oh yeah…and Ryo was there. Three days earlier.