Saturday Night Life
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Today proved to be very productive since I lay in the bed most of the day and then just played on my computer afterwards. Tara and I did have dinner plans with some new friends at 6:30 so I ventured to the shower and got ready and then we biked to the station.
The weather seems to have paid attention to the little “Come to Jesus” meeting I had with it…you know the one where you tell it what you want it to do and then it does it? It finally seems to be cooling off a little bit. The mornings and evenings are actually pleasant. We rode to the station and we were not sweating profusely when we got there.
We met our friends at the peach fountain at 6:30. This is a popular spot to meet people here in Okayama. It is right out front of Okayama Station (the big train station downtown). It is always nice to see a group of Westerners. J
We headed off to find food but no one knew of any restaurants. Melissa had heard of a Thai place so we thought we would give it a try. We walked for about ten minutes down to Symphony Hall. I love to go here; it’s like a strip mall. There is a huge bookstore with an English section. If you keep walking past that for awhile you will get to Gucci, Prada, and Channel. Very nice.
There was a very little ally way that we went down and chained up in a doorway was a giant black lab. We went inside this tiny place and up the steepest stairs I have ever climbed. It was ridiculous. Upstairs was a tiny room, and when I say tiny, I mean TINY. There was a long table (shin high) and bean bags and pillows all around it. There were eight of us all together so we all squeezed in. It was snug and cozy but it was really fun.
We ordered many different dishes and then just shared everything. We talked for awhile and just had a great time. I have never really loved Thai food, but this was so good. I would go back here again anytime.
After we paid and left we were not ready to go home. We met a couple more friends and headed toward the karaoke place. In Japan, karaoke is different. You go into a room with the people that you are with and then sing. You don’t get up and sing in a bar or anything. Most of us were game, but there were a few that were not going to sing so when we go there we changed our plans. Next door was a huge arcade. It wasn’t trashy like the ones at home and they had MARIO KART! To play you actually sat in a driver’s seat and used the pedals and steering wheel. The funniest part was that it took your picture and put it on your character. Four people at a time could race each other so we did that for a little while. It’s been two months since I have driven. I’m so embarrassed to admit this, but I honestly was a little rusty on which foot went on which pedal!! haha
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Today proved to be very productive since I lay in the bed most of the day and then just played on my computer afterwards. Tara and I did have dinner plans with some new friends at 6:30 so I ventured to the shower and got ready and then we biked to the station.
The weather seems to have paid attention to the little “Come to Jesus” meeting I had with it…you know the one where you tell it what you want it to do and then it does it? It finally seems to be cooling off a little bit. The mornings and evenings are actually pleasant. We rode to the station and we were not sweating profusely when we got there.
We met our friends at the peach fountain at 6:30. This is a popular spot to meet people here in Okayama. It is right out front of Okayama Station (the big train station downtown). It is always nice to see a group of Westerners. J
We headed off to find food but no one knew of any restaurants. Melissa had heard of a Thai place so we thought we would give it a try. We walked for about ten minutes down to Symphony Hall. I love to go here; it’s like a strip mall. There is a huge bookstore with an English section. If you keep walking past that for awhile you will get to Gucci, Prada, and Channel. Very nice.
There was a very little ally way that we went down and chained up in a doorway was a giant black lab. We went inside this tiny place and up the steepest stairs I have ever climbed. It was ridiculous. Upstairs was a tiny room, and when I say tiny, I mean TINY. There was a long table (shin high) and bean bags and pillows all around it. There were eight of us all together so we all squeezed in. It was snug and cozy but it was really fun.
We ordered many different dishes and then just shared everything. We talked for awhile and just had a great time. I have never really loved Thai food, but this was so good. I would go back here again anytime.
After we paid and left we were not ready to go home. We met a couple more friends and headed toward the karaoke place. In Japan, karaoke is different. You go into a room with the people that you are with and then sing. You don’t get up and sing in a bar or anything. Most of us were game, but there were a few that were not going to sing so when we go there we changed our plans. Next door was a huge arcade. It wasn’t trashy like the ones at home and they had MARIO KART! To play you actually sat in a driver’s seat and used the pedals and steering wheel. The funniest part was that it took your picture and put it on your character. Four people at a time could race each other so we did that for a little while. It’s been two months since I have driven. I’m so embarrassed to admit this, but I honestly was a little rusty on which foot went on which pedal!! haha
Emergency Exit...signs here are ridiculous and make no sense.
MARIO KART
There were a ton of games, but we opted to cram eight people into a photo booth next. It was wild! The booth was really big and it took eight pictures of us. Every picture we took we changed places and acted silly. At the end we got to decorate the pictures with a “Paint” like program. The pictures are hilarious. We each took one home. They were printed on sticker paper too. We had the best time doing this. It was so funny watching eight adults decorate these pictures on the computer.After the stickers we tried our hand at some other games. We played some intense games of air hockey. Everything was going well until the game shot out three pucks at a time! I started laughing so hard that I thought I wasn’t going to be able to stand up anymore. Tara won. I kept knocking the puck into my own goal…three pucks is just too many!
There was also a game where you played the drums. It was pretty cool. Dennis was playing with the most insane intensity that when he finished, his hand was bleeding! Thank goodness I had a band-aid on hand.
Dennis was tearin' it up...
...and a bloody finger was the result.These games were great, but the game that I played at the end was the most interesting. I think that we should have it in America. I told them that if all children had this game, maybe there wouldn’t be anymore video game related violence in society…we would all love dogs a little more instead…First you get into the little car. On the screen there is a dog and he is in the car with you. You have to pet and scratch the dog and keep him happy on your car ride. It’s really funny and very different. I actually only played the game to figure out what it was. I’m so glad I did. We were all cracking up as we petted this virtual dog. He would lie down and roll over and things. At the end, a puppy appears with the dog. Weird, huh?
By that time it was close to 11pm so we headed back to the station. Last train is at 12:10 for Tara and me. I’m home now and about to head to bed. I just wanted to tell you all about my game night! Hope your Saturday nights are as fun as mine!
The car and the dogs
Scratching and petting the virtual dog
That puppy loves me.
This is me in a bus game.
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