Takase Izakaya Explorations
Now, I realized when looking back at the list that I can't really post half of those stories here because they all involve things I don't want my parents or grandparents reading. Unfortunately, they are also the funniest stories. I will set something up so that my friends can read them later, at least. Now, onto a...cleaner, but still alcohol fueled story.
My town is very nice. It is quiet and beautiful, with almost no crime and a very relaxed pace of life. Unfortunately, it is also very small, rural, and pretty much everything besides one 24/7 conbini is closed after 6 PM. This wouldn't be so bad if the trains didn't stop running around midnight. That means going out to Marugame, Takamatsu, or even Kanonji ends around 11:00 PM, costs $5-15 roundtrip, and for the most part, isn't worth it. Fortunately for me, there is Takase.
Takase is the town next to mine, and with a good 15-20 minute bike ride, you can find yourself surrounded by...slightly more places to go to than my town. It is also home to my friend, Steve, who also doesn't feel like leaving this area all too much. (The other gaijin or two around here often spend the night on someone's floor in Takamatsu or something along those lines.) The real key with Takase is that unlike Mino, Takase has many izakayas and similar food accessible locations.
Note: An izakaya is a Japanese bar. Izakayas have plenty of drinking going on, but they also normally have a decent selection of food and almost always around here, they have kareoke for free. Basically think of a cross between a bar and a small restaurant.
Therefore, Steve and I decided to add a new job title to our resumes: Izakaya Explorers. With our "Momma Cherry" bikes(basket and bell in front), we ride through the night, searching for new izakayas to try out. Izakayas normally have a flashing orange light in front of them, so we often goto nearby hills, looking for the lights.
Ground rules are simple:
We commit ourselves to trying every izakaya, even if it seems shady from first glance.
We try more than one a night.
We make sure we stay out of trouble...mostly.
So, the following are a few of the interesting places we have found. Unfortunately I don't know the name to many places, so I have given them their own.
Name: "The place next to that Ramen shop near the Korea House." or "Next to that place where Andy saw you know what."
This was one of our first discoveries, and it went pretty well. I had about 3 chuhais(stronger than a beer). One common thing in Japan is that people will give you stuff for being foriegn. This place gave us food. It was pretty good, but my dislike for vegetables clashed with my desire to be a polite guest and eat the free food given me. This would bite me in the ass later that night. But I digress. This place is also memorable for the 3-4 old women sitting at the bar(we were at a table) who seemed to enjoy our presence. They were definately at the upper end of 40-60, so it was mostly just funny. Of course, as we started to leave, some of the women asked us to stay and sit next to them. They offered to pay for us if we would. I decided to pass on having a 60 year old Japanese lady become my sugar momma for the night, a decision I would later regret.
The next stop that night was "Starless" or "That place next to Korea House."
Starless was somewhat nice. Good kareoke setup, nice long bar, and the people there were a bit younger. Steve and I went to the bar, where after the basic pleasantries, Steve got ambushed. You see, Steve knows Japanese. I don't. When the 60 year old guy wants to talk with the foriegner, he gets stuck on talk duty. Unfortunately for me, I got stuck on drinking duty. As Steve talked with the man, the man got into the standard "Japan is such a great, nice place" routine. Steve hates this because the people always say the same things, but at the same time, they often pay for us. This was such the case.
The man didn't make his offer until I was about 2 more chuhai deep. Chuhai are a kinda fruity drink, so it tastes good. The man wanted to buy me a drink, so I felt almost obligated to drink. That is where I made my big mistake. I forgot that unlike in America, finishing your drink is a signal that you want another. If you are ready to stop drinking, you leave your glass with some in it. So, I would keep finishing the drink to be polite to the guy, and then I would end up getting another. After that 6th or 7th drink(3rd or 4th at this place), the rest of the night is somewhat a blur. However, I remember a few things and Steve helped me with a few other details.
I had somewhere around 12 chuhais total(3 before and 9 at Starless). This was way too much. I believe I broke a glass around drink 8 or 9. According to Steve, I seemed to start to zonk out around my 7th drink, laying my head on the bar and such. However, I regained my energy(prob form the sugar) around drink 9 or 10. I had a conversation with the guy to my left in decent Japanese. We were both totally drunk, but according to Steve, we seemed to be understanding each other fine. I kinda remember talking to him, but not what I said. When we left, I went outside and laid on the ground for about 5 minutes. I didn't remember this at all. I rode my bike to Steve's place fairly well and went to sleep.
About half an hour later I started feeling really sick. I started doing my standard "drink a lot of water to lower the effects of the alcohol". Up to now this has always worked...now it made it worse. A few minutes later, for the first time in over 10 years and the first time ever from drinking, I threw up. I managed to make it to Steve's bathroom and aim for the toilet, but it just exploded out everywhere. About 50% went forward into the can, but the rest hit the floor and walls. This was the first in a series. After about 2 hours of off and on puking, I finally felt a little better, and using all of his paper towels and toilet paper, I cleaned up 99% of the mess I made. Fortunately it was confined to the bathroom.
I really wanted just to get home where I could take care of myself, so right around dawn in the freezing cold, I started biking home. I made it home without puking, and started taking a warm shower. The puking returned. Fortunately this whole time, it was purely clear liquid that came up. The chuhai is clear and a large part water and I hadn't eaten much that day. Anyways, after another 2-4 hours and some advice from a friend back home, I was alright. I hadn't really slept since I started drinking, but I didn't want to get off schedule. I wasn't really up to eating food that day, but Yom Kippur was beginning that night, so I had to get something in me before a day of fasting. Anyways, that was one night of adventures. I will post about some...less messy nights at another time.
