Sing Along
I'm back! I was having computer problems, but that's been resolved now. The things I want to write about in my blog keep piling up.
This Tuesday was a holiday in Japan (oddly, none of the Japanese people I talked to were sure what holiday it was), so no school and no work. I took the opportunity to meet up with some of my TIUA friends for dinner. We went out to Yakiniku which is another one of those social gathering, cook-it-yourself type restaurants, like okonimiyaki. The difference is that instead of one big grill, the tables have little charcoal grills with screens on which you can grill various things, mostly thin strips of meat. Then you pull the meet off and dip it in citrus juice or soy sauce and eat it right off the grill. The meat can be anything from normal beef or chicken to more exotic options like cow tongue or small intestines. I tried the tongue (it was chewy) but stayed away from the intestines. Overall, the meal was delicious. Unfortunately, I was dumb and didn't take any pictures at dinner.
After that, we all went to a karaoke parlor. As you may know, karaoke is immensly popular in Japan. If you have dinner with a group of friends, odds are good that you'll either go to a bar or a karaoke parlor afterwords, maybe both. At karaoke parlors, you and your friends get a private room with couches and a karaoke machine. Many of them are totally electronic, so you can search for your song using a search engine on the remote and it will que up the songs you've picked in order. Karaoke parlors also serve drinks and sometimes food. Also, many are 24 hours, and it's not uncommon for people to stay at the karaoke parlor all night. If you've missed the last train, it's often cheaper than getting a hotel room.
Here's some pictures! I'm not in any of them. You might notice that as a theme in this journal. It's not that I don't have any pictures of myself, it's just that I have an unfortunate habit of half-closing my eyes in my pictures which makes me look dopey, sleepy, stoned, or just scary depending on the picture.
Everyone...minus me. Ritsuko is holding one of the tambourines that you can borrow from the front.
Karaoke is fun!
This Tuesday was a holiday in Japan (oddly, none of the Japanese people I talked to were sure what holiday it was), so no school and no work. I took the opportunity to meet up with some of my TIUA friends for dinner. We went out to Yakiniku which is another one of those social gathering, cook-it-yourself type restaurants, like okonimiyaki. The difference is that instead of one big grill, the tables have little charcoal grills with screens on which you can grill various things, mostly thin strips of meat. Then you pull the meet off and dip it in citrus juice or soy sauce and eat it right off the grill. The meat can be anything from normal beef or chicken to more exotic options like cow tongue or small intestines. I tried the tongue (it was chewy) but stayed away from the intestines. Overall, the meal was delicious. Unfortunately, I was dumb and didn't take any pictures at dinner.
After that, we all went to a karaoke parlor. As you may know, karaoke is immensly popular in Japan. If you have dinner with a group of friends, odds are good that you'll either go to a bar or a karaoke parlor afterwords, maybe both. At karaoke parlors, you and your friends get a private room with couches and a karaoke machine. Many of them are totally electronic, so you can search for your song using a search engine on the remote and it will que up the songs you've picked in order. Karaoke parlors also serve drinks and sometimes food. Also, many are 24 hours, and it's not uncommon for people to stay at the karaoke parlor all night. If you've missed the last train, it's often cheaper than getting a hotel room.
Here's some pictures! I'm not in any of them. You might notice that as a theme in this journal. It's not that I don't have any pictures of myself, it's just that I have an unfortunate habit of half-closing my eyes in my pictures which makes me look dopey, sleepy, stoned, or just scary depending on the picture.
Everyone...minus me. Ritsuko is holding one of the tambourines that you can borrow from the front.
Karaoke is fun!