We drove down to Hachinohe on Wednesday to check out the fish market. We showed up and stood in front of the door, but it didn’t open. We couldn’t read any of the writing on the door. A handful of Japanese people walked right up to the automatic door like we had, looked around for a moment, and left. We finally found an employee to ask in our extremely limited Japanese. Matt managed to figure out that Wednesdays are the only days they’re closed. Woops!

We went back this morning and made it in! Jen picked out some sake. We don’t really know anything about sake, so we couldn’t help much. The decision was made based on price and how pretty the bottle is. There are some very pretty sake labels! When we last went to the fish market, Matt and I tried squid ink cake. This time Jen and Rhino tried it, too. Yum! We also had some delicious, tiny dehydrated shrimp and saw lots of cute treats. Rhino was startled by a merchant showing off his live crabs. He danced to the music playing through the building and entertained the shoppers. We have to remember to go back to do actual shopping. A lot of the fish looked so good!

Jen and I wanted to go out one night to karaoke. I’d never been, but it is a big deal here in Japan. I know of a place right outside the main gate that we decided to try. I thought it would be a bar with tables and a stage that you get up at and sing. I was definitely not going to do that, but I’d cheer Jen on! When we arrived, we found that they are private karaoke rooms. We purchased a room for an hour and some bottles of water, were given some microphones, tambourines, maracas, and a control. We poked at the buttons on the control for about ten minutes before asking for help. The attendant showed us the “English” button (which we couldn’t read!) so we could browse through all the songs and artists. Jen had some solos, we sang a bunch together, we did some Christmas songs, I actually sang a solo, and then the workers ran in and interrupted our song, grabbed all the supplies, and kicked us out at exactly 60 minutes! It was all very goofy and the room was super hot, but we had a blast! Each room has a small kiddie section with toys and books, so next time I’ll have to take Matt and the boys!

I know there are sake bars around that serve sake in a traditional way, I just have no idea where they are. Jen wanted to try some, but didn’t want to crack open her new bottle. So we went to the bar next to the karaoke place and ordered sake. They asked what flavoring and Jen chose green apple. They mixed the sake with soda and green apple syrup, which I have never seen before. I’ve only ever tried it in tiny cups and warm. I had no idea that it was served this way, too!

On this day..

• Silly Fights - 2010
• Chitty chitty bang bang - 2007

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