Bye.
My town is very nice. It is quiet and beautiful, with almost no crime and a very relaxed pace of life. Unfortunately, it is also very small, rural, and pretty much everything besides one 24/7 conbini is closed after 6 PM. This wouldn't be so bad if the trains didn't stop running around midnight. That means going out to Marugame, Takamatsu, or even Kanonji ends around 11:00 PM, costs $5-15 roundtrip, and for the most part, isn't worth it. Fortunately for me, there is Takase.
Takase is the town next to mine, and with a good 15-20 minute bike ride, you can find yourself surrounded by...slightly more places to go to than my town. It is also home to my friend, Steve, who also doesn't feel like leaving this area all too much. (The other gaijin or two around here often spend the night on someone's floor in Takamatsu or something along those lines.) The real key with Takase is that unlike Mino, Takase has many izakayas and similar food accessible locations.
Note: An izakaya is a Japanese bar. Izakayas have plenty of drinking going on, but they also normally have a decent selection of food and almost always around here, they have kareoke for free. Basically think of a cross between a bar and a small restaurant.
Therefore, Steve and I decided to add a new job title to our resumes: Izakaya Explorers. With our "Momma Cherry" bikes(basket and bell in front), we ride through the night, searching for new izakayas to try out. Izakayas normally have a flashing orange light in front of them, so we often goto nearby hills, looking for the lights.
Ground rules are simple:
We commit ourselves to trying every izakaya, even if it seems shady from first glance.
We try more than one a night.
We make sure we stay out of trouble...mostly.
So, the following are a few of the interesting places we have found. Unfortunately I don't know the name to many places, so I have given them their own.
Name: "The place next to that Ramen shop near the Korea House." or "Next to that place where Andy saw you know what."
This was one of our first discoveries, and it went pretty well. I had about 3 chuhais(stronger than a beer). One common thing in Japan is that people will give you stuff for being foriegn. This place gave us food. It was pretty good, but my dislike for vegetables clashed with my desire to be a polite guest and eat the free food given me. This would bite me in the ass later that night. But I digress. This place is also memorable for the 3-4 old women sitting at the bar(we were at a table) who seemed to enjoy our presence. They were definately at the upper end of 40-60, so it was mostly just funny. Of course, as we started to leave, some of the women asked us to stay and sit next to them. They offered to pay for us if we would. I decided to pass on having a 60 year old Japanese lady become my sugar momma for the night, a decision I would later regret.
The next stop that night was "Starless" or "That place next to Korea House."
Starless was somewhat nice. Good kareoke setup, nice long bar, and the people there were a bit younger. Steve and I went to the bar, where after the basic pleasantries, Steve got ambushed. You see, Steve knows Japanese. I don't. When the 60 year old guy wants to talk with the foriegner, he gets stuck on talk duty. Unfortunately for me, I got stuck on drinking duty. As Steve talked with the man, the man got into the standard "Japan is such a great, nice place" routine. Steve hates this because the people always say the same things, but at the same time, they often pay for us. This was such the case.
The man didn't make his offer until I was about 2 more chuhai deep. Chuhai are a kinda fruity drink, so it tastes good. The man wanted to buy me a drink, so I felt almost obligated to drink. That is where I made my big mistake. I forgot that unlike in America, finishing your drink is a signal that you want another. If you are ready to stop drinking, you leave your glass with some in it. So, I would keep finishing the drink to be polite to the guy, and then I would end up getting another. After that 6th or 7th drink(3rd or 4th at this place), the rest of the night is somewhat a blur. However, I remember a few things and Steve helped me with a few other details.
I had somewhere around 12 chuhais total(3 before and 9 at Starless). This was way too much. I believe I broke a glass around drink 8 or 9. According to Steve, I seemed to start to zonk out around my 7th drink, laying my head on the bar and such. However, I regained my energy(prob form the sugar) around drink 9 or 10. I had a conversation with the guy to my left in decent Japanese. We were both totally drunk, but according to Steve, we seemed to be understanding each other fine. I kinda remember talking to him, but not what I said. When we left, I went outside and laid on the ground for about 5 minutes. I didn't remember this at all. I rode my bike to Steve's place fairly well and went to sleep.
About half an hour later I started feeling really sick. I started doing my standard "drink a lot of water to lower the effects of the alcohol". Up to now this has always worked...now it made it worse. A few minutes later, for the first time in over 10 years and the first time ever from drinking, I threw up. I managed to make it to Steve's bathroom and aim for the toilet, but it just exploded out everywhere. About 50% went forward into the can, but the rest hit the floor and walls. This was the first in a series. After about 2 hours of off and on puking, I finally felt a little better, and using all of his paper towels and toilet paper, I cleaned up 99% of the mess I made. Fortunately it was confined to the bathroom.
I really wanted just to get home where I could take care of myself, so right around dawn in the freezing cold, I started biking home. I made it home without puking, and started taking a warm shower. The puking returned. Fortunately this whole time, it was purely clear liquid that came up. The chuhai is clear and a large part water and I hadn't eaten much that day. Anyways, after another 2-4 hours and some advice from a friend back home, I was alright. I hadn't really slept since I started drinking, but I didn't want to get off schedule. I wasn't really up to eating food that day, but Yom Kippur was beginning that night, so I had to get something in me before a day of fasting. Anyways, that was one night of adventures. I will post about some...less messy nights at another time.
Bye.
posted by Omega037 @ 12:34 AM
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