Happy New Year

We're special because our New Year came first. Or at least before yours. I suppose those slackers in the Federated States of Micronesia beat us by a few hours. Anyway, we all went out last night and ate a traditional Japanese meal of soba noodles, in various forms. The most traditional way to eat them on New Year's Eve is cold, and then dip them in a sauce of soy sauce, mirin, and dashi (fish stock). Sam and I ate that last year, and this year we decided that it was just too cold to eat cold noodles, so most of us had our soba in soup form. You'll never guess where we ate all this.


It's a real restaurant here.  


Here we are outside. Most of us attempted to smile. Jonathan didn't. 

After dinner, Susan and Irving took naps. The rest of us were hardcore and stayed up until eleven, then piled into the car and went to Naritasan. Except Jonathan. Dinner didn't sit with him terribly well.


The main gate. From left to right: Nari-ta-san 

We took these pictures during the day on Thursday. Last night it was much more crowded, dark, and cold. But you get the idea.


The main hall. There was a long line to get in here last night. 

The line was so long we didn't even bother. It was so bad there was a police cordon at the bottom of the front steps, and they only let people in every couple of minutes.


Pagoda! 

This pagoda had no real significance last night, other than being lit up and looking cool. Which is plenty, for us.

All of these pictures were taken by Susan. I've been lazy about getting my camera out so far. Happy New Year, everybody.