Nov. 2010 Trip - Post #3: "The Perfect Day/Night"

So here it is.  Probably the one single day/night I was most looking forward to on this entire Japan trip.  Day 3.  Yes, it was all lined up.  Work during the day, and then a night - a Friday night, that included stops at my most favorite Tokyo places.  With my wife.  For the first time ever.  A historic night (and morning).  This post should take up about 3 or 4 pages, for the entire night was at least that long.  However I will condense it for you, as to not bore you.  It was perhaps the most enjoyable night I have ever spent in Japan.  So where do we start?  At the Yatai-mura for dinner of course!!  We met some friends there, including the previously posted about Fujii-san who brought his son (who was not even born yet the first time I met him) and sister along.  His sisters (who is apparently a famous Japan screenwriter for television) presence was key as she would be his sons baby sitter for later when we went "deeper" into the wonderful Kita-Shinagawa evening.

We had a great time at dinner.  The Yatai-mura never disappoints.  Mary met all the great people there, including Mutsumi-san and Suzuki-san, and we really had a wonderful time.  So much fun that we got behind my own personal timetable for the evening.  Here is a picture of Mary with Fujii-sans son, who really liked cars (and brought his own box full of toy cars).

The Yatai-mura is such a great place to sit down with friends and enjoy a casual conversation while eating some nice food.  This is a very special place for me.  Kind of like a neighborhood hang out.  I wish I had a place like this close to my home.

After a wonderful time at the Yatai-mura, we headed over to Hoju for a couple of games of pool.  This was the first time ever in my life that I was able to shoot some pool with my wife.  Can you believe that?  How special!!!!

Of course we ended up staying later at Hoju than my original plan.  So much so that we received a call from Tampopo asking where we were!!  Were we going to make it to Tampopo?  Yes of course!!  But one more game of pool first!!!

We finally closed up our pool game at Hoju, and headed over to our final (?) destination - Tampopo.  I must first say though that I was very impressed with Mary's pool game.  Aside from the fact that it took her forever to line up her shots, she was really good!!!  So we staggered down the steep Hoju steps over to Tampopo, to finish the night off with a rocking Karaoke session!  At Tampopo, it didn't take Mary, who promised she would NOT sing, to take the mic and join in on a song.

This is a great picture of Fujii-san.  Why?  Because this is the exact same position he was in when we first walked into the door of Tampopo years earlier and found him in there with his wife.  Classic.

The Tampopo session went on and on.  Well into the late night, and in fact the early morning.  Before it was too late though, I sang a special song to Mary.  Nat King Cole's "When I Fall in Love".  She was a bit reluctant to get up and dance with me, but upon being pushed by the rest of our friends, she had no choice.

It was a marathon Tampopo session, and I was surprised Mary hung on all the way to the end.  There was craziness, and of course I cannot describe all of it in this post.

To keep with tradition, Fujii-san and I sang the final song, Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World".  How true.

So at about 2:00 a.m., the Tampopo staff said it was time to close.  We complied with their request, and were sent off into the dark of night of the "Tokaido Road".  We were all tired, and needed sleep.  So what did we do?  After some small amount of deliberation, we decided to continue our session at "Big Echo".  Why you ask?  Well, because Big Echo is open 24 hours and because Momo-san had a coupon!!!  So we walked the mile or so to the Big Echo near Shinagawa Station, and continued our evening of singing.

Now I will not post any of the few photos I have from Big Echo.  Some of them are not so pretty, and are therefore considered "classified".  Some members of the party "hit the wall" and missed certain parts of this session.  Not Mary of course, who was still going strong!!!

The Big Echo session ended at 4:00 a.m.  We had certainly got in our fill of singing this night.  At the end, when some of the best music was sung, the audience was the smallest regrettably.  So it was finally time to head back to our hotels and call it a night.

What!!!  No, it was not time.  Ramen!!!  We needed Ramen!!!!  Does anyone know a local Ramen shop that is open at 4:00 a.m.???  Of course!!!  This is Tokyo!!!!  Not more than 100 meters away and perhaps a 10 minute walk, and we were bellied up to a Ramen bar, and ordering more beer along with bowl fulls of Japan's finest noodles.  There is NO BETTER WAY to end an all night Karaoke session than with a bowl of early morning Ramen.  We slurped down our bowls of noodle nectar, and then did we call it a night????

Yes, this time we did.  It was close to 5:00 a.m., and it was one of the most fun filled Japan Friday nights I have ever had.  I was so proud of my wife Mary for not only making it, but being strong throughout all the way to the end.  I will never forget this night in Tokyo.  Thank you to all who participated!