Knuckles and Sunny Streets

A little bit of Hamakita life for ya today.

First, there is a great restaurant that I have only seen in the Hamamatsu area and around it (Shizuoka city, Kousai city) that I think should be a hit all over Japan. The place is called Sawayaka. I have eaten there many time but I have only tried one thing off of their menu. They have a menu item called genkotsu (which literally translates to knuckles but rest assured, there is no knuckles in the burger), what you get (vegetarians, don't read any further) is a big ball of a hamburger that looks nicely grilled on the outside. The burger is served on a heated skillet, they cut the burger in half press the red meat against the skillet to finish the cooking. It is then topped usually with Onion sauce, but for onion haters like me, they have a nice demi-glace sauce. With the red meat that you usually get, there is no way that there can be a restaurant like this in Canada (it's illegal to serve a hamburger cooked any less than medium), but is actually is quite delicious.

My local Sawayaka

Across from this Sawayaka they've been building a new shopping center over the past 3-4 months.Little things like this news don't usually excite me, but living in a country-side town It's pretty exciting when new things come along. Last week, they put up a new sign outside of the construction site.

The New Sign

This new sign promises us that we will be able to shop, watch movies, eat, or enjoy a bath (yes you read right).

The mall is overlooked by Guriin Alina (Yes- that's Green Arena)

The location for the new shopping center is totally convenient, about 4 kms from my home, just across the street from Sawayaka and the billboard advertising my favorite local Language School, ESL College - and it is also right next to Hamakita's Green Arena (local sports center). Well anyway, the new spot will be called Sun Street and you can check out the website by clicking on the place name.

Tomorrow is the wedding and I know that I will mess up the song. I will do my best!