City Escape

This last week I did an extended weekend trip with some friends to Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture. Had our fill of dairy products. Cheesecakes, yogurt, and milk. The milk tasted to me more like the milk I’d have in the US, than the more creamy that tends to be sold in Japanese supermarkets. We did a little bit of hiking and checked out the zoo and safari park in the area. I got to feed a giraffe and an elephant. It was neat! Bit blurry, but whatever. Saw the falls and wanted to go home and paint. I was getting a bit sick at the start of the trip and it was getting rougher towards the end. My energy was zapped pretty quickly walking around the zoo. They had a cat show called “The Cats!” that featured mostly cooperative cats doing a few tricks each. Sometimes felt like a magic show with how it seemed like a misdirection on when/how they give the cats treats. Some treats even planted in high places way before the show even started. It was cute. Nutmeg was not having it that day though. Both…