So the photos mightn’t be the best, but they’re there to prove a point.
Actually, two points.
The first was that we did actually get a good clear view of the mountain, far better than I’d been hoping for.
That’s because of the second, Frockster-related point. That photo shows exactly how close the mountain is to the main shinkansen line. I’d seen photos that suggested it was, but was aware they may have been Photoshopped or otherwise digitally modified.
We’d been along this stretch three or four times and the mountain had been, to all intents and purposes, invisible. Maybe there was something in that Frockster Factor after all.
Eventually, with the mountain receding, I turned my attention towards last night's concert review. That might seem like skipping the sightseeing, but the job needed to be finished while the details were fresh in my mind and, in any case, the run into Nagoya across the central plain doesn't offer a lot of visual interest once you've been over it a couple of times.
Still, it’s pleasant to recline the seat, and just let the visuals wash over you once you've got more pressing matters, like concert reviews, out of the way.
We stopped in Nagoya for the dual purposes of having lunch and catching up with one of The Notorious Drinking Girls, who Madam hadn't seen for twenty years. This dynamic duo, on their travels around the Australian countryside apparently had a penchant for soaking up the amber fluid that would have amazed and impressed the average Aussie, but these things invariably go on the back burner when you acquire husbands and young families.
The presence of young kids in these circumstances, apart from cramping your drinking style, tends to influence your choice of lunch venue. We ended up in the Nagoya Station outlet of a Japanese chain that caters for toddlers and ankle biters by offering buckets of plastic wrapped toys to amuse kids while their parents eat and drink.
I watched a six year old become absorbed in what appeared to be a rather basic mobile phone type of video game, and a five year old explore the possibilities of a plastic crab while Madam and the Former Drinker chatted away and I waited for my serving of fried oysters and Yebisu.