Day 7 My first day off we are all just exhausted the long week of work and heat has knocked us out J-dog was the first to pass out on the train. We took a hour long train ride to the country side for a group tour to a temple and small towns I have no idea of the names of the places I can't read the signs. The small town was nice but I have been noticing a thing about cats with the Japanese there are cat images everywhere bowels,glasses, posters, warning signs on trains, just about anything you through an image on there's a cat. I asked Hugh about the cats and the response was I have no idea why you ask me i have not lived here for 4 years. I will find out this cat thing it just to weird. We worked through the town that was a tourist haven and wedding Mecca because of its heritage and large temple. The streets were full of stores with traditional Japanese items, but pretty much over price chopsticks for $50 bucks and some cool stuff I can get in chinatown in NYC. We stopped at noodle restaurant that Hugh knew, had one of the nicest bottles of sake in my life and the noodles that were out of this world. It was nice to sit down and enjoy a leisurely lunch my first since I have arrived. We moved on to the temple and I could feel the sake, it was like walking on air. The temple compound was serene and a breath of fresh air from the mad rush of Tokyo and the office, the humidity was past 100% but the beauty of the place made the sweat worth it. I sat down on a rock bench and stared out over the landscape listening to birds for sometime. Photographed a monk with my rolliflex taken my time to enjoy the exchange. On the temple compound was a modern art museum with three galleries, I paid 8 bucks and saw some very interesting oil paintings. The paintings were to best describe them seeing light through your eyelids, try it you'll see shades of pink,white, and purple. The titles of the paintings were light in the wilderness, dawn, light again, it made think of my sister who is legally blind and a tinge of homesickness came over me. I at the moment wished to be home with family and friends or have them here with me to enjoy this. I joined the group again and headed to the train by this point every step was a wet one my shirt was drenched in sweat we stopped at a liquor store and bought a couple local brewed beer, you can drink in the streets here without a paper bag. Hugh and I polished of a beer each walking down the street to the station. On another train heading to see a Buddha. Mike Mount and I broke away from the group and strolled down the street discussing the layout of buildings and the wish to live in a minimalist home. As we were walking down a sign caught my eye I remember a documentary on the Nazi symbols and the swastika had been borrowed from the far east odd to see on a small street in a small town in Japan. Mike and I walk into what we thought was a sake bar turned out to be a sake jar store. The owners of the store were very nice and with broken Japanese and broken English we talked for sometime and Mike end up buying a beautiful jug. The owner thanks us for the conversation and purchase gave me a gift of a small sake cup with the symbol for summer in it, I believe it was one of the nicest gifts given to me by a stranger. Rejoining the group we head back to the train to meet with Jay Asano and some other Japanese from work for dinner. Jay had chosen Korean barbecue in Tokyo, if your not familiar with Korean barbecue the tables have grills in them and food is brought to the table and you cook it. After dinner Jay took us all out for drinks a cab ride to the bar, throught the door of a hotel to a small hotel bar. The hotel and bar are known for two things one being 250 years old the oldest hotel in Tokyo and for being the headquarters of general MacArthur. Unfortunately the small bar was packed and we moved to a jazz bar across the street which turn out to be a jazz bar and something out of Lost in Translation. I placed an order for the last round that i wanted to pay witht he waiter who billed me the entire evening at the bar 300 worth, lost in translation I'm just glad I can expense it. Leaving thr bar we walked through Tokyo's chinatown which looked close to pretty much every other Chinatown in the world. We managed to grab the last train before that line closes until the morning. We were tired and in a slap happy mode and like tradition with the group every major event we work together someone's got to get naked in public for a picture this time it was Mike's turn