We had quite a weekend. It all started on Friday night, when we agreed to meet up with the Yamaji’s in Osaka after work. Mr. Yamaji used to spend quite a bit of time in Osaka and he wanted to introduce us to a tachinomi (standing restaurant/bar) in Umeda. Friday actually turned out to be a very busy time in Osaka. It was the first payday for all the new employees in Japanese companies, so lots of younger folks were out burning their first paycheck on drinks with friends.
We followed Mr. Yamaji to the tachinomi restaurant, and after a brief wait outside we were able to stand at the counter and get started. The place served kushi-katsu, fried food on sticks, along with plenty of cold beer. The frier was right in front of us, so we could watch the guy cooking for a crowded restaurant in the heart of one of Japan’s biggest cities. It was a really cool experience.
We ate a lot of sticks – fried tuna, chicken, lotus root, chikuwa, kisu, tomato and basil, pork, cheese, shumai, and a few more that I forget. After dinner Mr. Yamaji said, “Just one more drink” and so we followed him to the Kita Shinchi area of Osaka. It is kind of the traditional nightlife and entertainment district of Umeda, and it was full of older guys drinking with younger ladies, and big money changing hands like back in the days of the bubble economy. I didn’t realize it at the time, but we had been there once before last year to eat yakiniku and meet Ai-chan’s husband for the first time. It is an interesting place to hang out – and it kind of puts Kobe’s Higashi-mon street to shame.
Our destination was a snack/restaurant that is owned by one of the Yamaji’s friends. We had met her once before – she came to a party at the Yamaji’s house and was introduced as a sommelier at a restaurant. On Friday night she produced a bottle of Zinfandel from California, so she knew what we liked. It was a really nice wine. While we were there the other customer in the place came over to have his picture taken with us, while he wore a rubber horse head mask. Kind of surreal.
Another one of the Yamaji’s friends, a sushi master from a nearby restaurant, dropped by with a box of sushi for us to enjoy. We had met him before as well, and it was good to see eveyone again in such a unique place.
Finally, we wrapped things up and caught a train back to Okubo. I think everyone was sleepy from the long work week and the late night of eating and drinking, but it was a great time out.
We managed to sleep in a bit on Saturday but in the evening we went over to the Fukumi’s for dinner, and were also joined by the Yamaji’s. Party, party.
Before going over Kuniko and I decided that we would try to leave as early as possible – the Fukumi’s have a kid now, and previously while over at their place we kind of wrapped things up early. They don’t drink so much, and we had partied pretty hard on Friday, so all signs pointed to a short night.
But we were wrong.
Sayaka prepared a really good dinner – Russian cuisine. We had piroshkis, borscht, a Russian beet salad, a potato cassarole with a rich beef sauce, and even a Georgian wine on the side. It was damn good. The Fukumi’s also had a box of Every Flavor Beans from USJ, and those were a big hit. I liked the vomit flavored one, and the sausage one was good too. While we ate everyone kind of rotated playing with Hiroka-kun, and he was having a great time. We went through lots of wine bottles – I think when we finally left after two am there were eight empty bottles lined up. Mr. Fukumi was down for the count, and everyone was feeling no pain. Time to go home and take some aspirin!
Sunday we watched some movies at home, one of which was called “The World’s End” which I enjoyed immensely. It has been a while since a movie caught me by surprise like that. Highly recommended! We also did some chores but mostly took it easy to recover from the wild party. It was a comparatively mellow day, and I think we needed it. Our livers have been working overtime lately, so I think we’ll have to take it easy this week and next. Luckily we don’t have any parties scheduled in the near future.
This week I have to work only three days, and then I get eleven days off for Golden Week. We’re trying to think up stuff to do during the Golden Week holidays, but I think our top priority is gardening and relaxing. Can’t wait for the long holiday!
