A taste of Pakistan

Last night after Japanese class, Ellen and I went for a spectacular meal at 'Lahori' in Hikari. It wasn't my first visit to the charming little Pakistani eatery, but it was definitely the best! The couple who run the restaurant (Japanese lady and Pakistani husband) are so sweet, and their little girl who came to talk to us, was one of the cutest kids I have seen in a while. We were actually the only customers there, and so it was almost as if we were just having a meal in the house of this lovely family, as they chatted to us, made dinner for their daughter, and gave us beautiful apricot juice on the house! When the chef-guy had finished taking our order, I decided to try out one of the only words of Urdu that I still remember, in order to see if he was actually from Pakistan! I mumbled an embarrassed 'shukriya' (thank you), to which I was greeted with a broad smile, and a confirmed look of understanding, but also surprise! Yey...I didn't make a fool of myself after all! God, that's cultural exchange for you...a British girl, speaking a word of Urdu to a Japanese-speaking Pakistani guy, who owns a Pakistani and North Indian restaurant in western Japan. Love it! I explained that I had been to Pakistan, some years ago, and reeled off a couple of places I had visited. It was, however, a little embarrassing when I couldn't remember the name of the place in Kashmir I had spent most of my time...bless him, he spent about 5 minutes listing places in Pakistan...to which I replied 'no....no...no....'! After he went off to start our cooking I suddenly remembered the name, and ran to the serving hatch with a 'sumimasen....Mirpur!' Again, he smiled broadly, and I returned to my seat feeling relieved that I hadn't completely lost all memory of my time in his wonderful country. What a lovely evening it was....oh, and for those that are interested..I had samosas, beef masala, rice, and spicy onion nan. Divine!!!!