Friday, August 19, 2005
That Was the Birthday that Was
Folks,
Here I am to tell you that 24 hours or so into being 34, it isn't so bad.
This morning, I picked up my new 3-year Japanese visa and re-entry permit. (Very important, should I not want to be deported.) After that, I went to meet my friend Bart for lunch. He used to work with me but left having worked for just one year. Now, he works for a company in Osaka city. But he was off this week for his vacation so we went to Kobe today.
First, the Port Island. It's a man-made island housing a lot of the shipping and corporate offices of same. There's also an amusement park -- which we didn't go into. And, surprisingly, an awful lot of apartment buildings there. But not a whole lot to do. If the city of Kobe decided to put a little money into it, it would probably be quite nice.
From there, we went to the Brazilian restaurant at Harbroland called "Braziliano." Original name, I know. Great as always but, for the first time in my going there every once in a while for the last 2 1/2 years, there was a wait. The place was jammed up! Unbelievable!
Back downstairs, we went to see "Star Wars, Episode 3." I don't know what I think about it. Maybe okay. Maybe not. Lots of action and lots of big plot holes. Too much movie for the running time (2:10). I foresee a 3 1/2 hour or so director's cut on DVD this Christmas.
From there, the Bart man had to get home, so he did. I went back to Umeda and to Kinokuniya to check out a book I'd been looking at before. It had the word "sodding," in the perjorative British sense, on page 2. I put it down and walked out.
I hoofed it to Moriguchi and scarfed down some edible but by no means good beef curry at Yoshinoya and then headed for my rendevous at Nishisanso.
Blue Moon's a place I've been going lately. Nice. Nice people. Nice setup, with pool, darts, big screen projection TV and a lot more. Initially, Adrian and John were the only folks there but then...
Yasumi showed up, followed by John and Yumi (both of whom I don't think I thanked enough for coming), and Jeff and a new guy at his place, Jim from Australia. I won the first game of darts and proceeded to seriously tank after that. I believe Jim won the next two.
Along in there, the poker club showed up: Jeff Muss, Colin, Dean and Dalila. It was a great thrill to have them all show up for my birthday! Okay, so maybe it wasn't for that but it was still fun. And a dog named Leon I didn't previously know, named after the assassin in the Luc Besson movie named same.
Now, I sit at home, sweating even in the air conditioning.
For some reason my apartment is hotter than outside in the summer and colder than outside in the winter. I don't understand that at all. Very strange.
Well, off to watch another couple of Bob Newhart episodes before going to bed.
Ah, 34. Has a bit of a ring to it, doesn't it? I have a feeling it'll be a bang-up year!
Here I am to tell you that 24 hours or so into being 34, it isn't so bad.
This morning, I picked up my new 3-year Japanese visa and re-entry permit. (Very important, should I not want to be deported.) After that, I went to meet my friend Bart for lunch. He used to work with me but left having worked for just one year. Now, he works for a company in Osaka city. But he was off this week for his vacation so we went to Kobe today.
First, the Port Island. It's a man-made island housing a lot of the shipping and corporate offices of same. There's also an amusement park -- which we didn't go into. And, surprisingly, an awful lot of apartment buildings there. But not a whole lot to do. If the city of Kobe decided to put a little money into it, it would probably be quite nice.
From there, we went to the Brazilian restaurant at Harbroland called "Braziliano." Original name, I know. Great as always but, for the first time in my going there every once in a while for the last 2 1/2 years, there was a wait. The place was jammed up! Unbelievable!
Back downstairs, we went to see "Star Wars, Episode 3." I don't know what I think about it. Maybe okay. Maybe not. Lots of action and lots of big plot holes. Too much movie for the running time (2:10). I foresee a 3 1/2 hour or so director's cut on DVD this Christmas.
From there, the Bart man had to get home, so he did. I went back to Umeda and to Kinokuniya to check out a book I'd been looking at before. It had the word "sodding," in the perjorative British sense, on page 2. I put it down and walked out.
I hoofed it to Moriguchi and scarfed down some edible but by no means good beef curry at Yoshinoya and then headed for my rendevous at Nishisanso.
Blue Moon's a place I've been going lately. Nice. Nice people. Nice setup, with pool, darts, big screen projection TV and a lot more. Initially, Adrian and John were the only folks there but then...
Yasumi showed up, followed by John and Yumi (both of whom I don't think I thanked enough for coming), and Jeff and a new guy at his place, Jim from Australia. I won the first game of darts and proceeded to seriously tank after that. I believe Jim won the next two.
Along in there, the poker club showed up: Jeff Muss, Colin, Dean and Dalila. It was a great thrill to have them all show up for my birthday! Okay, so maybe it wasn't for that but it was still fun. And a dog named Leon I didn't previously know, named after the assassin in the Luc Besson movie named same.
Now, I sit at home, sweating even in the air conditioning.
For some reason my apartment is hotter than outside in the summer and colder than outside in the winter. I don't understand that at all. Very strange.
Well, off to watch another couple of Bob Newhart episodes before going to bed.
Ah, 34. Has a bit of a ring to it, doesn't it? I have a feeling it'll be a bang-up year!
