Lady H`s Visit

Recently I was fortunate enough to be visited by Lady H of the Contagious Laugh, who is circumnavigating London in a hot-air balloon for the next six months. En route to this grand city, she descended for a quick pit-stop in Ol` Nippon where she stayed with me in Hiroshima for a few days, before flying up-diddly-up to Kyoto and popping in on Miss B in Tokyo for green tea and tiffin.

I took Lady H to various fine establishments, including the drinking salons Opium and Lotus, and we dined on delicious pasta* at the fashionable cafe-bar Koba. We also ventured into the red-light district for a hearty meal of skewered tofu and shiitake mushrooms, miso soup and rice. In Nagarakawa we were greeted with the familiar evening scenes of stylish women dressed in school-formalwear handing out fliers in neon-lit alleyways, and manga-haired pretty boys loitering on corners with cigarettes dangling from their fine lips in a most aloof manner, while drunken businessmen stumbled arm-in-arm under the light of vending machines.

For a pleasant day-trip, we took a train to Mitaki and wandered around the beautiful temple grounds there. The hillsides were vivid with splashes of purple flowers and the gardens were rich in vermillion and pink blooms. Mitaki is an ideal place for whimsical transports, general philosophising and the peaceful perusal of books. The atmosphere is serene. Many Buddhas line the paths and are mysterious in moss and bright red caps. The tinkle of a waterfall can be heard, so can the evocative tolling of a great copper bell. The sight of festooned origami cranes, the flicker of candle-flames in sunlight, the musk of incense and the playful tumble of temple tabbies leaves one contented down to the soles of one`s Mary-Jane shoes. A perfect place for solitude and reflection, as well as contemplative picnics, Mitaki is one of my fave places in Hiroshima.

*The merry staff of Koba make an amazing vego chilli carbonara that includes chunks of tofu fried in cheese and green pesto - ooishi!