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13:50:08
Just after getting off the bus which took us into the centre of Hiroshima, we walked past a branch of the modestly named "Seattle's Best Coffee". Chie asked if I wanted to go in, and I said "Yes".
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13:50:12
I'd only ever heard of this company on my recent trip to Seattle therefore I'd obviously never been into one in Japan before! It just seemed appropriate somehow. I had this sort of milkshake thing, which was quite nice too.
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13:51:53
Chie enjoying my milkshake, after having not enjoyed the Chai she ordered. In fact I don't know why Chie insists on ordering Chai in coffee shops - she never enjoys it. Perhaps it is because it is spelt a bit like her name...?!
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14:24:00
Fear not - we didn't go in Molly Mallone's, Hiroshima's famous Irish Pub, as (A) we had been before, (B) Chie did not specifically ask and (C) that would put pay to the rest of the days activities!
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14:58:21
I had never played billiard (it's just pool isn't it?) in Japan before. Chie suggested it and so I said "Yes".
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15:00:04
As you may be able to make out here, the Billiards place was part of a ten pin bowling hall.
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15:07:37
I started off well, but the last two balls seemed to take forever!
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15:07:51
Still this was fun!
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15:41:00
This is Pinkerton's Souk - a funny little Middle Eastern-ish cafe in Hiroshima. We randomly decided to have a mid-afternoon snack of cake and samosas, partly because I hadn't done this before, and partly because Chie asked so I thought I would say "Yes".
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15:44:39
Here's me digging into some kind of deep fried bread, which was good. The samosas were even better - the pastry was like that you'd find on a cornish pasty!
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16:09:15
Chie coming down the steps which lead to Pinkerton's Souk.
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16:27:58
The next thing I hadn't done before was to play Pachinko - although we were too afraid to take a picture inside, so here is one outside instead. For those not initiated, Pachinko is sort of half way between a slot machine and pinball, and appears to require no skill whatsoever. It is (or has been) a national obsession in Japan, but on my first (and probably only) go I failed to see the attraction.
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16:54:19
Our next activity was karaoke - but not because we'd planned to in any way, just because we happened to walk past a karaoke place, and Chie asked so I said "Yes". Although I had definitely "done" karaoke before, this was the first time to ever approach it sober!
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17:07:23
Chie in the mirror. Note my beer here - I at least started karaoke completely sober... but a beer was offered and I felt compelled to say "Yes".
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18:56:15
This here is a bar called Kemby's - which Chie had suggested, so I said "Yes". I think we just caught the tail end of happy hour, which meant the beer was cheap and we got some free popcorn... Oh and we bought these cheese balls, simply because the menu suggested they were nice, so I thought "Yes".
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18:56:38
Me and my "Yes!" cheese balls, which were quite nice (although no doubt seriously unhealthy).
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19:32:36
A picture of the outside of Kemby's, and rather a nice one although I say so myself.
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20:39:17
After a bit of a wander, we walked past this bar - called New York I think - that Chie reminded me I'd once said I wanted to go in... so naturally I said "Yes". Chie had some sort of burger...
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20:39:37
...and I had an interesting pizza with shiso on - a kind of Japanese basil. Oh and yes - that is a "large" beer - because they asked if I wanted a large one. So can you guess how I responded?
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20:44:17
Chie with some ketchup.
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21:54:20
A night-time shot of some buildings by the one of the rivers in Hirosima, before heading back home.
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21:54:31
...incidentally, Chie had said "Do you want to go home now?" so I said "Yes".
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