カラオケ

Karaoke

So, this weekend me and twelve of my friends celebrated my birthday! There was me; the Pacific Crew (Jhermaine, Will, Ashley, Jessica, Chris, Kailyn, and Nila...saddly not Alan); Andrea, the German; Anna, the Canadian; Natalie, the Australian; Miwako, the best; and Akira, her friend! Akira I met that night; he was lots of fun to hang out with!

We all met up in Umeda in Osaka and were led to the restaraunt by Miwako and Akira; they had a map and I had little confidence in them. On the way, we saw some boxes and trash on the side of the street; in some bags are a few stuffed animals, so, Will, being Hispanic, immedeatly goes dumpster diving and grabes a bunch of things for people!

When we get to the restaraunt, it looks a little shady. This steep stairwell goes underground and the walls are painted blue and red. It has a very industrial S&M feel to it. As we go down and get into the place, it doesn't look much better. It's dark and there is loud music...but all you can eat and drink in Osaka for $25!? I thought...I'M IN!

It ends up being an awesome place! I told Miwako one number short of what we had, so I snuggled up between Chris and Natalie (the two skinniest) and sat on a stuffed star Will dug out of the trash for Kailyn! I didn't mind! We began to order drinks...over the course of those two hours I had 3 double shots of Nihon-Shuu (basically Voldka but smoother) two beer, but not beers, and three or four other random drinks. I definatly got pretty smashed. It was really fun just yelling drinks and food at the waiters without having to worry about how much the bill was going to come out to! I think that the bar must loose a lot of money whenever a big group of Westerners rolls around (especially the women...Japanese women don't drink their good share usually!).

After eating and drinking to our hearts content, we head for the all-night Karaoke! Half of the group leaves for home...:(

When we get there, we are told we need to wait about half-an-hour, so we go next door and do PuriKura (Print Club...those photo booths you always see Japanese people doing)! I dont't know if it was the alcohol, but it was actually a lot of fun! Four of us squeezed in and took four photos, then we went to the other side of the screen and wrote all over them and put pictures on them. Then they printed out and we cut them up! Ok, that doesn't sound like as much fun as it was...I guess you had to be there.

At the Karaoke place (Me, Natalie, Kailyn, Will, Akira, Ashley, Chris, and Jhermaine....Miwako had an interview the next day) we all piled into a tiny room and sung for seven hours straight. Japanese...Korean...English...whatever! Throw in many trips to the bathroom to pee and free water, tea, and soda and call it a party! Sure, I couldn't sing half of the songs, but that was not the point! Natalie fell asleep for a little bit, but other than her, every was up through the night! It was $15 for a place to crash per person!

Afterward, we left the building and it was light out! O_O We walked to the train station and four of us got on the same train...Akira, me, Kailyn, and Jhermaine....I think.... My arms were filled with presents and I needed to walk from the station to my apartment on the third floor! I thought about calling a taxi to avoid the 15-20min walk, but I decided to save the $10. As I came up to the apartment, my host mother's father is leaving (it's about 7am)! I saw him right before I left, so he knew what I had been up to. We exchanged a few words and laughed a bit, but my throat was so sore from singing. I went up to my room...saw that my family was still asleep...and slept though until lunch. I could hardly even speak.

(After eating lunch I went back to sleep and slept through until dinner!)

And so I had my 21st birthday party in Japan.