Chatting & Eating

Have just had a very nice weekend, full of chatting, eating, chatting, and eating! The weekend got off to a good start on friday night, when I found myself out on a kind of 'double date', when I thought I was just meeting Hannah for yakitori!! I knew that she wanted to meet up with a certain Yanai guy later on in the evening, but when we bumped into him and his mate before dinner, we inevitably ended up going for food with them! The next 2 hours, were awkward and often painful to say the least...but also incredibly fun!

We headed to Yakiniku (due to the massive queue for yakitori), and began our conversation of broken English and broken Japanese. I quickly realised that the mate (Koji..or cutie as he introduced himself as!) was married, as I spied the ring as soon as we sat down. But I was still happy to be there, and offer support and reassurance to Hannah, just as I suspect Koji was doing for Saki. We exhausted our Japanese quite quickly, and although I persevered throughout the evening, broken English held sway over the conversation in general. It was really funny, as now and again, Hannah and I would have a quick side conversation in English, and the boys would also have a short Japanese chat! Then we would come back together and try and find some common ground again! The conversational highlights range from a discussion on cabbage (you had to be there, but Hannah's look of bewilderment, as she thought that someone had stolen her cabbage, was priceless!), halloween costumes, ships and Tenerife (Koji works with ships!), and when was your first drink/cigarette! Hannah had a real knack of asking Koji a question about ships just as he was putting some bibimba into his mouth...so the poor guy had to chew and also try and work out his answer in English! He saw the funny side though, and it soon became a bit of a game!! The evening ended with drunken karaoke, along with Kat, Lee and J-friends, and a beautiful rendition of Orange Range's 'Hana' by Saki and Koji. It was a really fun night, and it was great to spend some time with Hannah. She's a cool girl, and I thank her for adding 'random involuntary faux double date' to my list of experiences in Japan. Thanks Han, I haven't laughed so much in ages!

Saturday morning, nursing a little bit of a sore head, I headed off to Yamaguchi City for a spot of shopping with Kat, and then a big Mexican meal/party/gathering at Alex's before a hike to Chomonkyo Gorge on Sunday. The shopping was short, but satisfying, with a few small purchases from Muji (pens and bath salts!!). Kat and I had a quick Mr Donuts stop (sorry Kat!!!), and then we made our way over to Alex's. The night was really great. It was lovely to chat to some of the newbies, and to people I don't often get a chance to see. The food was amazing ; chilli, fajitas, tacos, salsa, guacamole, rice, and chocolate mousse. Alex you did a grand job girl! Unfortunately I didnt last long into the evening, as I started to feel a bit ill, and so went to lie down on Alex's bed. Had a really nice long chat to Kat though (who was also feelin not quite 100 % after a big one the night before), about families, life, and the universe!!!! Our sleep that night was far too short, but the main culprit was way too good a friend, host and cook, for any of us to be mad at her! In fact her druken conversation with Matt at 5.30 ("Matt, it's 5.30...sssshhhhhhh!"), was hilarious now looking back, as she talked about Miffy, Wales and other random subjects, in between falling in and out of her bed! Less than 3 hours later it was time to wake up! Kat and I decided we couldn't face the Chomonkyo walk, due to feeling rough, and general exhaustion. Alex, Louise, Jen and Matt were real troopers though, and headed off for the hike. A certain person's sunday morning perkiness was a clear sign that she was still drunk, and I wondered how she would get through the day!! Apparently she did ok though!

A great weekend, with great friends (old and new), and lots of laughs! It was just what I needed!