Loose ends

I was just looking through past entries and realized that I have a few loose ends to tie up.

Karaoke was so much fun!!  It was me, Lance, Lily, Kelly, Phil (Kelly's boyfriend), Greg, and Sayaka (Greg's girlfriend).  We ended up going to a place called Melody where we had the choice to get one hour of karaoke for 530 yen each or one hour of karaoke with all you can drink (alcohol) for 870 yen each.  We opted for the all you can drink and we definitely got our money's worth.  In Japan, each group gets their own room and although this eliminates the rush of public performance (as the only ones who can see and hear you are your friends) it also means that you can sing much more often and there is no waiting for your name to be called.  The only problems I found were that there is an echo thing on the machine that is supposed to make you sound better but I think it makes things sound worse.  I guess the idea is just that if you are a terrible singer it will cover it up a bit but if you are actually any good it makes you sound bad.  Also, they don't have the original album music for any songs.  It is just an electronic reproduction and it makes you sound terrible too.  There isn't that feeling like you are actually James Hetfield with the squealing guitars in the background.  It was still a lot of fun and I lost my voice by the end of the night!  Sayaka sang a few songs in Japanese as well and that was really cool; trying to keep up with hiragana scrolling across the screen!

After Karaoke we went to a bar called the Music Box.  I went there with Rin (the teacher who left a few weeks ago) a few times.  It is really tiny but the owner is really nice and likes to practice his English.  Lance and I had had a lot to drink and ended up arguing loudly about George W Bush and American politics in general while Lily talked to some other gaijins that had wandered in.  Everyone else went home after the karaoke.

Once the Music Box closed Lily and I went to my house and Lance went home.  I didn't think that I had had that much to drink but I was definitely feeling it and spinning so much I could barely close my eyes!!  All you can drink is very deceiving!  You don't pay attention to how much you have had at all!  And I was drinking this berry shochu stuff (which is some wine alcohol mix thing) mixed with oolong tea.  It tasted just like berry tea!

The next day, Lily and I woke up at around 12:00.  We got up at around 2:30 and decided to head to the convenience store for some grub.  We barely got there and enjoyed some sushi and snacks in the 7/11 parking lot before decided that the library would be the perfect place to kill a hangover.  We got some magazines and headed to the cafe but it wasn't long before I was snoring and creasing the cover of my National Geographic.  We headed back to my house so Lily could get her stuff and we could go to the station.  Lily had a 2 hour bus ride to Fuji-Yoshida ahead of her.  We ended up stopping at a disgusting little restaurant not far from the station to get some more grub before Lily's bus left at around 6pm.

The night was fun but the killer hangover sucked.  And what was worse was that I realized that I would have had just as much fun if I hadn't had a drop of alcohol.  It's karaoke for god's sake!  I would have fun doing it outside in the rain in a mudslick!!  And I certainly don't need any liquid courage to sing!  Due to this fact I have decided to give up drinking indefinitely.  I will, of course, still allow myself to have the ocassional Beam for spiritual purposes (mostly to lift mine when I have had a particular rough go of things).  But I have been out to a bar twice since making this resolution and have had nothing stronger than soda!

Some other updates maybe I should provide here:

Gatito has been eating and drinking lots and still wobbles and falls down as much as she ever did.  She comes in the house for a few hours at a time very occassionally (when it was raining, etc.)  Byron has now been fully vaccinated against anything that she could catch from Gatito and she has stopped even being annoyed at her presence here.  The problem is that I am allergic to Gatito and also that she smells bad and is dirty.  I have to limit where she can go in the house so she doesn't smell up my bed, etc.  I have a feeling that she will be coming in more frequently as the weather gets colder but I am really trying hard to limit this.  She has a whole host of cats outside that can keep her warm and keep her company.

My bike still has not returned.  I tried filling up the tire of the garbage bike and it is popped so I have to go get a new tire at D2 (only 1000 yen) but I don't know how to put it on and to be honest I just haven't felt like dealing with it yet.

I am planning to go to Tokyo next weekend with the boys (the regular crew of Adam, Lance, Joel, and Greg--I am the only female foreign teacher at Unitas by the way).  I am really stoked to go to some vegan (that's right, not just vegetarian but VEGAN) restaurants there.  Their plan is to go up Saturday after Adam gets off work (around 6 or 7) and stay out all night partying.  Then see some sights on Sunday, do some shopping and head back late Sunday evening/Sunday night.  My plan is to get to Shibuya (a ku--or city--in Tokyo where all the veg restaurants are) in time for one meal Saturday night.  Then go clubbing with the boys in Roppongi (big club district) with no drinking (Adam doesn't drink either) until I get too tired or bored or fed up to continue and then find myself a capsule hotel to spend the night.  There is one called Capsule Hotel Fontaine Akasaka that allows women--on their own floor.  Akasaka (not Asakusa--where the giant lantern and the candy markets were) is right next to Roppongi.  Then I will meet up with them in the morning and head to Harajuku to see some fashionistas hanging out in the park, eat at another veg restaurant, and do some shopping.  I don't think I will be much in the mood for museums or touristy sights.  So that is the plan anyway.  Of course the most difficult part will be meeting up with the boys again with no cell phone in the maze that is Tokyo...

Anyway, those are the updates.  I am about to go write two more entries about specific day trips in a minute...