So at some point in early April (my memory is getting fuzzy) it was Rock’s birthday, so on the actual day of (a Wednesday) we went to everyone’s favorite all you can eat buffet place, Stamina-taro. Sadly, they no longer had the seasonal grape sherbet, which I was a huge fan of, so I had to settle for orange. Other than that, it was as tasty as ever, although they have yet to bring back the seasoned potato wedges we encountered the very first time we went there. On the way back, Rock mentioned that he was having further festivities on the weekend, involving dinner at a Brazilian buffet place in Nagoya and then drinking at a bar. There was still room for another in the merry band, so I signed up for what ended up being quite the night. We started off on the train to Nagoya, and met up with two of Rock’s friends, one of whom I’ll call Suzy, the other one will be Becky. We headed to the Brazilian buffet place, which was absolutely amazing. They had a number of delectable dishes sitting on a buffet line, and before we could take more than a couple bites of food, some guy came around with chicken wings, meatballs, and some other treats. Not long after that, a different guy came around cutting slices of beef off of a giant skewer and onto our plates.
Yummm!
I’m not sure what they did to it, but those slices were amazing, especially whatever “crust” they put on the outside. Maybe a bit on the salty side, but it was good. While chatting over dinner, the issue of age came up, the ladies obviously bemoaning how old they are, at which point Suzy asked me how old I am. When I told her, she looked floored “Daaamn, you’re young! You could be my son!” She’s in her mid thirties, so it is just out of the realm of possibility, but people usually are surprised when I tell them how old young I am. It gets a bit annoying, but I decided to roll with and started calling her mom. She didn’t take offense to this, so that is now one of the permanent nicknames I call her. Becky has apparently been long-time friends with the owner of this place, so she was calling him over every once in awhile when our drink orders weren’t being taken quickly enough. This guy was probably around 60 years old, but was by far the most genki (energetic, healthy, positive) 60 year old I’ve ever met. He was running all over the place, stopping to dance a little, or toast and have a sip of beer with customers. He was making sure everyone was having a good time, and he looked like he himself was having a good time doing it. After seeing him running around the whole time with boundless energy I wasn’t as surprised (or creeped out) as I normally would have been when I found out his wife is only 30 years old, and judging from the picture of her in a carnaval outfit, not exactly hard on the eyes. Another 60 year old wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. Good on you, old man, good on you. Speaking of carnaval outfits, they had a couple of ladies dressed up in the proper garb, which is to say they weren’t dressed very much at all, dancing around in front of the stage and with customers. There was a little house band on the stage, too, that got people up and moving, which is saying a lot, since a good number of the customers are your older salaryman type. Let me tell you, I thought I couldn’t dance for shit. And I can’t. But I looked like freakin Fred Astaire compared to these tipsy Japanese businessmen. Becky must have also tipped off the owner that it was Rock’s birthday, because at one point during the meal, the band started playing Happy Birthday and brought him up on stage to give him a little cake. A little later in the meal, as the dancing was starting to become the main attraction, a circle formed around dance floor, and the carnaval ladies danced in the middle. At one point, they started grabbing random guys from around the circle to dance with them in the middle. These guys understandably had no clue how to dance, and it basically devolved into them receiving what may as well have been a lap dance. One guy in particular ended up on his knees with the lady putting on a show for him, and at one point he literally fell backward due to what I can only assume was him being overwhelmed by the energy she was producing.I realize that's an awkward situation, especially given that he’s used to Japanese women, who aren’t nearly that forward, especially when comes to things provocative/sexual, but seriously dude, at least stand your ground!
This Japanese businessman was not, indeed, "ready for [her] jelly"
And yes, shoot me now, I just quoted a Destiny's Child song.
Anywho, it was fun to watch these guys get put waaay outside of their comfort zone. A bit expensive, but the food was awesome and the atmosphere super energetic, so I wouldn’t mind going back sometime.
