Friday night after work I went out with the salesman and the account supervisor for the job I’m working on now. We started out in Sannomiya, but realized that without a reservation it was going to be impossible to get a table. Luckily the salesman took us towards Motomachi to a place that he knew, and we were able to get in and get fed. We talked for a while about this and that, but the purpose of the dinner was to celebrate the start of another contract.
After dinner (paid for by the company, thanks!) we decided to take off and go our separate ways. I wanted to do just a little bit more drinking before heading home, so I went to “D” – the wine bar in Sannomiya that we like. I shared the elevator going up with a young woman, and she got off on the floor right below “D”. That floor is kind of a “girl’s bar” – a hostess club that has mostly younger women as hosts. As the door opened the lady walked inside to go to work, and inside I could see the receptionist dressed up in a playboy bunny costume smiling and hoping that I would get off as well. It looked like quite a place, but I maintained my resolve and continued up the elevator to “D”.
The master smiled and said “welcome back” as if he was waiting for you to walk in – he’s good at greetings. Right away he went for a bottle of wine that he must have been saving for me – a 2001 St. Francis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. He was curious about the winery and the label, so we talked about it while sipping the wine. The wine was pretty good, although maybe just about peaked. The place was pretty busy, but I stayed for a couple of glasses of wine and a little bit of cheese, and then called it a night. I guess I’ll save the bunnies for another time.
Saturday was a relaxed day at home, but I did bump into one of my former students shopping at the local shopping center. He introduced his wife and daughter, and they seemed like very nice people. I was dressed like a homeless guy so I probably didn’t leave a great impression.
Sunday at noon we went over to the Yamaji’s house for lunch. It turned out to be quite a party – they had invited their friend who is a sushi chef, a friend that runs a liquor shop, and another friend that is a sommelier. So the conversations turned out to be quite interesting. Yuuki cooked some homemade dishes for us – braised beef and spaghetti with meat sauce (that was great), and Ana was there with her boyfriend, who happened to have the same last name as Kuniko. What started as lunch turned into an eating and drinking marathon – we finally left after 6 pm because we had to drop off something with Mr. Tojo down the street. I think we did some major damage to our livers this weekend.
Today is Monday for me, and also Friday. Tuesday and Thursday are off, and Wednesday is only a half day at work, so things should be pretty easy this week. Friday I’ll kick off classes with my new students. Today Kuniko has an extra day off, so I’m sure she’ll spend the day relaxing and recharging her batteries for the upcoming work week.
