Dating Party, Cooking Award

Friday night was the big dating party that everyone (while, maybe not everyone) was looking forward to all week. The four men (including myself) gathered on the platform in Sannomiya, and we ventured to the restaurant where we met up with Kuniko and her three friends. I was unsure exactly how to proceed, but once the alcohol started flowing the conversation inevitably followed, and we could enjoy the evening. It was pretty hard to tell if it was a dating party or a regular party. Maybe that is a sign that it was a success. But the real sign of success will be if somebody signals somebody else that they’d like to meet again. So far, no sign of that. Today I’ll go to work and see if there are any nibbles from my side of the table.

After dinner we went back down to the street and said our goodbyes, but two of my members joined Kuniko and myself for a couple bottles of wine at our favorite wine bar. We had a couple nice wines, including a particularly tasty Louis Jadot, and spent a while recapping the evening and just talking. It was pretty fun, but everyone was a little on the drunk side as we caught a train and headed home. I was surprised to find that we got home after 1 a.m., which is pretty late for us lightweights.

As for the rest of the weekend, Kuniko should get some kind of award for cooking up a storm. Saturday night we were craving avocados, so she made pasta with a creamy avocado sauce which we ate with much gusto. Awesome taste. Not content with a great dinner, she went on to make bagels and then made fresh basil, cream cheese and prosciutto bagel sandwiches for our lunches. On top of that was some homemade anpan for dessert. Seriously, she should win some kind of award.

Also during the weekend we managed to finally buy some basil and cilantro to plant outside to keep us in herbs through spring. It was fun to work in the garden during the afternoon on Sunday, and hopefully the work will pay off in the near future. We’re hoping to cook a Mexican feast for Yoshi and family next week.

OK, back to work for me. One solid week of classes and then I have nine days off in a row. Golden Week, here we come.