Some things I've seen and eaten recently

A week or so back I was walking down the path at Tokiwa park, on the back side, near the playing fields and I saw something start to cross the road. It was too big to be one of the numerous feral cats that find their homes at the park. It was too big to be a raccoon, tanuki or some other such beast. Covered in shaggry brown fur and walking with a curious loping gate the animal crossed a median and moved into the parking lot. I realized then as I saw its pink face that I was indeed watching a wild monkey. He picked up speed, raced up a hill and across another street and into the woods. I was too dumbstruck to get a picture but I felt suffused with that pleasant feeling of satisfaction. That satisfaction that creeps over one after witnessing something strange and wonderful.
On the note of strange and wonderful we can move to the topic of food, something which, in Japan, is full to the brim of both "strange" and "wonderful." I was cycling randomly near the main train station in town recently when a powerful hunger crept over me. A hunger for food.
Desiring to put my stomach to rest I walked into a sushi bar as it had been awhile since I had eaten such. As it happened it was an excellent desicion. The owner and his wife were exceedingly friendly and I chatted with them and, after their arrival, their daughters. The fish was excellent and, in my hunger, I finished quickly. While I was sipping on a glass of nihonshu after dinner, the conversation turned to both my hometown and to sports. Mentioning that I had tried my hand at kayaking, we discussed the origin of kayaks. Canada, we concluded. I pointed out that in times previous they had been used for whale hunting. The obligitory comments on the hazards involved in Such a Hunt having passed, I mentioned to the master that I had always wanted to try whale. His reply a quick point and a comment along the lines of "We have it, it's right here next to the eel." To say I was excited would have been putting it on the nose as the nose has not had itself put upon since that immortal line in Moby Dick when Ishmael nudged Queequeg and said, "Hey, you suppose Ahab's a bit off or what?"
He placed a plate in front of me with five slices of tongue and five slices of bacon (made from the blubber I believe), some mustard and what adorned the sides. The tongue is fishy and little stringy. I do not reccommend it. The bacon however has a pleasant flavor and texture, a touch on the smokey side and is complemented quite nicely by the mustard. I stayed and chatted for a while longer and enjoyed a cup of tea and an ice cream bar in the process. Realizing the night finished, I rose and paid my bill only to find the whale was gratis. Or, as the Japanese say, "Saabisu" or "Service."
I went home, again suffused with a satisfaction borne in part from the nihonshu, but a greater part from the whale. I struck the number one entry off my mental "Foods I Intend to Eat" list and started contemplating numbers two and three. Dog and Monkey respectively.
I will wait by the soccer field. I shall catch him.