Golden Week Begins!

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Written like 4:30 Saturday morning
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Been out with the guys for the night. The problem is that if you miss the last bus at 9:30, you can't get back home until the buses run again at 5 a.m. the next day. So we decided that 5 a.m. the next day will suffice for us, and are staying out all night. There were many delightful points of the evening, beginning with:

-Some ladies a chill dude named Max somehow met. They brought two friends, and spoke a little English, so we all headed out to a fairly nice restaurant and had a pretty tasty dinner. I had the fortune of sitting next to the attractive and well spoken Kanako, who was studying English and hoping to become an English teacher in Japan. I now have an entry in my cell phone I can't read! Yay. Her last name looks like "big house of knowledge" or something, but I don't have a clue how to say it. Therefore, just Kanako for now.

-Heading out to a Nomihodai (all-you-can-drink for two hours) afterwards, and chilling there and enjoying the terrible service but fantastic prices. For 1000 yen, we get to have whatever kinds of drinks we want, including some pretty amazing stuff like Lychee Fizz, Pomegranate (when in season), or pretty hard stuff - for two hours. The way they don't lose money, of course, is by having extravagantly priced food they offer you, weak drinks, and maintaining extremely slow service so you can't drink too much. But it still turns out to be a good deal and a great way to meet people. The first night we went, Thursday night, we started out the whole adventure by working our way around the table, having someone order a drink for everyone and then offering a toast. 'Twas good times, and auspicious beginnings.

-After dinner and the nomihodai, we began wandering around the city for a while in search of a club that was recommended to us, but which we now think doesn't exist. Anyway, along the way, we met these insane Japanese rapper guys who spoke some English, but virtually all of their vocabulary was derived from rap. So we had the most obscene conversation I've ever had, but enjoyed a great time hanging out and talking with them. There was some inter-continental beatboxing and skilled "dope rhymes" being thrown down, and was quite a bilingual multicultural affair. These guys were hilarious, and I have a video of them which, unfortunately, is too large to post - you'll have to wait until I get back.

-By this time, we were locked in to an all-night affair. I initially decided I wouldn't mind if I didn't live too close to the city center, but I didn't consider the possibility of mass transit closing. So, between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., I'm locked into a night of partying and can't get home, unless I feel like walking around 25 km or spending about $35 on a taxi. So we continued wandering around for some time (I am not the only one in this position, although I do appear to live the furthest), exploring the city and meeting random people.

-We eventually found an all-night karaoke, bowling, and billiards hall and decided to hang out there for some time. I am writing from there and pretty much just killing time. Two of us are playing pool but several of us are collapsed on their comfy sofas sleeping. In any case, it has been a fun - if long - evening and indicates the beginning of many fun times.

~Danny

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Photos

The rappers
A frame from the movie - Stephen lays down some rhymes while Han provides beats and effects. Japanese look on in awe.

Makiko and Mike
Aww, my dinner buddies across the table make a cute pair. And yes, Makiko really did do the peace sign unprompted per the stereotype.

At the Nomihodai
At Den-En, with everyone enjoying the Nomihodai.

4:00 A.M. Billiards
Mike sleeps behind a pillar at the pool hall.

Dance! Dance! Banana!
What was DDR a revolution from? DDB, of course! Dude, I love his white gloves and moustachioed face.

Comments

[Doreen]

DDB guy looks like a Grapevine guy
Even down to his white gloves-- the "I heard it through the grapevine" dancing raisins of US advertising fame. But then what do expect at 3 AM :-)