June 18th - part three

None of today's trains has been crowded and every one has been right on time and we arrive in
Ogaki with some of the afternoon left before we are to meet Andy for dinner at eight o'clock.
It is a short walk to the new hotel where Andy has made our reservations and we are very happy
to arrive. Although the hostel was fun and we met interesting people, it sure is nice to have
two big beds, hot water for tea, bathrobes and a bathroom ensuite! Nick warned us about the remote control for the toilet (you read that right!) so we won't press "shower" and expect water to come out of the shower head! We don't yet know the difference between "shower" and "bidet" but the night is young! We do know how to turn on the A/C even though there is only Japanese on the remote. One of the many things we learned at the hostel through trial and error and lots of brains working together!

After dropping off our suitcases and exploring a bit we head across the street to see what a Japanese mall looks like. It is huge, just like the malls at home, and many of the products are the same, although there is an abundance of "cute" that we don't see at home. Many of the
stores have English names like Rose Sweet, and some feature products with English words and
phrases, some which make sense! There is a grocery store reminiscent of Whole Foods and we
just have to try some of the food on a stick. Each stick is only 100 yen, so how far wrong can
we go? And Ginger buys a tomato because its color is closer to magenta than "tomato red".

We all sit at a little table and sample our booty. The one that looks like large pearls on a
string is actually batter covered small hard-boiled eggs; another is liver and isn't everyone's
favorite. As for the others, one might be chicken, one might be eel, and the last might be
anyone's guess. The eggs were pretty good; how far wrong can you go with eggs? As for the
rest, it was good to have had the experience! It has been interesting to observe that there are
often not towels in restrooms. The little eating area had a sink right there, but, again, no
towels!

As we wander further in this two-story emporium Nick finds the ice cream corner! There is a
Baskin Robbins which is featuring a flavor called Ole and Au Lait! But Nick favors a crepes
place where he gets prosaic coffee flavor to drown the flavor of the liver! After that we split up.
Ginger and Nick head back to the hotel and Betsy and I go in search of shoes for her. It turns
out that there are very few shoes that come in sizes for American feet! She says her's will
last for the rest of the trip but I think it's a darn good thing she brought two pairs!

Back in our room we make hot tea and Betsy reads while I try to catch up some on the blog.
We'll head down stairs around eight so we don't miss Andy who gets off work at that time. I
don't know how far he has to travel to get here but I guess he'll do it by bicycle!

Turns out it is raining and Andy is pretty sure we won't want to walk to the restaurant in it! Nick and Ginger are going to ask the front desk to order us a taxi and we'll meet him
at a 50's style restaurant we wants to show us! Our cab driver seems pretty unsure of the route but finally we are close and Nick points out Chorky's on our left. We pull in and spot Andy in the corner booth!

It really is a perfect replica complete with the music! The burgers are about eight inches tall and to die for. You eat them with a burger diaper so they don't drip! And they come with fries and a salad. My carmel shake is just the best, although when Nick adds Kahlua to his vanilla one he just might be the winner!

When we are all stuffed to the bursting point we discuss going to Andy's apartment which is not
too far. It's raining and he will have to walk his bike but we all think it's worth it!! How could we pass up that chance?