For my last morning in Okayama, I took my time to get ready and left my luggage at the hotel. I headed over to the station to do some shopping first, then slowly made my way over to Katsudon Nomura for their opening at 11:00am. There was a small line already, but I still managed to get in for their first seating of the day after buying my meal ticket from the machine. 

Nomura is known for their pork cutlet with its signature demi-glace sauce. Despite having breakfast only a couple hours ago, I was greedy and ordered the double roast set, which in addition to the demi-glace sauce, came oyako-styled. Thankfully neither sauces disappoint – they were so good that I cleared the first bowl and finished about 90% of the second bowl.

Afterwards I stopped at a bank to get my account sorted, then it was back to pick up my luggage before taking the train over to Takamatsu. The train to Takamatsu was just under an hour. My original plan after dropping my luggage off at the hotel was to take the train to Ritsurin that afternoon. However, I missed the direct train and the next one wouldn’t be for another 50 minutes. I contemplated walking there since it would have only taken 30 minutes, but I’m glad I didn’t as it started pouring not long afterwards. The rain that held off in Naoshima the previous day suddenly came down with a vengeance. 

I purposely had a chill day planned anyway, so instead of Ritsurin I ended up staying at Takamatsu Station to do some shopping. I finally got my first pair of J!NS which I was really excited for. I got the most basic lenses for just under ¥10,000 and that included the eye exam. I even had time to grab a donut from Mister Donut while waiting for my glasses to be ready. 

For dinner that evening, I walked across the station to grab a meal of yakitori. Takamatsu is known for their jidori, so I made sure to get a skewer of their olive chicken. I somehow also had the spiciest shishito pepper of my life, but overall the meal was super yummy. It stopped raining by the time I finished eating, so I went back to the station on the hunt for some birthday cake. I didn’t manage to find an actual cake slice, but the daifuku cake I ended up purchasing was good enough to do the trick.