Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

   We met some friends out for dinner on Friday in Shimizu, at a little bar/restaurant called Bistro C. I'd never heard of it before, but it turned out to be pretty good (plus it's no smoking). Only downside was that it did take a rather long time for all of our food to arrive, seeing as the place only has one oven and a menu full of baked entrees. Keila was great about the whole ordeal, however, and she really enjoyed hooting at a man at the bar until Yuki took her over to chat with him. She's a little flirt already!
 We also strolled through the Shimizu Tanabata Festival on the way back to the station. For those of you who don't know, Tanabata is officially on the 7th of July (7/7). On this date, the deities and lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi (the stars Vega and Altaire) are said to be allowed to meet. On all other days, they are separated by the Milky Way. In honor and celebration of their meeting, star festivals are held across the country in July and August. And because they're star festivals, most of the action takes place after dark. Keila loved seeing all of the lights and hanging floats...so much so that getting her to go to sleep proved more difficult than usual!
  Finally, one more note--after 2 months of SCREAMING whenever she was set in it, Keila decided that she'd submit to a stroller ride on Friday! Success!!!!

                                                      Lovin' The Stroller!

                                       Shimizu Tanabata Festival