well, the time is slowly slipping by and i am getting ready to leave tomorrow morning. it's sad, but i've had a rock star time.
saturday night's lunacy started with some fantastic mexican food, a quick trip to shosukedon, which features one of my favorite toys. this is it:
this little gem is a remote-controlled object and we had great fun having it stand it line at the bus stop just outside the bar, chasing small children and creeping up on people as they walked past. hours of enjoyment, that one.
the next trip took us to "L bar" with two friends of rob's, sebastian (from germany) and martin (from california). we had one of those "all you can drink" thingies for about 2 hours and, um, well, it snowballed into rollicking hilarity in a karaoke box. in japan, instead of full-blown bars with drunken sailors and strangers, one can go into a box with one's friends and get served a whole lot of drinks while you sing joyfully out of key. rob and i started off with "my hometown," which set a lovely tenor for the evening. highlights include a moving rendition of "my way" done by sebastian, "i think we're alone now" given by martin and my star turn at "borderline." it was not good. we were very loud. however, the true highlight of the evening was rob and shel tackling that perennial favorite, "peaceful easy feeling," sung in tribute to sister sue. s, you are so lucky we couldn't later figure out how to use a calling card, or you would have gotten a silly silly phone call.
sunday morning, fighting hangovers (and succumbing to mcdonald's for lunch -- hey sometimes you just need fried food...), we journeyed to mombetsu, which is where rob was a JET for two years. it's beautiful and peaceful and rob said that he had a great great time there. we drove along the coast of the pacific and took some pictures of a lighthouse for mama. we stayed in a "business hotel" -- our first hotel stay since i arrived -- and i think we got fleeced. in retaliation, i wanted to take the yukata home, but rob was afraid of board of education reprisals, so i demurred. however, we did have a great dinner, izakaya style, which essentially has you and a bunch of friends sitting on the floor ordering tapas-size plates. we were joined by two of rob's co-teachers, a basketball coach/science teacher (sound familiar? he's taller than rob!) and a music/art teacher. two very different guys, but they clearly adored rob. we then went to a hostess bar (i had NO idea it was a hostess bar), where a bunch of Filipino jockeys (mombetsu is horse-farm country -- think lexington) were singing the theme from "titanic."
rob says that the things that crack me up seem odd to him, because, after traveling for 7 years, nothing odd sort of phases him. however, lunch today really put a nice spin on the entire trip. we ate at "half-dime: an old fashioned mine style restaurant."
this is what occurred. it is a huge old-looking building, with a lot of wood and carvings on the outside. when you walk in the door, you are greeted by a low moan and puffs of smoke. upon being presented with the menu, one learns that it is a "roast beef" restaurant. rob ordered some of the house special, while i ordered some pasta.
it was brought to us by our waiter, an italian who had been in japan for 3 weeks. bob marley was playing on the speakers.
in summary: i ate spaghetti in a "wild west meets pirates of the caribbean" themed restaurant served by an italian while listening to reggae.
and so i plan my return.
tonight's dinner is with aika, evan, tomomi and hironko, probably izakaya again. we have to be out of the house by 7:30AM to get to new chitose airport.
sigh.
it is likely i'll next check in with you all from tokyo. in the meantime, be good to each other.
gotohellifyouhatefreedom,
volansake
1 comment:
what, no lyin' eyes?
S
Post a Comment