Nights in Shirokiya
...written on 2001-01-28, @ 02:20:32
Tales of Kim's Life in Japan
Sat January 27,2001
Nights in Shirokiya, seeming without end,
Sushi was eaten, and French fries too, my friend.
12 Bottles of beer, a coke here and there,Bring us the check please, we gotta get outta here.Nights in Shirokiya, red faces abound,5pm-5am, plenty of time to drownIvan, Chad and I said good-bye to Lana as we headed to our favorite restaurant, Shirokiya. Lana was feeling bushed, but Ivan and I were pumped after our "present perfect" class success and ready to celebrate.
Our favorite waiter (yes, we have become regulars here), Takeshi, showed us to a booth with a view. The boys ordered their beer, I my coke, and we selected our favorite pickin's from the menu. Our conversations varied from work, to food, romance, travel, bike races, the Japanese, you name it, we talked about it.
The drinks and food came, were consumed and we ordered another round. Takeshi told me that they were out of boiled soybeans.
"You're out of soybeans?!", I said in mock surprise.
Takeshi shook his head in mock shame and said, "Shit.", and we all laughed. Then Takeshi told us that next month he was moving to Los Angeles for a year to study English. "Shit", we all said at the same time, and then Takeshi laughed.
It was really fun hanging out there, telling our personal vomit stories, recounting personal adventures, goals, fears, and discussing massage therapy ethics.
Three a.m. rolled around and the boys were anxious to introduce me to another bar, so we paid our bill and left. We strolled under the drizzly Ogaki sky, Ivan pedaling slowly on his bicycle holding his umbrella over his head while Chad and I walked under his umbrella. We gaily stomped on the fuzzy white orb reflections of the streetlights in the narrow damp black tar streets.
Chad stuck his head into "The Pub" even after I read the sign in the window that said "It is clozed now." The owner of the bar came out,shook hands with me, and told Chad that he was sorry, but it was indeed closed, but to please come back another time.
We were still itching for something to do, so we went back to Shirokiya to eat and drink. It was funny to see the faces of the Japanese as we came skulking back in. "Yep, we're back.", said Chad. After two more rounds of drink and food, we were the last ones to leave but not before making a date with Takeshi to take him out for a goodbye party on his free night the next Friday. (The poor boy has been working like a fiend to save money for his trip to America. He gets to work at 4pm and leaves for home at 7am.)
We jaywalked the intersection near my apartment. We were laughing and talking a little too loud and in a self conscious moment, I said "Shhh, let's keep it down." Chad responded to that with a little yell saying that he worked at "Aeon", one of our competitors, and Ivan and I giggled guiltily.
I bid adieu to the two looped gentlemen, both now precariously perched on Ivan's bicycle. Ivan was weaving from left to right asking, "Are we riding in a straight line yet?"
I smiled as I watched them disappear around the corner.