To grandmother's house we go . . .

So last weekend we took the train up to Saitama to spend some time with Yuko's mother and her brother. The train ride is pretty long, but this time we rode in the "green" car, which is the first class seating on this predominantly commuter line. It feels like a slightly more spacious, newer bullet train, although it doesn't go anywhere near that fast.

Here we are in the green-sha. Ahh, so much better than having to rush in and try to secure an open seat at Shibuya.

Elena likes watching the scenery whiz by . . .

On Saturday night we visited my friend Hidemasa, since he lives very near Yuko's family. He has a beautiful new house that he built a couple of years ago, including his own decked out sound room. Hidemasa has become so serious about it that he even had the wiring in his house replaced to improve the sound quality.

Those of you who were at our wedding will remember Hidemasa as one of my groomsmen. I've known him now for 11 years . . .

The other highlight of the trip was that we managed to catch the "kosumosu" in bloom along the side of the Arakawa River. It was a cool, perfect day to get lost in a field of flowers.

Elena started getting suspicious of all the pictures we were taking. "Haven't you taken enough already?"

Finally, we had dinner on Sunday night at Momoyama, a neat little restaurant usually about a half-hour or so drive away, although it took over an hour to get there this time thanks to bad traffic. For some reason they were on a serious shrimp kick this night (grilled shrimp, shrimp sushi, renkon-manju with shrimp, shrimp soup, etc. -- I'm sounding like Bubba from Forrest Gump), which was unfortunate for Yuko and Shun, who are both allergic to shrimp. But it was fortunate for me because I'm not allergic to shrimp and I like it, so I got to eat it all. This place does a great job of adding touches of the season to your meal, from using Japanese pottery prominently featuring autumn leaves, to garnishing courses with seasonal herbs and even a little orange manju made to look just like a "kaki", or a persimmon, which is in season now. Wish I'd taken a picture of it.

I dare you to open it . . . it's probably more shrimp . . .