Adventures in Japan

More of Tyler Writing Too Much

Our apartment is still very, very bare. No fridge, no stove, no microwave, no real food preparation devices save for a toaster oven. Mmmmm... toast. But now we no longer have to worry about other people seeing our squalor (it's amazing how dirty a whole lot of nothing can get). We bought ourselves some curtains today. And we didn't buy the super cheap ones, neither. They look nice and seem to suit our place just fine. The place where we purchased said curtains is about a half hour hike from our house. I seems longer when carrying curtains. Even longer when carrying a double futon. Not that Carla would know about that. Not that she didn't not.

We didn't just buy curtains today, we returned curtains. No, we didn't buy and return in the same day. Carla had bought some by her lonesome, but that didn't work out so well. I accompanied her this time and my exquisite sense of interior design saved the day. Again. Before we braved the half hour hike home, we decided to fuel up. So we hit the Bikkuri Donkey. Bikkuri is Japanese for surprised. Bikkuri Donkey is very much a big chain, family-style restaurant. Not that there's anything wrong with that. On the contrary, the oversized novelty menus were comforting. Especially since they were multi-lingual. German, French, two kinds of Chinese, and English of course.

Bikkuri Donkey's speciality is Hambagu, which is basically a cross between a hamburger and a meatloaf (basically hamburg). Carla ordered the hambagu stuffed with cheese and mushrooms, I ordered the hambagu topped with gnochi and covered in a white cheese sauce. We both ordered beers as well. Not just any beer, authentic German Donkey Bier! That's the sign of a AAA eating establishment right there. The bier was good. As was the food. The only other thing of note was that the manager was very eager to test his English on us. He was always stopping by our table, eager to help us through the food ordering, utensil using, food eating and bill paying processes. Oh, and Saturdays are non smoking days at the Bikkuri Donkey.

On the walk home we were shanghaied. Dragged into a bar we have always wanted to go in to. A bunch of Brazilians were having a party. And apparently, a party just isn't a party without the tangy zip of a befuddled Canadian couple. There was eating and drinking and music and dancing. We were seated and then they just kept giving us stuff. Beer. Barbecued food. We talked mainly in Japanese. There were birthdays, maybe. People had to stand up. They got gifts. There was a dude in a dress and face paint. We had to stand up. And shoot a flute of tequila. Each. There was a lot of tequila shooting going on.

Neither of us remembers how we got home. Oh yeah, we drank some champagne at the party too.

I woke up with head on toilet. At least it was my toilet.