Food glorious food!

Fellow American teacher - Mr J - and I recently discovered a brilliant izakaya amid the labyrinthine Sauce District, where Saucettes dressed up in formal eveningwear entertain dishevelled businessmen, and all is afire in the light of neon advertising and red lanterns.

This izakaya, decorated with pictures of the Hiroshima Carp Baseball Team, had a hearty meal for us tired teachers. First we had a sweet salad of cabbage and ginger. Then, we had skewers of piping hot tofu - cooked before us - along with skewers of huge juicy mushrooms, served with hot hot hot horseyradish sauce and raw garlic, with a squeeze of lemon. Mr J nibbled on a fried octopus or two, and we had hot sake to toast our new careers. Kampai!

To finally fill us up, we had miso soup, a bowl of rice with pickles and a cup of hot green tea. Yum!