karaoke

After the shrine, I boarded the train again to meet up with some international friends I had met. I got off at the Keihan-Sanjo station, walked over the bridge and down to the river bank. There's a path on both sides of the river, popular for walking and biking, and on good-weather nights, drinking and socializing. It was the first warm weekend night and there were many people out. Clumps of people sitting on the bank, or just milling about, even someone in the river itself, wading in the cool water. Some Japanese swinging poi and playing drums showed up, another group stood in a circle singing. Later, the fire poi came out. Good fun, some beer, meeting new people, then it was time and a group of us went off to get some food.

We went to a place called Sunshine Cafe, which served something of a fusion menu. The food was excellent. They also had beer cocktails, which they mixed with juice, there was Pomegranate, Tomato and some others. Tomato was ok, but the Pomegranate was better, almost like a lambic but less carbonation.

After food, we left and met up with some others at karaoke. In the US people normally picture a crowded bar with everyone taking turns on a stage, but the asian version of karaoke is somewhat different. You pay by the hour, and it's all you can drink. You're taken to a small room, just your group of people, with a table, a TV, and seats all around. Very intimate. 2 microphones and an electronic device that allows you to select the songs. Also a phone on the wall, which you use to order more drinks, keep those pitchers coming! It's mostly a sing-a-long with everyone joining in, maybe it was just the crowd, and there was a lot of western music played, but I think even Japanese singers would pick a lot of western songs. Still, fun to try those Japanese, reading hiragana sing-a-longs too. Taxi ride back to Nagaokakyo and call it a night.