A most happy birthday indeed

Well. My first birthday away from home so that was interesting.

The week before, I went with Yu wandering around the ever dangerous Mycal (see previous entry on getting lost in multi-departmental shopping complexes. I'm sure they're not called COMPLEX for no reason). Mycal is also dangerous due to the sheer amount of STUFF it makes me want to buy! Then the Nishiguchis put on a fabulous (as always) dinner followed by Nishiguchi Mum's ever famous coffee cake. This particular evening's dinner involved HAND MADE (by Nishiguchi Dad) gyoza (pork dumplings) which has made all other gyoza taste like factory-manufactured Play Doh.

On my actual birthday, I worked all day and stopped dead-on 5.40PM when the bell went. The general affairs fullah hadn't finished work yet so I sat at my computer waiting for him. Co-worker 1 says to me: "Working late again Samantha?" and I look up from texting and show her my phone: "Nup! I'm done for the day! Just waiting for Mr. General Affairs to take me furniture shopping."

Co-worker 2: "Ah, a furniture shopping date!"

Me: "Yeah, not the most exciting date I have to say.."

Which is a total lie - I wish ALL my dates involved shopping for furniture and other household goods.. though it'd mean I'd be a heavily applianced woman.

Anyway, FINALLY Mr. General Affairs got his stuff sorted and he took me to the not-so-nearby "Conan". It's like Freedom Furniture, Lighting Direct, Placemakers and The Warehouse all in one. BUT about a squillion times more fun - as Carleigh puts it, if any of you remember that scene from Simpsons when Homer finds himself in Chocolate Land and starts skipping down the street with glee, it's like that. I start putting stuff in the trolley and Mr. GA says: "You realise work is only paying for a shelf and a mirror right?" and I'm like, "Yeah yeah, I'll get the rest."

So I get myself a whole lotta stuff like a shower curtain, various laundry/kitchen/bath things, my shelf, mirror.. the total came to about NZ$130. We're at the checkout and he pays for everything. I ask him later, "Oh will work take the rest out of my salary?" to which Mr. GA says, "Nah, don't worry about it, work'll get everything."

So..... SWEET BIRTHDAY PRESSIE! Now I get to look forward to assembling everything.

Mr. GA drops me off at a train station and make my way, TOTALLY relying on women's intuition (which thankfully didn't fail me this time) to an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) in town to meet a bunch of Kun-ei teachers.

They had already been there for just under 2 hours so by the time I got there they had to leave in 10 minutes so I quickly scavenged what I could from their leftovers (all you could eat). Such a sad vulture! Then Peter takes us to one of his favourite drinking places - by the coin lockers in the train station. We bought some beers (I stuck to the Belgium variety) from a nearby liquor shop, stood and drank the night away. The coin lookers overlook Umeda station where I think more people walk through there in one day than there are sheep in NZ. Some station guards came up to us and we thought they were going to make us move but they only said not to put our cans and bottles near the edge as they would inevitably kill someone if they fell off. Whoops.

From left to right are Jeremy (Canada), Melinda (NZ, with J's fingers up her nose), Sue (NZ), Al (NZ), Carleigh (Canada) and Peter (NZ, in front).

So we drank in public, took a few photos and chatted about everything and anything until just after 11PM when some other station guards came along and said that it was time for us to go home. We hung around for a bit and started a beer bottle wind orchestra - there is video footage of this also but just not on here. Sorry!

There's probably something about chatting in train stations, as when I got off at Shojaku with Jeremy, we ended up standing outside the ticket turnstiles talking for ages until I'm sure the roller doors of the station were going to close. As we were chatting, this fullah strolls past us, waves his cigarette-ted hand in our general direction, and while not even looking at us, says in Japanese: "NO! When in Japan you have to speak Japanese!" Jeremy didn't hear him but I did. What a freak show.

Saturday involved a Malaysian lunch with Sue, getting caught in the FREEZING cold rain, shopping for more kitchen stuff, visiting Anand, a nutritious dinner of Mos Burger with Carleigh, then hitting the town for one too many vodka shots. Ouch. Nothing a solid meal of DEEEEELICIOUS yakiniku (strips of pork, beef and veges cooked on a hotplate accompanied with dipping sauces) didn't fix the next evening though! Miracle hangover cure!

How did the copious amount of vodka consumption come about? Well, Saturday evening, Carleigh took me to Physique Pride - the name sounds a bit gay doesn't it? Funny that, cos it IS a gay bar. We got there SUPER early and made some new friends. One of them apologises for being so direct, and asks if Carleigh and I are together. Carleigh and I try not to crack up as we had JUST been discussing a few hours ago how she and Anand always get mistaken for being together as they hit the town a lot. They've decided to say next time that they're siblings (Anand's East Indian-looking and Carleigh, in her own words, is the whitest white girl alive). Carleigh and I exchanged looks of "Hmm, I guess saying we're sisters might still be kinda vague.." so we simulataneously do the frantic waving of hands accompanied by "nooooooo...".

A Cointreau on ice, tequila shot and several new cool people later, we go downstairs where the dance club is and boogie the night away. I had never encountered that particular genre of dance music before, although I would place it in the category of Atrocious Trance Anthems. It made me want to stab myself in the ear. However, it is interesting how vodka can make even Carleigh dance to Cher.

Just before we took this Happy Snap, Carleigh says, "Let's look EXCITED!!!". I dunno about her, but I think *I've* got my excited face on. Err.. C? Quick NZ Fashion Plug - note my Zambesi top designed as part of the Breast Cancer Trust fund raising campaign.. GO NZ FASHION!

I think there was another vodka shot involved before Carleigh and I shared a cab ("cab"?? why am I using North American terms for things suddenly?!) with one of our new friends Mario and his "okusan" (wife) to You're Welcome bar, where Mario told us a joke in an Italian accent and we chatted a bit before both of them went home. Carleigh ordered a vodka and orange while I went for a cranberry and vodka. Golly, that really is quite a lot of vodka in one night isn't it.

We made it home (me nodding off and almost falling off the seats in the waiting room on the train platform) the next morning and I saw a few parcelly, presenty things waiting for me on the table. This year's present haul included KAPITI CHEESE! WHOO HOO! It survived the journey! Contrary to the text on the packaging however, it took me FOREVER to open it. And it made my hands hurt. Boo.

Pretty awesome birthday - lotsa laughs :))