Cabbies and Cursing, Beamers and Buddha

The other night, I was out having a drink, at one of my favorite shot bars in Ube, "Healing Box Bigi". Whilst chatting with some of the other patrons I discovered that the fellow sitting next to me enjoying a beer and a smoke happened to be a monk, I took down his temple and number, told him I would visit the next day and exitied the bar. I flagged down the nearest cab and told him to take me to the 7-11 (or, as it's now known in Japan, 7 & i-Holdings) nearest my house. I was a little curious when he asked if I was a university student, but I payed it no heed. However, either he wasn't listening well or I was not speaking well but he took him quite far out of the way to a 7 & i near the local university. I corrected him and exited the cab some minutes later at the correct convenience store, grumbling to myself about a cab fare just a thousand yen short of my bar tab.
The next day, awaking at the crack of noon I set out to take some fresh pictures of Tokiwa. Only to realize that even though I had taken a cab home, I had rode my bike out to the bar the previous night. Thus, I had to walk downtown to retrive it before making my way to the lake. Eventualy though I was able to accomplish my picture taking mission to my statisfaction, so I decided to call my new friend and man of the cloth, Yoshi. As the temple was hard to find he arranged to pick me up nearby. He arrived some minutes later in his BMW, explaining, when I complimented him, that "I like cars." We arrived at the temple, which his grandfather built and where he lives with his parents and grandmother. He was kind enough to give me a tour and show me the tombstones he'd built, the kimono he wears when he prays, and even to identify the statuary for me. After this I joined him and his parents for a cup of tea and an hour or so of pleasant conversation. Unfortunately the conversation was limited to the scope of my Japanese, however they seemed to be lovely people. Early in the conversation his father asked me if I liked nihonshu, and when I replied in the affirmative he handed me a giant bottle of said fluid, from Niigata Prefecture. I'm saving it for hanami, when I will be surrounded by sake, barbecues and cherry blossoms. His mother, as I was leaving, told me to come again, I hope to be able to take her up on that. I shall just need to remember how to get there.