Friday night some of Kuniko’s coworkers came over for some steaks and wine, and it turned out to be a pretty good party. One slight hitch when they showed up an hour late and the cooks accidentally killed a bottle of wine waiting for them. Still, we managed most of our entertainment requirements and everyone had a good time. Some drinks were spilled, apple martinis were consumed, and there was even a cocktail napkin catching fire. Excellent.
Saturday Kuniko got up early (amazingly enough) and went to work at the usual time, and I slept in, cleaned up the house, and did some paperwork at home. That night we watched the late show of “Sherlock Holmes” which turned out to be quite entertaining. I was relieved to be able to watch the show with the original voices instead of dubbed over Japanese voices. This is becoming more and more of a trend at the big theaters in Japan – I am really surprised. It is a lot easier for Japanese people to watch Hollywood movies when they don’t have to keep looking down at the subtitles, but it is weird to me to watch a movie with Leo DeCaprio speaking Japanese. They always have the same 5-6 voice actors for these things, which subtracts even more from the believability factor.
Sunday we slept in, did laundry, and took a long beach hike to Akashi to burn some calories and enjoy the beautiful weather. Then an afternoon reading (Raymond Chandler) and a dinner at Da Lorenzo – the “better-than-anyone-has-a-right-to-expect” restaurant across the street from our old apartment in Okubo. After dinner we walked back home and shared a bath to recharge for this week. Luckily, my week is pretty easy, and filled with fun stuff including a half day off, an evening at a new yakitori (tonight) and another sushi dinner at a restaurant that Kuniko really liked. Life is good.
