Nagano - not a shrine day

It's looking like rain storms today in Nagano. After breakfast, we wandered around the older part through a covered shopping street - why do we not do this at home? We love checking out supermarkets in Japan as the food selection is usually great, and the smaller packaging is so unique.

It's a rainy Sunday arvo, so we decided to go bowling 🎳. We took bus number 51 to the suburbs, think Mitchell Canberra people. The amusement centre, Round 1, was enormous and packed! The booking of lanes was Japanese style, involving terminals with human assistance and mild confusion 😕 The lady that assisted us was super helpful, we just had to wait for a free lane, but we were in an organised, numbered queue 😀

Bowling fun ensued, and beverages were consumed, ordered from the console at our lane. We didn't quite get the message that our drinks were ready for pick up, but a lovely kid in the next lane translated the message and even walked me up to make sure I got my order. This is the true beauty of Japan - polite and kind people.

We managed to win a prize as there was a random one-off contest - they gave Gayle a flower necklace but then exchanged it for a photo booth coupon.

A fun afternoon followed by a 5 km walk back to the apartment.

I have included some photos of random stuff you can purchase from vending machines, you're welcome!Read more