beginning, craziness, end.

I finally went to my first meetup group - one that I do not, by definition of the group, belong in. Last night, the Tokyo Vegan Meetup Group hosted a Thanksgiving-themed buffet at Shibuya's Pink Cow restaurant, and it was a FEAST! I joined the group for a few reasons: I like vegetarian food (and vegan food), I like eating, I like meeting people and ... yup, that's about it. Close to 70 people showed up for the all-you-can-eat vegan buffet, and ate ate and ate in the welcoming, cute and very eclectic little restaurant. The menu included: stuffed (with stuffing) tofu, creamed peas w/soy milk, mashed potatoes, gravy sautéed veggies, hummus and pita chips, veggies and dip, burritos, guacamole, bruschetta, waldorf salad, rosemary & thyme bean stew, marinated tofu, beetroot salad, cranberry sauce, baked brown sugar sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, plum pudding, fresh fruit, and more. It was deLISH! When Steve and I parted ways for the day yesterday afternoon, he said something like, "Have fun, enjoy.... but um, don't come back a vegan." As incredibly amazing as the food was, I'd miss cheese and milk too much to give up animal products - I don't think the meat would be such a big deal, though fish I would miss... Anyways! It was a super fun event, and I met some really nice people - I will definitely go to another group meetup.

Another meal/evening that I've been meaning to blog about since the weekend was Saturday's team dinner welcome party gathering... wow. Okay, where to start. After a long day out in Yokohama at the children's book writer's and illustrator's workshop thing (which was fabulous), I metro-ed all the way across Tokyo and met Steve and his teammates for dinner and drinks at a Japanese tapas (sort of) bar - Izakaya. In the back corner of the dark and smoky (most of Steve's teammates smoke, which I found surprising) pub, we folded ourselves into the sunken seats of the low Japanese-style table - and then it began. First thing's first: beer was ordered, a toast was made and bottoms-up... and then bottoms up again... and bottoms up again. The scene was like something out of the typical college or university frat party, where dudes just drink and then drink and then drink more... only this was in the back of a Japanese restaurant-bar and everyone was wearing suits and laughing and singing and... I was completely surprised. After a few (or 10) big table beers, people started ordering "long-drinks" - Steve and I stuck to the Kirin. Food came, all of which was delicious: nabe (soup, simmered and served at the table), shrimp plates (three kinds: deep fried, with eyeballs, with sauce), rice, cabbage salad, sashimi, and some sort of meat with bean sprouts. All of the guys brought gifts for a gift exchange, and that brought out the rowdies: with each gift that was opened, the team would half-drunkenly shout "eat it! eat it!" if it was food, "drink it! drink it!" if it was drink, or play it play it or whatever... depending on the present. One guy got a half-jacket sort of thing - "wear it wear it!", and so he put it on. Another guy got a pair of underwear - "wear it wear it!", and so - GET THIS - after wiggling in and out of his jeans (he actually pulled his jeans down to his knees) to the crowd's melodic chorus of ooooh-oooooh-ooooohs (Steve and I were just staring at each other with what is going ON right now looks), he put the underwear on. And THEN... came Steve's present. The guy right across the table from us got his gift of a box of maple cookies and a small bottle of maple syrup. What do you think the guy does? Everyone: "drink it drink it!" And so, after chugging beers and long-drinks, he emphatically chugged the maple syrup. With a buzz of curiosity (and sugar and booze) the bottle was passed around the table for others to try - there were one or two other chuggers (and us: "NOOO! noooo!") and one guy that poured a significant slug into his drink and then guzzled it. It wasn't until after half the bottle had been polished off that someone actually read the label - ooooh it's syrup! Yes, syrup. Not whisky, not drink... syrup. SO, that was interesting. We kept eating, guys kept drinking - kept chugging... and then it was over. Downstairs we went and informally circled up - someone made a short speech sort of thing, and we were told, pointedly, "okay, it is finished." There was a start to the evening, a flurry of drinking, eating and craziness, and then there was an end. From there some went on to karaoke, and others went home. We couldn't stop talking about how funny and crazy the whole thing was, and figure that the ridiculous drinking has something to do with one of these things: the guys are younger (20-25 I think); they probably live with their parents so have to start early, go hard and then, well, go home; and there is a beginning and there is an end - all drinking must happen within the predetermined time-and-place walls. It was an interesting, fun and funny... good times.







On Sunday night we saw the Michael Jackson movie which we both loved - I highly recommend it. Monday morning I went running with a group of American and Canadian ladies and, after an hour of me wondering how long we were running for, had coffee with a few of them at Starbucks in Roppongi Hills. The coffee shop was FULL of foreigners, so much so that if you told me that I was in Anywhere USA I would have believed you. It was great to meet some new people and get a solid workout in before 9:30 - I will run again. And finally, I spent the last few afternoons in the Run for the Cure office helping with emails and spreadsheets and emails. And now I declare this blog over; beginning, craziness... end.