Kanazawa (金沢)

Got up and out for 10 am today and we walked up to the Oyama-jinja shrine (大山神社) and through the gardens. Dry, sunny and warm today so lovely to stroll around and very peaceful. Very few other people in the shrine. Another pond with Coi carp, Kanazawa lanterns, flowing water and a couple of cherry trees (桜) still in blossom. The japanese like to wear uniforms e.g. The lady sweeping the steps. The school children take pride in wearing their uniforms; a group of them in the gardens greeted us with ‘hello!’ and ‘good morning’. We walked back alongside the Castle gardens to Omicho Fish Market (fish, fruit and veg, sushi, clothes etc!) We had a coffee in the Kanazawa coffee shop, bought some fruit then sat by the crossroads in the sun waiting for a call from Tom. Mel took pictures of square cars! We walked through the subway crossing into the M’Za store; in the basement there is a food court with lots of stalls with beautifully presented food. Not sure what it all is but there was sushi, sweets, cakes and bento boxes (お弁当) (delicious lunch boxes with a variety of savoury items). Tom phoned so we went to meet him at the station about 1 pm. He took us to his favourite Japanese curry house, san kyu an, where we had chicken curry, rice, salad, pickled radish and silver skin onions! Very nice! Then we got on a bus through town and onto the Myoryuji Temple/Ninja Temple (忍者寺). Here we were given a guided tour in Japanese but we had our own individual English version in a book. We walked back towards our hotel and Tom left us to go and teach his students. Mel and Les went to Sukiya (すき家). A gyudon (牛丼) bar for some food – meat on rice with many optional toppings such as, cheese or egg – cheap but ok.