After the program at the restaurant winded down we grabbed the car and headed to Steps, a bar in Sakae where Becky bartends. Suzy had paid the whole bill at the Brazilian place, so on the way back I asked her how much it was. She refused to take any money, which I felt a bit bad about, seeing as it wasn’t a cheap meal, but it was Rock’s birthday and she wanted to treat, so who am I to argue? When we got to Steps, there weren’t a ton of people there, but apparently it picks up after the big bar/club ID lets out at 1:30am. People started showing up for Rock’s birthday, and after a couple drinks we got a massive 7-person game of darts going. Granted, it was just 301, not cricket (my preferred game when it comes to darts), but it was a lot of fun.
This game of darts was EPIC!
Overall, the crowd was a little bit older, but none of them acted their age, that’s for sure. In general, I don’t like going out to the bars, especially when I only really know one or two people out of the larger group, as I just find it to be awkward. Every once in awhile, though, I feel like I should make an active attempt to be more social. This was one of those times, and it was initially a success.
Rock ready to scarf his B-day cake...
The problem lies in the fact that the last train out of Nagoya to Ogaki is just after midnight, and I would have had to leave the bar before midnight to hop the subway to Nagoya station and catch the train. That would have meant maybe an hour at the bar, and at that point things were just getting started. So I said screw it, and decided to stay out all night, until the early train at around 5:30am. The nice part is that Steps stays open all night, so it’s not as if we had to wander the streets. Still, I’d say around 2:30 or 3am-ish, I started to crash. I felt bad, because people assumed I wasn’t having a good time, and would ask if I needed a drink. In reality, though, I was just tired, and increasingly bored. A couple times I took their advice, and the drink would perk me back up a bit, but it didn’t last long. At one point rather late in the night, Rock, being the kind-hearted soul he is, said he would grab one of the young bartender ladies to dance with me. I politely refused, saying I was fine but just a bit tired, to which Rock replied, “oh, she’ll wake you up”. I know he meant well, but I’m not a big fan of dancing with random strangers, especially when someone has essentially asked them to dance with me. It really doesn't get much more awkward than that. So I briefly danced with her, but I’m sure the look on my face belied just how bored and disconnected I was. I kind of felt bad, but she eventually got just as bored and slinked away. My opinion of her wasn’t the highest to begin with as earlier in the evening she had stripped down to her bra for money from the guys sitting at the bar. Way to keep it classy.
Overall, it was a fun night of drinking, and I had a good time watching Rock enjoy his birthday festivities, but it just ended up being too long. I’m not the biggest club/bar-goer in the world, and a full night is just too much. The 2:30am-ish bar close back in Madtown is just about on the money for me at this point.
Me and the Rockster
Having managed to stay out all night, though, I landed back on Rock’s radar of people who might like to go drinking, so one Thursday evening I got a call from Rock to go out drinking in Gifu at our bar of choice, Bierhall. I don’t mind this place since they have Guiness (albeit at an exhorbitant price) and pretty tasty tacos on the food menu. I met up with Rock, Yuki (one of the engineers from Christmas), and Suzy. After parting with Yuki, we took the train to Ogaki. Having only eaten tacos at the bar, I was still quite hungry, and it just so happened that Rock had a crockpot of dirty rice (the culinary dish, it wasn’t actually dirty, people) he was trying to go through before he left on a trip to the Philippines. So we headed over there for some food and another drink or two. We sat around chatting, and it was quite refreshing as Suzy is probably the first Japanese person I’ve met who seems to understand my sense of humor and can keep the banter going at a strong clip.
If I recall correctly, I had a pretty lazy weekend given the previous weekend’s antics. The weather was starting to get decent, so Jon, Sarah, and I ventured over to Ogaki Park with a soccer ball, baseball and gloves, and my berimbau. It was nice to just chill and kick around the soccer ball and feel (somewhat) like a kid again. When we got sick of passing around the ball, I plopped on a bench and busted out my berimbau. Sarah and Jon insisted I start singing some capoeira songs as well, and before I realized it, I had a mini-audience of 10 or so kids gathered ‘round with semi-confused, semi-mesmerized looks on their face. I played for a couple more minutes, and when I stopped the kids all started clapping. It was kind of cool, and honestly I felt like that was more “internationalization” than I generally get accomplished at work. But overall it was nice, lazy weekend, allowing me to get ready for my mom and sisters to visit the next weekend!!
