A Costume Party Like No Other

One of my fellow gaijin (foreigner) friends threw herself a Farewell Party this weekend in Nagoya. 

She leaves Japan the day before I do and will be returning to her home in Lexington, Kentucky and her job at Toyota (TMMK). 

She asked everyone to come dressed in their favorite Japanese outfit or ridiculous fashion trend!

Everyone knows I like a party with a theme, and this one was no exception!!  It was almost as good as Halloween!

The guest of honor, Kelly, is the tall blond on the right, and she has the same problem I have--No clothes in Japan will fit her!!  Somehow, we managed to squeeze ourselves into something "super cute" any way...

As you can see, I choose a minidress with purple tights and open-toed shoes.  I also topped things off (literally) with a sparkling headband that's bendy like a giant pipe cleaner!!

I got some funny looks during my subway ride to the bar, and some teens were even pointing and laughing at me.  Geez... they wear this stuff all the time, but when a gaijin wears it somehow it's super entertaining!

Also, fur is super trendy in Japan this fall, from the fur leg warmers to go with classy heels or the "fur tails" that one of the girls in the left side of this picture is sporting!!

Guy with a top-knot hairdo plastic wig and a Ninja!

Short skirts all around in this photo of the ladies!

  

What would a Japanese party be with out some R and L confusion on the menu? 

"Sparkring" wine, anyone?!

I have never actually bought a drink in a Japan bar. 

There are two reasons for this:

1.  Nomihodai (all you can drink).  Some bars in Nagoya like to assess a flat fee to each person in the bar for a limited amount of time, usually 3 hours, and you can order whatever you would like.

2. Other bars have a entrance fee, usually around $30, and then they give you 4 drink tickets to use at your leisure. 

These are great methods for efficiency.  The bartenders don't deal with money, you can get your drinks really quickly, and no worries about the cost of ordering shots or expensive Red Bull drinks.

The downside occurs only if you prefer cheap drinks (like beer), are a lightweight drinker, or you are the DD.  Wait a minute... no one is the Designated Driver in Japan, since everyone takes trains or taxis at night!!

Regardless of how much or how little you drink, everyone pays the same price... maybe that's why there are so many darn alcoholics in this country!!

I love this guy with the eye patch.  It's really popular in Tokyo, and basically means you're a bad@$$.  People shouldn't mess with you because you are a tough guy!

This guy is "Huge in Japan" knocking over buildings on his shirt.

Hmm... where have I heard that before?  It sounds vaguely familiar...

The Japanese salaryman and his Mt. Fuji hat.  LOL!

This girl has on a flowered, one-piece capri length romper. 

They were all the rage in the summer.  She said she got a sweet deal on it because it's out of season...

and I thought things never went on sale in Japan! 

(Other than Jan 1st and July 1st, of course!)

A cool thing about this bar we were hanging out at is that they played only Michael Jackson videos non-stop for 3 hours!!  Unfortunately, other music was coming from the speakers, but it was cool to see MJ every time you looked at a TV!!

  

KG meets a J-Pop star!  (Japanese Pop music) 

LOL... he's looks amazingly realistic, but he's actually a Toyota engineer by day, also from Kentucky!!

Moving on to a Nagoya nightclub in our ridiculous outfits. 

This club needs at least 10 shiny, spinning disco balls...

Don't forget 6 chandeliers and hundreds of people.

If you thought the train cars in Japan are packed, just come dancing in this maze of people!!

The lovely ladies ending up on a stage because it provides a great view and some breathing space from the smashing crowd!

Here's a quick video of the inside of the nightclub. 

I was giving a nice commentary, but the music overpowers it!

(You must go directly to the blog to view it.)

Wine Party

On Saturday I was invited to a very exclusive private "Wine Party" with my friends who dressed me in kimono.  I had the opportunity to sample countless wines from around the world and make new friends, both Japanese and foreigners.

Here's our table of lovely ladies:

Kerri, Gemma, Yoko, Nobue, & Yuriko.  (The 2 on the right are from Kimono Time.)

The guy on the right is the host of this party.  You have to know him to get invited to this shindig.  Or in my case, know someone who knows him...  He reminded me of a leprechaun.  In addition to his green vest, he even had green hair and green fingernails.  (That is his proud hairdresser with him!) 

Nobue, Kerri, & the hostess of the party.  These 2 are very good friends and were excited to practice their English on me.  The hostess is married to the leprechaun above, and they own a international award-winning nail salon.  (Which partially explains why his nails are green.)

Yuriko & Kerri.  She used to work at Mitsui with me and now has introduced me to many people.

