Back at Murmur Coffee today.

Tea instead of coffee.

I like how the tea appears striped in the cup.

I decide to take a different route to the busier shopping district closer to the old Airbnb.

These berries are everywhere now. I often seem them in ikibana arrangements and here, growing in bunches outside a front door.

I pass this beautiful house with a small shrine. The house has yakisugi/shou sugi ban siding – an ancient technique of burning the wood so that it shows off the beauty of the grain but also, and perhaps more importantly, to preserve it.

The extent to which yakisugi/shou sugi ban is done varies. I’ve seen buildings where it’s extensive like this house – and others where the golden hues of the wood show through.

While walking, I pass this hot pink Suzuki. These cars are quite popular here; the colours fresh and fun!

Because I want to learn more about the process of hand dying I return to Atelier Shimura. The assistant seemed knowledgeable, but it is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Today is Wednesday.

On the fifth floor again, another tiny gallery, closed today, appears interesting through the glass.

I continue onwards to the same supermarket as last week and buy more grapes. They were so plump and juicy, I want another round. They’re not cheap, though. But I figure if I savor them over several days then it’ll be worth it.

By this time, it’s about 3:00 pm and I’m starving. My breakfast rice-ball is long gone. Outside the supermarket, is a little wooden roaster, roasting away sweet potatoes (yakiimo) – a typical autumn treat.

When they come out of the roaster, they’re kept warm on hot stones.

To eat them, break them in half, peel away the skin and dive in. They’re SO good, you need nothing else on it, under it, or with it.

The roaster is a wooden box. Steam from the roaster condenses and drips, drips, drips away into the little metal cup in the front.

Walking back now, with my grapes and some bananas held close, I pass this house and I have to stop.

I’m sure this person would be a kindred spirit because I love plants, too. So many pots all jammed together, plants living so happily snuggled so close.

On the way back from dinner, I pass this little restaurant on the side of a busy road. It looks warm and cozy.

Tomorrow I might check it out.

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