Another Sayonara Party

Alberto's second and last Sayonara party took place yesterday, starting at an izakaya in the heart of Shinjuku with no less than 23 people attending. We got to sit at what seemed like a table normally reserved for company parties and the like - a huge square thing surrounding some large flower arrangement in the middle. The food was very good too, although there could have been more of it for the price we paid. As usually, nomihoudai (drink all you want) was in effect, so it was a good way to start the evening.

For a few of us, however, that wasn't the start of the evening at all. Several hours before, Skip, Nobu, Staffan and Alberto himself, had come to my apartment for an afternoon of moviewatching and pancakes. As is always the case, everyone found my pancakes very delicious. The snacks my friends brought with them were equally so, especially the limited edition holiday Skipcorn. Legato's bottle of Scorpion Vodka was emptied towards the end of the afternoon, allowing him to eat the scorpion inside, something he has truly been looking forward. As for the movie - Tropic Thunder - it was the best thing Ben Stiller has done in... well, ever. For a comedy, I very much recommend it.

Moving back to the evening event, once our time at the izakaya was drawing to and end, Shinya showed up with a bunch of other people. Together we ended up returning to Matsudo - I hadn't been back there since I moved almost two months ago now - where a night of karaoke awaited us. A nice surprise was that Hana-chan showed up as well. It was too long since I saw her last, but now it seems we are going clubbing in Shibuya on my birthday, so that's all good and well.

Though I really had fun last night, my voice truly ended up destroyed by the end of it, likely due to a combination of spending too much time in the room occupied by the smokers among us (never a good thing while straining your voice like you do when singing), and singing in a way which isn't quite good for my voice in the first place. I wouldn't mind taking some singing lessons sooner or later to deal with that problem (and to improve my singing in general - not that I am bad or anything), but that will just have to wait until after I have learned to play the piano well, begun practicing martial arts again and gotten back into scuba diving. Or gotten my hands on enough money to do it all at the same time.

Now I need to start going through the vocabulary and kanji I should know before the exams I have tomorrow. As the last tests went as bad as they did - because I felt very ungenki when writing them - my teachers offered to allow me to retake them tomorrow together with those who were away from school when the real tests were. So that I will do. Now wish me luck!

A Day of Parties

The Christmas party at school was better than I could ever have imagined. It was, without doubt, the best Christmas party any of my schools have ever hosted. The food served was kind of like a julbord consisting of a variety of fruit, sushi, and pizza. Especially the fruit and the pizza were quite a surprising sight, as both are things that tend to be really expensive here in Japan (with the exception of bananas and pineapple, for some reason). They even has strawberries! Believe me when I say that strawberries are worth their wight in gold here, despite their great popularity.

Once I'd eaten myself full on a variety of very tasty food, I found my way to a room where I could try my hand at the fine art of calligraphy. Sad to say I was not very good, which would prove to have consequenses later on, when I to my surprise was called to stage along with the other calligraphists, and had my work voted down by the ruthless crowd before us. Then came the fun part, getting up on that table with a microphone when accepting my consolation prize (which was ramen! ;D). Though my japanese skills still have a tendency to fly into hiding whenever I really need them, thus preventing me from expressing most of the things that popped into my head at the time, I had a great time anyway - I very much love speaking in front of a crowd.

One of the more interesting acts of entertainment during the party was a drag queen competition, which I am sad to say I took no part in. But I wasn't about to jump into something like that with my head first. If I were going to dress up as a girl, whether for a competition or just for fun, it would be done properly, requiring the right top, the right skirt, the right boots and accessories, hairstyle and makeup. Overall, I'd probably wear quite alot of fur. The boots would likely be lined with it, for one thing. In other words, I would have to do some serious shopping, which would all be fine (who doesn't love shopping, after all?), except I wouldn't currently have the money for it all. Who knows... when I do, maybe you will get to see me dressed up like that.

Once the party at school was over, I went home to wait in Alberto's party in the evening. Meeting up at 8 'o clock outside the koban by the east exit of Shinjuku station, we took the subway to Roppongi, where we went to the greatest drinking place ever! Designed like a block in some ancient Japanese town, or maybe it was as a larger inn from the same era, it really had atmosphere. It was quite expensive too, but Miyasaki-sensei was really generous and paid for all the food, so most of us only had to pay for whatever drinks we ordered. Anyway, the place is truly worth a visit, so I'll make sure to bring all of my friends there as soon as I have the opportunity. 

The people who were there today - apart from Alberto, Miyasaki-sensei and myself - were Sarah, Jennifer, Kitti, Legato, Victor, Kim, Poha, Runo, Yamanaka-sensei, and a friend of Miyasaki-sensei who looked very much like some actor or something whose face I can't quite place. (There was another classmate as well, who's name will be edited in as soon as I am awake enough to remember it.) Once we were full of food and drink - the best food and drink I've had in months - most of us went to see the Christmas lights around Roppongi Hills. They very very nice, especially with the beautifully lit up Tokyo Tower clearly being seen in the background.

Once it was time to return home, the group split in two once inside the subway station. Along with my half, I returned to Shinjuku to take the Yamanote line back to Ikebukuro.  But when we got to Shinjuku, it seemed that the trains going north had already stopped running. As Miyasaki's friend were also heading for Ikebukuro, he suggested to me and Legato that the three of us take the Chuo line eastwards to Akihabara, to hopefully be able to catch the Yamanote line from there before it would be too late.

But alas, somewhere along that trip he started to realize that there was no way we would make it (he was constantly browsing the internet on his phone, keeping track of all the trains and stuff). So when we got to Suidobashi, he urged us off the train, brought us out to the Taxi stand outside the station, and in a very nice gesture paid a taxi for the three of us back to Ikebukuro! I can't express how greatful I am to him at this moment. Without him, both Legato and I would be stuck somewhere in Tokyo right now, with no real possibility of getting home before the morning trains start running. Instead I now have my nice and cozy bed right here before me, and into that bed I will now fall down, let sleep overtake me, and get a really nice rest before tomorrow. Because then awaits a movie afternoon with pancakes and friends, followed by yet another sayonara party of Alberto's.