mecca of monja

day 16

tsukishima is another vast plot of reclaimed land, criss-crossed by canals.
fishermen spend lazy afternoons on the steps, and while i did see some large fish near the surface, none of them were in the catch bags.








the cats, as always, are inscrutable.






this is the mecca of monja. monja-yaki is similar to okonomiyaki, only it doesn't cook into a solid mass, which sent us into alternating waves of panic and hysteria. you cook it on a grill inset into the table, but i don't have any pictures of this because we were frantically hording our monja into a puddle in the centre of the grill with all four hands so that it wouldn't creep out the oil drain. you eat it with a small shovel, and it was delicious.






i do have a picture of the chicken we ate right before dinner (seemed like a good idea at the time). both the leg and butterflied drumettes on the right.






there's a take-out joint similar to this in our hood. after 7, 20% off. after 8, 30-50% off. and yes, that's beer in the cooler. you can drink in public, but you must be honest about it. just last night on the news we heard a report about a hit and run. when caught later that night, 28 year old watanabe shigawa, an office worker at mitsumi manufacturing in kobe city, told police that he drove away from the accident because he had been drinking whiskey at a bar. later, he says, he had a few beers on the street from a vending machine before driving home. no word on whether charges were laid, but i have a feeling it was unnecessary.