The weather that weekend had been exceptionally good. A little humid, yes, but I'm from Hawaii. Humidity I can handle. But on Sunday, for whatever reason, it decided to pour. I am from Hilo so I can also deal with rain. But usually I get to deal with it on my terms. I'll have the right clothes and footwear for it. As I was, with my jeans and booties I wasn't too prepared for rain of that magnitude. Thank goodness I brought an umbrella.
To kick off our morning we searched for a breakfast place and found ourselves in that historic district again and settled on an udon shop, where I had the tastiest tempura udon. Ever. Mmmmmmm. So good. The broth was delicious. The noodles were tender. And the tempura was crunchy and plentiful. All in all a very satisfying meal. And bonus, was getting out of the rain to stick my chopsticks in to warm brothy goodness.
Next we hopped a train back to Okayama and visited one of the top 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan. But like I said before, unfortunately it was raining and the wind was blowing. And unfortunately we didn't have much time there because of our bus reservations. But even in the rain, Koryaku-en (I think that's what it's called) was beautiful. I wish we had more time to explore and look around, but there were bamboo groves and pavilions and lily pads and bridges. I'll have to go back some day and see it properly.
Then off to catch the bus. A 4 hour bus ride isn't so bad when you're with friends. Mio, Kenny, David, and I were the obnoxious gai-jin talking on the bus. Everyone else was silent. Oh well. It's kind of how we roll, all foreign-like.
Our little detour to Kurashiki and Okayama including transportation, food, and lodging was under the 12000 yen allowance. Go us. Good times and without any out of pocket expense. The Bing family has a very special place in my heart.
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