春の武士[haru no bushi] - part 4

On this day, my friend was working, so I took a train to walk around and explore the neighborhood. It was fun!

When I woke up, my friend had laid out breakfast for me....I love my friends. ^_^


I wanted to check out a sports center nearby, as the website said it was really cheap to work out there -- only ¥400 ($4). The outside of the building had some unique sculptures....

Bull & rider:


Ball players:


Unfortunately, I couldn't use the facilities as you need a reservation, and the weight training room was fully booked. But I spoke with the lady at the information desk and she said I could come back again, so I made an appointment. I hope to blog about that in a future post. ^_^

I found a park nearby and took several photos....

Some Canadian maple leaves!


Some stone fish...


After walking for several hours, I got hungry and went to Gusto for lunch. Gusto is a chain restaurant, similar to Denny's in North America. I ate a really delicious vegetable & cheese gratin dish.
Yum!

 I cooked dinner again for my friend in the evening. This time, I made German potatoes and hamburg with homemade demi-glaze sause. I also attempted to make for the first time, one of my personal favorites -- grilled Japanese pumpkin. I didn't know how, so I called up my Twitter friend nina5jp, and asked. She was more than helpful and her recipe was a winner. Thank you!!

German potato -- potato, sausage, herbs and cheese. 

L to R: hamburg, & grilled pumpkin

The hamburg was so good, we fought over who would eat the last one! (we ended up sharing).