Much to Drink

A wasted morning was followed by a different kind of wasted afternoon, today, as I went with Drummond, James, Brendan, Sawako, and Nami to Kurume. There, in a slightly boggy park, a barbeque was being held, with music, organised by a man from Jimmy's bar that Drummond knows. 2000yen to attend the event bought us two sticks from the barbeque: one lovely meat and the other not so attractive things from the sea; music; and all we could drink from the cooler. The choice was cans of beer and cans of a Japanese drink called "Chu-Hai." Initially, I was despondent at the high price of such a soft drink, until it was pointed out to me that it was stronger than beer! From then onwards, I was happy. Seb was also there, unexpectedly, with his wife Misako. He wore a flat cap and looked like a farmer.

Drummond came expecting to be roped in to play his guitar, which he duly was, though not at the park, but at an identical event inside a bar. Both food and drinks were the same, though boggy the floor was not. A guy played his guitar, including George Michaels "Faith," and "Isn't She Lovely?" by Stevie Wonder. We played a drinking game that involved having a sip everytime we understood a word he sang.

Next up was a band called "Dub Clear." A three piece electric band: electric guitar, bass, and drums, they were looking for a vocalist. They played some quite heavy music, but there was passion and we all enjoyed it. Drummond played afterwards, some of his classic songs. During this time, I spoke a little to the drummer of the previous band. I gave him my address and a couple of hundred yen, and he promised to send me their CD. They also gave me their web address, linked above!

Drummond continued to play beautifully, before coaxing James and I to sing with him for a while. It did not take much, to be honest. We sang "Norwegian Wood" and "Kiss From a Rose," now our core reportoire.

We returned to the park upon completion of Drummond's recital, though Nami failed to make it that far. Slightly worse for wear (at 4pm), she was taken home my Brendan. The rest of us were treated to more songs from the first guy that we had heard play, as well as some break dancing, which was novel. Drummond played, once again, and sang a single song with James: "Songs of Love." Drummond finished with his favourite Thomas Leeb piece: "The Hard Can," which we all love.

Once more, at 6pm, we returned to the bar with everybody. We sat with Seb and his companions and chatted to them in Japanese and English, depending on the person. One person I spoke could even speak some French, though everything I attempt to recall just turns into Japanese on the way out. Another band played as we socialised, keeping us all tapping our feet.

We took our leave not much longer afterwards and returned home. Here, we foudn Lauma and Felicity raring to go out for the planned meal in the evening to belatedly celebrate Lauma's birthday. I knocked back some orange juice, changed my shirt, and went with them to Hirao. Drummond stayed behind with Sawako...

We found the French restaurant without too much trouble, though we rendezvous-ed with Katherine, who had been wandering around for 10 minutes in the wrong direction. We comandeered some rather expensive wine - £5 each for one bottle - and ordered our food. Lauma and I had a set meal each, which was a nice platter of different things for a started, including paté and fois-grais, and came with bread. The main was a lovely piece of beef stake with some French fries, and we had a bland cheese cake for dessert. Flick and Katherine has mussels.

Everybody else trickled in whilst we ate and I had yet to finish my steak before we all were there, including a revived Nami, with Brendan, as well as Akiko with Rushen. Katherine had organised a cake, which was rather more tastier than the one from my meal.

I think everybody had a good time. We all came back on the last train, apart from Rushen who headed off in Akiko's car, and those who had headed home (or out) earlier.