went to Sumpu Castle yesterday~ Just to check out what's inside since it IS a tourist spot and it would be nice to learn a bit about the famous Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. It's really close to Kaikan, only 10 minutes walking distance (I think), so "naturally" nobody would think of going there... One of my Japanese friend even said "There is a Sumpu Castle??" hmmm...

Anyway, Fu, Britta and I walked there as the sun was mercilessly shining on us. YES, it was sunny! (only for the morning though, it rained after 4pm or so)

The castle was quite small, which really surprised me since I thought Ieyasu was a very big Shogun and he would probably have a big castle...? But then I was reading some of the explanation of drawings, and they mentioned that Ieyasu was a samurai who believed in humble living, which means eating moderately and dressing modestly. I suppose that's why he didn't have a bigger one..? Well, the Sumpu Park is actually really big. If that's the backyard, then... wow..

And today, went to Jusco with Fu, Britta, Heruni-san (Ibu) and Ibu's family (Kadir and Bila-chan). Things are just so cheap in Jusco... it'd be quite dangerous if Jusco wasn't in Shimizu but Shizuoka city area.... We all bought quite alot of things, and felt quite content. Shopping is good, especially when things are inexpensive~

Had a small episode while finding seats at the food court though. It was about 1pm or so, and the food court was really crowded. We were waiting for some people to finish their food and get up to leave. So, I found this family of four already finished their food, just drinking water (they weren't even talking to each other). One of the daughters got up, but the mother took a look at us and grabbed her daughter's sleeve and told her to sit back down. I couldn't believe my eyes! They weren't eating or doing anything! The mother was plain being mean! I don't know if it's because we're foreigners or something (I know I don't look that Canadian, but my friends Britta and Fu do), but it was just NOT very nice. I would hate to think that it was discrimination... more like being impolite. Mukatsuku....*_*