Picnic and Peruvian

It has yet to turn cold here in Oyama, which allowed us to have a nice picnic over the weekend.  There seem to be a multitude of parks all over town and Drew had scoped out a new one to take me to.  It had a great pond to enjoy as we ate.

The park had a running track, walking path, baseball court, tennis court, playground, and a small hedge maze.  In case you didn't know, I have a love of life size mazes and Drew is always on the lookout for me.  This one was a tad neglected (you could see through to the other side) but it still put a smile on my face.  After eating, we made our way to a nearby mall.  Our main objective was to get a scoop of Baskin Robins ice cream.  Cookies and cream for me!

Later that night we ventured into a Peruvian restaurant that was recommended by a Peruvian guy we had met a few weeks earlier.  Before this experience I didn't know much of anything about Peruvian food.  It mostly reminds me of Spanish but I could definitely see the influences of Italian and Asian cuisines as well.  

Great atmosphere

For an appetizer we ordered the Tamale.  It was so fantastic that it was gone before I even thought to take a picture.  As my main course I ordered a shrimp chupe (stew/chowder) and Drew got some sort of meat on pasta with some sort of sauce.  We have no idea what was it was, but it sure was delicious.  The owner was very friendly and told us all about the history of Peruvian food.  Apparently, at the end of each month they have an all-you-can-eat event where you are able to try a variety of their dishes.  We'll be keeping that in mind.