Back downtown

Woke up today and the sky was clear blue. Checked online that there was no rain due (the weather here can be more changeable than Scotland!), then decided to get myself in gear and make the most of it. I left the house aiming to catch the 10.45am bus to the National Park. Saw it coming just as I arrived at the bus stop, and didn't have time to chain my bike. There was 3 hours till the next one so carried on into town.

I first went to a small park in the city, that I spied from the bus last week. It's centrepiece is a fountain (not on) with a sculpture of some children perched a top. Lay back on one of the surrounding benches with my book and did a bit if sunbathing. I think the Japanese workers there were pretty bemused...

From there took a walk along through the entertainment district. Completely dead in the day but comes alive at night when all the restaurants, izekayahs and hostess bars open. The food in the photo is plastic. It is standard practise for restaurants to place models of each dish, with price, in the window, some of them can be pretty realistic. Even McDonalds next to my work has a foam mock up of a value meal, sitting on a table by the entrance.

I carried onto Nasumai Bridge and then up to Nasumai park, perched on a grass summit overlooking the town centre. Had never noticed it there before, quite zen, with little paths and trees and statues overlooking the city...