A New Friend

Well, remember the gentleman I met at the bar in Kyoto?  Who lost his wife two weeks earlier?  Well we've been in touch by email, and agreed to meet today for "lunch".  After some back and forth, we decided to have "a sushi appetizer" by the Tsukiji fish market followed by a walk into Ginza for Yakitori.  We met at the appointed time, but Mother Nature had other plans.  It was raining, and not just a spitting rain.  And surprisingly, the market was packed.  We met up, and found a place that didn't have a wait.   I let "Y" order.  We got an entire meal.  And a damn good one at that.  With beer and sake as well.

Our plan at that point was to walk to Ginza to get Yakitori (grilled meats), but given the fairly heavy rain, we decided to take a cab.  There, we proceeded to eat an entire other two meals (each) of grilled chicken, livers, eggs, and a chicken and rice in a hot pot dish that I don't know the name of.  As well as lots more sake.

On writing this (at 3pm) I'm really drunk.  More so than I ever get.

The food was fantastic (this was what I'd call a Japanese Soul Food place) and I ate until I was stuffed.  I physically could not eat any more.  Apparently, "Y" is involved in intellectual property law for the music publishing companies.  I explained what was going on in the USA, and then he brought me to a famous music store nearby.  We laughed over music prices (I showed him how all access worked with Google--he called me a "good consumer") and then we parted ways.

I hope "Y" can make his way to the USA.  I'd love to show him Oklahoma (he said that school-kids dance to OK music--he described square dancing) and what Middle America is really like.

I did buy some CD's at the store.  Japanese versions of Led Zeppelin "Celebration Day" and Bruno Walter's Beethoven Cycle.

Now its time for a nap.