Thursday in Hiroshima

Posted on 2013/06/01 06:58:59 (June 2013).

[Thursday 30th May 2013]
We pottered in and around Chie's parents flat in the morning and afternoon, waiting news of Chie's Dad's operation. In the afternoon we popped out a bit for a couple of local errands, and had some coffee and cake in a cafe next to the nearest station.

In the early evening, after feeding Erika, we headed over to the hospital, having had the news that the operation was over, and Chie's Dad was awake and ready for visitors. He was obviously in a lot of pain, but although only just about able to speak he was clearly delighted to see Erika who, undeterred by the hospital setting, was her usual bubbly self.

On the way home we stopped off at a kaiten sushi place (kaiten are the ones with the conveyor belts). Chie's Mum had been at the hospital since first thing this morning, and I got the impression she hadn't really eaten much, and was tired and in need of a bit of a pick-me-up.

It was a surprisingly high tech place - there were chutes for disposing of the used plates - every five plates you had a chance of winning a toy - and a second conveyor belt for delivering made-to-order dishes. On top of that there were touch screens for placing your orders, and a self service beer machine.

These sorts of extremes - from the anxiety and apprehension before the operation, to the silliness and frivolity of the sushi place afterwards - feel quite familiar to me in Japan. Time spent here in the past has often been a bit of a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and I've heard other people describe it similarly.

The pix at 12:41 positively begs for a caption about odd socks.

Posted by John's Mum at 2013/06/01 08:11:09.

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