My favorite wine of the night: Cono Sur chardonnay from Chile.

I really, really liked it!!

Next stop is a sweet bar named Strikers.  Here I am with the bartender, Nick.

New meaning of beer goggles!

Kerri & Gemma doing shots. 

Once you pay the cover charge to get into Strikers, its all you can drink for free.  The bartenders had fun making us exotic shots!

Gemma is from England, has lived in Nagoya for 9 years, and is awesome!!  She even invited me to a "overnight party" on a yacht next weekend.  I already have plans to sightsee in Kyoto with some other friends, so I am very disappointed I can't go!!

5 lovely ladies again.

Kerri gets pouty with the DJ because he will play anything from Eminem or Lady Gaga, but doesn't have any Michael Jackson!!  Oh, the horror!!  And no internet connection to download new songs! 

I remember the days in Eville when I used to go get my Michael Jackson CD from my car so they could play it at the bowling alley.  Maybe I should start packing one in my purse.

Kerri's new outfit, purchased exclusively in Japan!!  Everyone here loved it last night, but don't get too excited.  When I come back to the States, it is definitely not coming with me!!

More goofy glasses. 

Don't you love how I am a head taller than everyone else?!  LOL

Leaving the bar, Bartender Nick is sad to see us go.

Something fun in Toyota City

If you have ever been to a town in North America that has a Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in it (like Princeton, IN or Georgetown, KY), then you won't be surprised that Toyota City in Japan is rather small and lame as well.  The only thing going on in these towns is automobile production... seriously.

There is one cool place to visit while you're waiting for the train to take you away from Toyota City to some where awesome.  That place is Kevin's!

"Kevin's" is a bar owned by this really cool Japanese guy that used to live in America and loves the UK Wildcats.

The place is tiny--2 booths and a 6-seat counter, but it's easy to make friends because everyone has at least one thing in common... they're here in support of Toyota.  (Face it, there is simply no other reason to be in Toyota City.)

I went one night after dinner in Toyota City with Shin Shimada, Satoru Muto, and Yosuke Kawakami.  We quickly made friends with some guys from Poland, who work for a Toyota supplier, and filled up their nearly empty booth for them!

The really neat part is that you take a look around the place, and it's simply covered in Polaroid pictures of people having a great time at Kevin's.  There are layers upon layers of photos, each one with a witty saying at the bottom, and organized by month and year. 

I'm sure with enough searching I could have found a photo of someone I knew from TMMI, TEMA, or Transfreight, but instead I focused on coming up with a really sweet comment for our obligatory Polaroid pic. Next time, I will be sure to hunt down the picture of me!

There is also a lot of swag hanging in the bar that people have donated throughout the years... mostly baseball caps that say TMMC, Denso, Toyota Tsusho, or Safety First! on them, but there are plenty of other cool things, too.

We were having such a great time, we decided not to catch the last train out of town, and close down the bar instead.  I even got 1-on-1 origami lessons from Kevin's wife, Masami!!

I'm not too hot at origami as it is, but throw a bunch of drinks in the mix, and my folding coordination skills really went out the window...

The only disappointing part of the evening came at closing time when we had a long (not to mention expensive) taxi ride back to Nagoya! 

If you're ever in Toyota City with a few minutes to spare, now you know were to spend them!!

Chillin' at the Ice Bar

Last stop on our exciting day in Tokyo was the IceBar!

This establishment is by the IceHotel of Sweden.

All of the ice is imported from the Torne River in Sweden.  I read up on the ice harvesting process, and the whole operation is fascinating!  Only difference is that the IceBar is open all year round, while the IceHotel is open from December until April.  In April it melts back into the river and is rebuilt with a new design each winter.

As the name infers, everything in the bar is made of ice, including the bar, tables, chairs, and even the glasses your drinks are served in!  Inside the temperature is kept at a cool -5 C, which is about 23 F.

The bartender mixes us a frosty drink!

Kerri & Jess wear their standard issue cloaks with attached gloves! 

KG relaxes on a slab of ice!

I could get used to the life of an Eskimo!

Jess behind a silly ice sculpture.

Kerri is still in awe of this amazing establishment :)

Just in case there was any doubt we are still in Tokyo and not Iceland, we even got to go behind the bar for a quality photo op.

I love this place.  We roamed around the confusing spiderweb-designed streets for nearly an hour looking for it, but it was totally worth it!

Now I want visit the true inspiration... the IceHotel in Sweden.  They even have an IceChurch where I could get married!!  (I know, can you believe I'd be willing to give up Las Vegas for this?!) 

If my future husband is reading this, you better be saving your pennies for a snowy day!

