Cappiness: Capybara Cafe in Tokyo

 02 April 2025

Some dear friends from Hawaii were visiting Tokyo and we had the chance to meet up and spend a day together. One of them actually visited me the last time I was in Japan 30+ years ago, so it was also kind of nostalgic/surreal. 

They were staying in Shibuya so we started out there, breakfasting at a Hawaiian themed restaurant called Eggs 'n Things. When we paid, the host was very excited to meet some folks from Hawaii. 

The pancakes weren't the famous fluffy, jiggly kind, but the mountains of whipped cream made up for it. Mine was cherry blossom and matcha flavored. 

The cuteness is everywhere in Tokyo. 

The capybara cafe was called Cappiness and advance reservations are required. We had to wait for the capybaras to have their break time before our group was let in. Each group was given one cup of grass. some people rationed out the grass stalks carefully one by one and others fed them by handfuls and let much of it fall to the floor. It seems capybaras are too finicky to eat off the floor.  

There were a couple of cute stuffed capybaras (in case you couldn't get one of the real ones to come near you, I guess).

There was about 25 minutes of feeding the capybaras. Some of them were more enthusiastic than others. An attendant (standing, with apron) was monitoring everything closely the entire time. 

Their hair feels extremely coarse, just the way it looks.

They haven't got the cleft upper lip that some animals have, and the way their mouth moves when they eat is really entertaining. 

There were three in total, and after a while these two had had enough of people and moved into a corner to chill. The third one just kept eating!

The attendant gave a brief informational presentation with really adorable drawings on a large notepad. 

There was a spin the wheel prize giveaway (extra grass, a capybara photo, stickers, or magnets) for each group.

At the end, the capybaras were given a dish of pellets and each group got a group photo taken together with them.

This was definitely a unique and fun experience. 

Japan Day 2: Tokyo Ryogoku and a new ukulele

13 March 2025

Travel requires so much more walking than I am used to. Between that and jet lag, I am ready to go to sleep by 5:00PM. Today I managed to stay awake through it until bedtime and watch the sumo tournament on TV. 

Speaking of sumo, today's wanderings took me to Ryogoku, the area of the sumo arena. I could see the roof of it from the train station. Even though the sumo wrestlers and everyone supporting them are away for the tournament in Osaka right now and the place is deserted, I still couldn't resist stopping and having a look around. 

The train station is decorated with sumo-themed murals. 

At the station entrance is a statue of two sumo wrestlers, the chubby way they are depicted reminds me of the paintings by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. 

The arena, called Ryogoku Kokugikan, looks smaller amongst all the new high-rise buildings than I thought it would. 

In the background below, you can see the Tokyo Skytree, a tower which can be seen from various spots around Tokyo just like the TV Tower (Fernsehturm) in Berlin.

Speaking of towers, this is the tower in which the drummers sit during the tournament to drum before and after each day's event. 

Here is the ticket office.

Even the benches on the street are sumo-themed. There is a museum exhibiting the paintings of Hokusai nearby, so this is the perfect pairing: sumo sketches by Hokusai.

Around the corner from the Kokugikan is this hidden gem. This little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Shimofusa-ya Shokudō is run by an old couple and serves home-style Japanese cooking, nothing fancy. 

Service is cafeteria style: you select your main and sides from a glass case and put them on a tray; the owners add rice, miso soup, and tea and you take it to your table. It was like the neighborhood diner, everyone but me appeared to be regular customers. The food was simple but delicious and just what I had been wanting. I was also given a dish of sliced apples for dessert on the house. 

After paying my bill, the owner brought me these little handmade origami figures and proceeded to explain to me what each one is (peace crane, samurai helmet, ninja throwing star). According to customer reviews I read online, she gives these to all the foreign visitors, such a sweet gesture. 

Behind the restaurant was a little park called the Kyu-Yasuda Gardens with a man-made lake in the middle and a tiny somewhat dilapidated shrine. 

There is that Skytree again...

This man in a black suit with a leather briefcase could have stepped right out of any anime.

There were a handful of other people in this small park, but it was quite peaceful. The day was a bit steamy after the rain so I was glad of a bit of shade. 

There was a photographer shooting something, I followed her view and there was a fancy duck on the water. 

According to the informational sign at the park entrance, the lake is in the shape of the Japanese character for heart 心 and was designed with a system that ebbs and flows with the nearby river. 

I was lucky to get some nice photos of a heron and his turtle buddies.

The day's other agenda item was musical instrument shopping, since I wasn't able to bring my ukulele with me. In the first shop I browsed, no one even greeted me, so I moved on. I found a shop called Shimoda Musical Instruments that had fewer ukuleles but far friendlier staff. With the help of a very nice gentleman I purchased my new friend, this inexpensive but sweet-sounding ukulele from Kailua. He told me that he had scouted a number of uke factories in China, and Kailua stood out from the rest because all the workers were not just assembly line but actually played the ukulele and were familiar with it.

It was a good day's wanderings.

Corazón Maya Spanish School

22 March, 2019

I spent the past week at  Corazón Maya Spanish School in San Pedro La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. Altough I am moving on for personal reasons, the school is wonderful and I would certainly recommend them for the beautiful location, family atmosphere, friendly teachers, and the tranquility.

Here is the view upon entering the gate from the street. The propery is long and narrow, going all the way down to the lake.
 

 A little farther down the path looking back up towards the office. There are flowering plants and trees throughout the property.

Further down the path beyond the office buildings and are the bungalows, tiny cottages which can be rented for a very reasonable price. Many of the students choose to live in this peaceful garden.

The experience of living with my host family has also been very rewarding in a completely different way, and I definitely speak more Spanish with them than I would otherwise, as I tend to be a bit of a hermit when left to myself.

Past the bungalows next to come to the open space of the garden which is dotted with little pavilions in which each teacher-student pair takes lessons together.

At the end of the garden is a lovely little pool; swimming pools are somewhat rare here, so this is quite the find.

At the very bottom next to the lake is the vegetable garden, and beyond that, the lake.

The private beach may be small, but it has spectacular views of the lake.

The school has activities in the evenings 4 times per week.

It's nice that they have evening activities, so that the afternoon students are able to participate as well.

 Making tamales was  time consuming but not nearly as difficult a process as I had anticipated. Everyone had a good time.

These tamales, also called paches, are made with potates rather than cornmeal.

Playing Spanish vocabulary bingo while waiting for the tamales to steam.I

Another evening, we made tostadas. Much faster top make than tamales, and also delicious.

They are careful to make sure there are vegetarian options available for those who want.

A few students were leaving, so there were some farewell speeches after dinner.

And if all that isn't enticing enough, there is a sweet little cat named Puma living at the school.

Thank you to all the wonderful people at Corazón Maya Spanish School for a beautiful experience!