Another weekend visit to Coco the dog. We took the car in the morning. In Tokorozawa we were busy doing the normal things… Like relaxing :- And as usual Coco (and Chie) was not so accommodating with me acting as a paparazzi.
In the evening we went to Musashi for dinner. A common thing in Japan is “keep bottle” where you can keep a bottle of alcohol at the restaurant if you cannot finish it in one go. At Musashi we have a bottle and I usually decorate it with a pen. This night I had requests from total strangers to decorate their bottles too. It was quite a busy night.
I got a cold on Thursday and on Friday morning I brought it with me when Chie and I went to Tokorozawa to visit Coco. I am not sure if he recognized that I was not feeling well because he spent an unusual amount of time with me. Sleeping in my lap, sleeping on the back of the chair I was sitting in and so on.
When Coco did not spend time with in my lap he spent time in Chie’s lap. And all of the time he was doing his best to be cute. And trying his best to steal q-tips and paper tissues.
Coco is a cute dog but he hates getting his picture taken. he does pretty much anything to get away from paparazzis, well usually it is only me or Chie taking a photo. But he is moving, turning, running, or jumping to get away from us and the camera.
On Sunday I felt better so I got into all clothes that I brought to Tokorozawa. Then I toke Coco for a walk in the beautiful weather. He seemed to enjoy it. And so did I 🙂
Some may wonder what the title means… But it is a bad attempt for a joke in Japanese that is not even funny in Japanese, and even less so if translated to English or any other language, I guess. Just trust me on that. I invented the joke in Tokorozawa, just before taking Coco on a walk.
Saturday was lovely weather and Sunday was OK with just a little bit of clouds. Still nice weather for a walk. As always Coco hate having his picture taken so to get one half-good picture you have to take about a thousand (maybe that is why a picture say more than 1000 words?).
After a few days in Tokorozawa with a lot of walking and a lot of good food we went back to Tokyo today. We returned late in the night to avoid most of the heavy return-to-Tokyo traffic. Still, it was a bit slow and it took about 30 minutes longer than usual.
As we returned late we spend the whole day in Tokorozawa. I took a long walk with Coco again. And we spend some time just sitting on a wood stock enjoying the sunshine. I am not sure what it is, maybe the new year, but around this time of the year the weather has, as long as I been in Japan during new year (for around 9 years now), the weather has always been great.
In the evening we had left overs and some Chinese dishes. Yummy.
Every year we also visit the shrine not far from Chie’s mother’s place. Since Coco joined the family he comes along as well. The main purpose of the walk to the shrine is to get some fresh air, some exercise and to get us each a tiger.
The tiger is protecting the “owner” throughout the year. From illness and other bad things, such as vampires and werewolves 😉
Quite a few people visit the shrines and temples in the beginning of the new year. Mainly to send some prayers to whatever god they believe in for a prosperous year without illness, or maybe to pass the entry exams for Tokyo University.
So even though we got here the first day of the year, many had already been here to get their own tiger. My guess is that in the next coming days there will be a quite a lot more tigers lined up for duty.
Once we got back home Chie went to buy some groceries. Coco took his favorite waiting position. On a chair in the living room where he can observe what is happening on the street outside. This is where he usually waits once he knows Chie and I am going to visit, sometimes days in advance 🙂
For dinner we had traditional Japanese New Year’s food. I think I wrote about this in a blog post last year as well. Basically, preserved food to last during the 4 or so days when store were closed. Maybe it doesn’t sound so nice bit it is quite tasty.
