Michiko-san!: A Tour of Kanazawa

Welcome to the Weekend! Yesss....a time where quizzes don't exist.

But that doesn't mean I'm not busy! Let's start the day with breakfast!

I swear. My mom's rice bread. The best. bread. ever.

Family outing time! We left the house around 8:45 am to go to Haruki's kindergarten for a little parent-child PE play time.

(My dad was taking this picture...he was with us though!)

Look at Haruki's cute little outfit! Hat and all...

This play time was pretty darn crazy.

I'm pretty sure half the things the families were instructed to do would have led to a chaotic suing spree with a hundred lawsuits in America...

After the youchien, we all went to the Higashi Chaya district, where geishas used to entertain guests at the district's numerous chaya houses.

Many of the Chaya houses and buildings have now been turned into tea houses and stores. While the kids played with dad outside the stores, mom and I wandered in and out of various お店, specializing in everything from gold leaf (which was in everything from sake to cake to facial products) to おふ、specialty wheat gluten added to miso soup and the like. So different from the one stop Costo King in America!

The tea stores lured us in. Snack time!

Snack time has never made me feel so cultured. This ain't no goldfish and mini Oreos!

We sat on the second floor of a beautifully restored old building where we had a great view of the main pathway! I spy with my little eye...

people who would be jealous if they knew what I was eating!

One of the most delicious mochi dango I have ever had. and I've had quite a few types of mochi. Slighty warm, and coated in matcha powder, sugar, and some salted konbu strips.

I'll take 10 more to go please!

Kaho. Such a misleadingly innocent face.

I'll just say that Haruki and Kaho shouldn't share shaved ice.

Afterwards, mom and I broke off to do our own thing. It was time to escape the kids! We continued to wander in and out of all the beautiful stores. It was so nice to have no time limit and schedule! Just a pleasantly drizzly day, wandering the streets of Kanazawa.

The packaging in Japan still amazes me beyond belief. Look at the rainbow above! The packages are all different types of tsukudani (simmered seaweed, seafood, and other noms in a soy sauce based glaze, meant to be eaten with rice)! So pretty.

Guess what?! Snack time, Part II!

Outside one of the numerous stores specializing in quality eggs, a steaming display of fake steamed chicken-filled buns worked it's magic, and soon enough, mom and I were sharing one of these hot pillows of joy! Fresh out of the steamer!

Then, we walked over the Asano River, where dyers rinse out the famous Kaga Yuzen Silks.

We wandered and walked, trying to use my Japanese, and soon enough, lunch time!

As a fitting complement to my Kanazawa tour, we ate at a restaurant specializing in Kanazawa 料理。

I'm glad my mom was with me to decide where to go for lunch because I would have never found this place!

Small restaurant tucked off on a random side street. Who woulda thunk?

It was warm today, so I got the cold somen noodles. Presentation = yes.

But my mom was doing it the real way, getting the set filled with Kanazawa specialities,

including jibu-ni, the famous thickened stew with duck, vegetables, and the ふ　wheat gluten I was talking about before.

Presentation = double yes, with gold leaf on top.

This is a bus map. ummmm...I don't get it.

We took the bus to the Myoryuji Temple, more commonly known as the Ninjadera (Ninja Temple). It actually has no association with real ninjas. wawaaahhhh. BUT the Maeda lords who ruled over the area during the Edo Period were quite the cheeky bunch. Those sly sly dogs, building secret passages ways, hidden stairs, secret traps....

When I grow up, I think I'll be a Ninja. Capital N.

After planning a blue print of my own Ninja Castle, optimally one that's floating in the sky, mom and I walked to Nagamachi, which was the district where samurai used to live.

Oh man, Ninjas vs. Samurais.

Which one would I like to be....let's see here. Well, mentalfloss.com gives us this highly factual and objective distinction:

Samurai wore elaborate armor and never stabbed anybody in the back; ninjas wore no armor and loved stabbing people in the back.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/difference/samurai-vs-ninja/#ixzz1y06ubKms

The hooked up swagalicious gear makes me lean towards the Samurai.

And they didn't live in such a terrible location either! So beautiful!!

Snack time Part III: green tea soft cream, as recommended by my mom!

de-rishous!

After Nagamachi, we walked all the way back to Omicho Market to buy some seafood for dinner! Freshest of the fresh. Since it was the end of the day, all the merchants were shouting to get rid of their goods before the Sunday rest day. That means bargain for us!

Which also means...