asakusa afternoon

i'm fighting off yet another sore throat.  it's a nice bright red, very swollen and even more painful.  sigh.  i tried not to let it ruin a sunday with Ro though. 

Ro made pancakes this morning and then we decided to go get massages.  we found this place in asakusa, momidokororakuya, and made an appointment for 1pm.  we walked there and found it relatively easy, one street off nakamise with a very "chic japanese" store front.

i was kind of nervous when we got there and we had to wait for about 10 minutes.  the staff were all dressed in what i can only describe as black japanese scrubs and plastic flip flop-like geta.  the mood was very japanese, with shamisen music playing and japanese decor.   being right in the middle of asakusa, it probably attracts tourists and japanese alike.

the lady i got was a bit talkative and asked me all the "classic" oh-my-god-you're-a-foreigner-but-speak-japanese! questions that i didn't really feel like answering, but eventually she stopped and pushed nice and hard and on all the right places.  i hate when people don't know how to "find" the knots, but i guess being a paying customer helps.  i could have gone for another 40 minutes.  we each got a coupon for an additional 10 minutes free on our next 40 minute session, and i'll at least be going back for that, if not more.

we wandered around asakusa but ended up almost right across the street from the massage place at edomae yakiniku okamoto, where we've been before on a date back when we first started dating.  we finished that off with a cup of gelato from italia gelato, just around the corner.

we walked home and Ro caught the end of the horse races, which he lost, yet again.  i have started jokingly calling keiba as his other girlfriend, kei-chan.  he doesn't seem to think it's very funny.  imagine!  :P

he's napping now and my throat is acting up again.  i might just have to join him.  slow sundays like this are my favorite...