SAYONARA

 TRIP DATE: Sept 7-8, 2018

All of Collette's tours end with a group dinner.  Some of them have been great, others only so-so.  This one was great!  Falsely billed in our itinerary as a geisha show, our performer actually was a 16 year-old novice (although quite advanced) called a maiko.  Frankly, we wouldn't have known the difference.  Maiko means "dancing child," and they have to live in a geisha house ("okiya") for five years to be eligible to become a geisha.  They are not supposed to have a cell phone, carry money, or have a boyfriend.  Their costumes are generally more colorful than those used by a geisha, they have a red collar at the back, and only the maiko's lower lip is painted red.  Geisha as a profession is not that old, dating from the 1750's.  Ours was a sweetie.

Our dinner setup was quite nice.  The group was seated at four or five tables.
 

This is the startup setup.  Hors d'oeuvres, I guess.  Very pretty.

However, disaster was waiting.  Loni can't eat shellfish, and Alice can't eat chicken.  This was communicated to the restaurant via our guide ahead of time.  Unfortunately, they took this to mean vegetarian as they didn't want to chance causing a reaction.  Thus, all the fine sushi, fish, duck and other goodies were substituted by tofu in every dish for the gals.  Augh!  That was NOT what they wanted.  Indeed, Alice also cannot eat tofu!  Their reactions were priceless.

Sadly, there was no going back.  No re-dos.  Yoshiko to the rescue, at least for Alice, as our sweetheart guide exchanged her meal for Alice's.  I split all of mine with Loni, so we each at least had a taste of everything.  Loni and I also split some of the tofu, but there's only so much of that stuff you can take.  Each person's rice was cooked in individual pots placed over a small flame at each placemat.  When the flame burned the wick down and went out, the rice was done!  Seemed to work for everyone.  I hope they have an industrial size dishwasher in the back.  Here's the sushi and, I think, some sort of dessert.

 

It all was quite good.  Kudos to Collette for not skimping.  As this was our last night, and we weren't sure we would see anyone in the pre-dawn departures tomorrow, we gave Yoshiko her tip envelope at the restaurant.  Of all the guides we have had, and they all have been at least good, she was the best.  She was a great scrambler when the typhoon upset our plans, she worked tirelessly to help people make reservations, and was always cheerful.

The next morning we made one last assault on the excellent breakfast buffet with pastries and made-to-order omelettes, tanking up for the uncertain day ahead until our 2:00 flight.  

 

We finished our packing and I made reservations online for a Morro Bay RV get-together six months hence.  Today was the day that the reso's opened and they fill up fast.  Yea, internet!  At 10:00 we took off for the airport in a shuttle with C&A and another couple.  We got there in plenty of time, and check-in was quick, so there was time for a lunch.  Unlike the chain stuff we suffer in the U.S., they serve real food in Japan.

Sayonara, Japan.  You were everything we had hoped for!