Eel Dinner & Philippino Bar

This week one of the men in my department retired from Mitsui. Every time someone comes or goes, it requires a big work party!! This time we went to an unagi (eel) restaurant, which Nagoya is famous for.
Here's my plate of appetizers: seaweed, green onions, pressed rice with peas, gummy rice on a stick, and a shell full of seafood sauce and some kind of mussel. Surprisingly, the mystery shell had the best flavor. Also, the green plate at the top left is my raw eel waiting to be cooked in my pot. Several of the men mistakenly ate their eel without cooking it!! Even with my limited Japanese, I understood the waitress when she said we would cook the eel later!! I think there may be something inherently wrong with your food if you can't tell if it should be cooked or not before you eat it!!
My half-eaten sashimi (raw fish). I tried one of each and then gave the rest to Jazzy Dani.

We are finally cooking the 2 pieces of eel. It's boiling in water with seaweed and some mystery floating object. Oddly, I was the first one to start eating the mystery object, and people were asking me what it was... like I had any clue!! It was kind of like thin, soggy bread.

Next is salad time. Usually I find the salad to be one of my favorite (safe) courses. This one had way too much slimy seaweed for my taste, though. It's garnished with fish flakes and bamboo.

This was one thing that I tried but refused to finish. Uhh, it was a clue when they said the name was "rotten seaweed". Basically it's liquefied seaweed and vinegar and some unknown white floaters. Women eat it with a spoon, so I gave it a try. Yup, it tastes like vinegar and seaweed!! Men drink it like a shot!

Unidentified object, but one of the tastiest of the night. It had vegetables buried inside this thing. No one had any idea what it was! I told them that it's strange to me that no one can identify what they are eating! But they said Japanese are raised to clean their plates. It doesn't really matter what they are eating--they're still going to eat it.

Another eel dish with rice. Each pot is shared by 2 people.

Here are the instructions for preparing and eating the eel dish. Again, should food really require an explanation of how to eat it?! We were all cracking up about these 4 options listed below!!

Notice anything missing? Yup, no dessert... I was even chanting betsu bara, which means "separate stomach" (for dessert even when you're full from dinner) hoping the waitress would get the hint!! No luck :(

Whole department at dinner!

Kerri & Miyamura on his last day. He is the one who said I looked like Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid at the Christmas party, and he brought it up again tonight. He's a firm believer in my Ariel qualities!! Also, he researched my last name online and likes to randomly announce to people that my ancestors are from England based on the origins of "Green".

Finally, Miyamura said the night would not be complete without a visit to the Philippino bar, so we set off in taxis to find the mystical Philippino bar...

In true Japanese spirit, one guy went back to work to finish some things up, but said he would join us there shortly.
So this Philippino bar doesn't have a name or a sign. You just wander around a specific area of town and some guy will come up to you and ask if you are looking for the Philippino bar. Of course, this happened for us rather quickly, and then Miyamura and the guy were "negotiating" for a few minutes. Finally, they whisked us away to a building and put us in a tiny elevator that took us to the Philippino bar. Can you say "shady"?!

I quickly realized that the bar was some kind of gentleman's club because they were no other ladies there, except for the Philippino ones getting paid!! And while there was nothing overtly scandalous going on in plain view, the whole vibe was sleazy!

My highlight of this bar... they have a liquor called "Green"!! My co-workers told the ladies that I needed to take home the bottle since it was the same as my name. We even had to call "Mama" (leader of the ladies) over to discuss it. Mama said I could only take the bottle home if we finished it all. At this point, I got a little belligerent and said something like "Really?! Like you don't have any empty bottles just sitting around in the back?!" Next thing you know... an empty bottle appears in front of me as a souvenir! Either they like mouthy Americans, or they just wanted to shut me up!

There was also karaoke at this establishment, and Philippino-style in obviously like American-style were you sing in front of the whole bar!

I decided to lead the bar in a Beatles classic: Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da. Notice one of our Philippino ladies sitting on my right. They would just make themselves comfortable were ever this was a sliver of a seat and then order themselves drinks on our tab!

The whole group joins in the singing with me. Another Philippino lady sits at the right of this picture. I think she may be wearing a white trash bag for a dress. It was puffy and horrible.

Oh yeah, and the guy who went back to work to finish a few things did show up shortly after us, and he brought all of the other guys with him who were still in the office at 10pm!!

As we were leaving, Miyamura said I will probably come back here again because all of the Philippino ladies speak English! Umm... it was nice to order my own drinks and very rudely demand my own liquor bottle, but it's still not likely that I will return to this place ever again!!