Doing something different for a change

After posting about my "dilemma" about Dolf's birthday, I got advice from my brother, Toad. He told me I should go. I found it unusual coming from him since he is usually the "hermit-type" in the family. But Toad did make sense, he usually does.

After reading his comments, I went to try to call CH. To assuage my guilt. Unfortunately our stupid phone here can't connect with Globe. So I surfed the net again. I felt a bit guilty knowing that none of the class would actually go to his party. In the morning I bought him a small cake to "compensate" for my future absence. Then I felt guilty, since there were people in the CC Hall (where I do my Internet) who were talking about not going to his party. So probably no one might go.

So I took Toad's advise and went to the party. Dolf was surprised to see me, and told me he thought I wouldn't come. He was quite pleased! We went to a Yakitori place near the eki (train station) for his party. The food was excellent! And we could drink any drinks in the menu for a certain amount of time! There were about 14 people who came.

We were first served this green beans boiled with salt. During my last Studytour, my host father told me that if I eat these beans, I won't get a hangover when I drink! And it worked. Plus, I really love the taste! I don't know what it is called though! I also got a beer, since Dolf is German, it would be rude not to drink at least one beer. The next was salad. Another yummy meal! I only got a little, since the servings were communal, very different from the Japanese restaurants who would actually serve individually platted dishes. Even with the little greens that I got, they were still tasty and the dressing was great! Next followed cubes of tofu with bonito flakes on top. We also had the option to eat it with salt. (And if you know me, I looove salt!). I was also delicious, although I had a hard time eating it with chopsticks! :( Spicy Chicken wings followed ( which I thought to be very un-Japanese, but who am I to judge). We were then served two servings of french fries, (which is chips to the Australians, as I discovered last night). The first one was salty and peppery. Great! The second one was peppery with garlic. Also great! I then ordered Grapefruit juice! (I loooove grapefruit). Then was the main course, Yakitori. I ate the Chicken one and the grilled peppers, which were charred (just the way I like them!). Later on, I ordered umeshuu, plum wine which is slightly sweet, hence easy to drink. I also ordered orange juice and then, umeshuu again. Which makes for 3 alcoholic beverages for the night! I got a bit drunk when dessert arrived. It was lychee or almond pudding with some type of milk! Very delicious, and it helped take out the bitter taste of alcohol in my mouth! As I mentioned before anyone who attends the party had to pay Y3000. What was the total amount of the party? Y45000. WOW di ba?

I planned to only stay until the party. But the others planned to go out clubbing. In the end, I was pursuaded to go with a small group consisting of Dolf, Simone, Meryam, James (Australian), Yochihiro (?)/Yo, myself and Terry (?) (Australian). We ended up going to Roppongi and going to a club called Vanilla. Dolf was nice enough to treat me to beers (and ended up drinking 3). At first everyone but me and Meryam were dancing in the dance floor. After a couple more beers, I also danced. It felt good. Probably in the Philippines I would be so ashamed to do my awkward moves, but in Japan, no one knows me. Plus, I found that there were far worse dancers on the floor. I noticed a lot of Japanese just doing one action in different tempos, swaying back and forth with their legs apart. I looks funny in reality. (Plus, the beers might have helped as well). We danced until very late that we missed the last train home. This meant lingering around Roppongi until the train station opens, which is at 5:15. It was about 3-ish in the morning when we left the club. As we left, Simone was sooo nice that she held my hand as we were trying to get our way out of the club through the mass of people. She would hold my hand tight when the crowds become a big too tight, so that I wouldn't get separated. ( Maybe they noticed that I have never been to a bar before).

We had about 2 hours plus to spare. So we went to eat. We spotted a Ramen place which was sooo cheap in Japanese Standards. A HUGE bowl of ramen, with a bowl of rice and 8 pieces of gyoza for only Y720. I didn't have the courage to eat such a huge serving that ended up ordering just ramen! I wanted to wake up so I ordered Tantanmen, a spicy flavors ramen. The place was great, so many choices of ramen, the food was delicious and the price just right.

Afterwards, we were walking around, first to look for the "Irish Pub" where we could stay and chat and drink but we couldn't find it. I ended up buying coffee (Cafe Latte) at Excelsior Coffee to keep me awake. Terry bought coffee and a toblerone. Meryam bought a cookie. Everone else just relaxed a bit.

We still had time to "waste" hence, we just walked around. We spent the rest of the morning at Roppongi Hills, which was like a park. I got to see Tokyo Tower from a distance.

We ended up getting back to Kunitachi around 7 am. I didn't want to sleep yet, else it will ruin my body clock. So I ended up doing my chores, grocery, cleaning the room and laundry.

What was the damage for the night? About Y5000++. But I think the others spent more since they drank more. Did I enjoy it? Yes, very much! I got to talk to some new people. I got to do things I've never done before. (One of James' to do in Japan was miss the last train and eat ramen after clubbing). I enjoyed the company. (Thanks Toad!) Was it exhausting? Very much so! Will I do it again? Parties, probably, clubbing, probably not. While it was enjoyable, I'm not really a “drinking, dancing person.” Do I regret going? Definitely not! :) (Hope you would be happy with this new development Lai!) hehe!

On a bright note, Toad also noticed that most of my posts are food related. Since I live a “psuedo-boring” life here, the highlight of my days are usually the food that I ate. When I get my keitai, I will definitely take pictures! :P