Another work day.\u00a0 Kaoru went to her parents after breakfast and I was busy for the morning.\u00a0 We went out for lunch, to an Italian restaurant nearby, which was quite nice, and I spent the afternoon working.<\/p>\n
When I had finished for the day, we caught the train to Mio (Kaoru’s sister) and Yoitchi’s house.\u00a0 They live a short walk from Harajuku – the area I first kissed Kaoru, so always looks very familiar, despite me never going to their place before.\u00a0 They live in a beautiful apartment, and as well as having Arisa (who is 6), they also have a little toy poodle that was excited at seeing somebody new.\u00a0 Eventually the dog annoyed Mio and she put it in its play pen.\u00a0 That’s right – most people have a small play pen \/ cage for their children.\u00a0 In Japan, they put their pet dog in it.\u00a0 It has a water bottle and a bed, and a few toys in it.\u00a0 Each to their own.<\/p>\n
Mio had me opening bottles pretty much from when I walked in the door.\u00a0 I was to learn what being a guest at “Mio’s Bar” was like, and I will be more prepared next time!\u00a0 We started the evening with a bottle of French Champagne, and then commenced eating our first course while the main course (Sukiyaki) was cooking.\u00a0 The bottle of champagne wasn’t finished before I had to select the red wine (French, and chilled, which is a different concept for me) to have with dinner.\u00a0 While eating, I commented on the piano in the room and was told Arisa could play, so I told her I wanted to hear a song.\u00a0 So once we finished eating, with a lot more coaxing (and the promise of me playing something) I got her to play something for me.\u00a0 I couldn’t believe seeing a 6 year old with such talent – but that’s what the Japanese are like!<\/p>\n
I then had to play something, so tried to teach Arisa the base line of “Heart and Soul”.\u00a0 She wouldn’t do it though, so I had to play both parts of the duet by myself.\u00a0 I did a couple of versus, and then the gloves were off.\u00a0 She wanted to show off what she could do!\u00a0 It’s funny watching the shy turn in to confidence!\u00a0 Halfway through her playing, Kenitchi – Kaoru’s younger sister’s husband – arrived from work.\u00a0 He was quite hungry so got straight in to eating, while I opened the next bottle of red wine.<\/p>\n
Arisa then wanted to play “Connect 4”.\u00a0 Kaoru and I had bought it for her when Kaoru was in Australia at Christmas, after she had seen David and Izzy play it.\u00a0 After a few games, Kaoru and Arisa played (with me helping Arisa at times) while I spoke to Kenitchi.\u00a0 He lived in Philadelphia for a few years some time ago, so spoke fair English.\u00a0 He also is President of his own company (of 3) and is in IT, so we had a lot in common and were able to converse very well.\u00a0 Meanwhile Mio had the bottle of Hennesey flowing, and Kaoru had to bath Arisa.<\/p>\n
Yoitchi (Mio’s husband, the doctor, and Kaoru’s former boss) arrived home at some point, and it was on to the Saki.\u00a0 I do remember a point in the evening when I had champagne, red wine, Hennesey and Saki in 4 separate glasses in front of me, while Kenitchi was telling me “Mio’s bar is open – it’s free but you pay for it the next day”.\u00a0 It was somewhere around there that Kozue (his wife – Kaoru’s sister) called, and I don’t know whether the two were related or not!\u00a0 I spoke to her briefly (for the first time).\u00a0 She spoke a little bit of English, but not much, so it was mostly laughing.<\/p>\n
At some stage in the night Kaoru said it was time to go home, so the 3 of us (Kaoru, Kenitchi and I) said goodbye to Mio (Yoitchi had snuck off to bed at some point) and we started walking out.\u00a0 However I was then informed that we missed the last train home and had to catch a taxi.\u00a0 This wasn’t what I expected in Japan at all, as it was only just after midnight.\u00a0 It was just over 7,000 yen (AU$70) to get back to our hotel by cab.<\/p>\n
I had to try to get the Pracware release out tonight, as some final work was being done during the day by the guys back in Australia.\u00a0 I attempted the first part (the checkout), but had a timeout error that took more brain power than I had left for the evening.\u00a0 So I put it in the “tomorrow” basket and crawled in to bed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Another work day.\u00a0 Kaoru went to her parents after breakfast and I was busy for the morning.\u00a0 We went out for lunch, to an Italian restaurant nearby, which was quite nice, and I spent the afternoon working. When I had finished for the day, we caught the train to Mio (Kaoru’s sister) and Yoitchi’s house.\u00a0 … Continue reading