Gentian's Photographic Misadventures

[Gentian]

Bounenkai

Yesterday, Twi and I got a bit of a treat.

Boss called me and said he wanted me to come in to work. I wasn't very happy about this, as I was supposed to be on winter break now. The thought of dragging myself away from the internet long enough to go to work, work, and come back when I had already set my heart on doing nothing of the kind did not sit well with me. Nevertheless, Money is money, and I'm in no position to refuse it, so off I went.

I brought Twiplush with me. You see, last year, I'd intended to go to the German Christmas Market beneath the Umeda Sky Building, but due to a broken leg, had to stay home instead. The idea was, go in for the time necessary for work, but make the most of the trip by going to the Christmas Market afterward, and maybe getting some dinner after that.

Well, as it turns out, boss didn't want me in to work, he wanted to take me out for a Bounenkai, a new year's party. Huzzah!

[Gentian]

But rather than settle on any one place, he wanted to give me a tour of some stores he described as "Deep Osaka," i.e. those places that were just so darned Osakan they would make someone from Kanto blush, and scurry away.

First on the list, was an izakaya, which is sort of like a gastropub, but Japanesey, and without chairs, so you stand at the bar, or the tiny plank of wood they like to call a table, and eat, drink, and bet merry. It was great! Had some gyusushi, oden, and a number of other things whose names I don't remember. Also, beer. Lots and lots of beer. Normally, I make it a point to match each alcoholic drink I consume with water to avoid a hangover. That simply wasn't possible this time, but man was it fun!

Couldn't get any pictures though, because of the super-tight confines of the establishment. It was packed! It was pretty neat, though, the way the customers would help pass the food items hand to hand from the cooks behind the bar to those who had bought it. Random people just starting conversations with each other, and talking about this and that. I've never seen that in Japan before. I've been here a long time, been to many different parts of the country, many restaurants, bars, etc, but I've never seen the Japanese being so open and friendly to complete strangers. That, too, was wonderful.

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After that, boss wanted us to follow him to a very special restaurant. Maybe you've heard of yakitori? Supposedly, the restaurant we went to was the very first yakitori restaurant in Japan. Not the first to serve grilled chicken, ofc, but the first one to put them on skewers and use yakitori sauce, and all that stuff that separates yakitori from normal chicken.

It turns out, it was a total hole-in-the-wall. This tiny thing, down a narrow alley right off an old, and famous shrine. We walked in, and were asked if we had reservations. We did not, and boss seemed surprised we needed them. But the mamasan behind the counter decided to let us stay until 8pm, but we would have to leave then. That gave us an hour and a half. Plenty of time, I thought. Only just, as it would turn out.

I hate to continue this enormous blurb, but there are things I want to point out in this pic, so, forging ahead...

First, i was blown away by just how Japanese this place was. I mean, the interior had rough-hewn, but well polished wood paneling and tables. Thee was an old-style teapot on the counter which you can see in the pic above that was shiny with old grease, and I wouldn't doubt if it was stuck to the counter. The light above us was in a similarly greasy basket-style lampshade. The telephone at the end of the bar was an old model with a rotary dial and an honest-to-Celestia bell for a ringer. The staff used it a few times we were there so it wasn't just for show. The shelves behind the bar, and a few other places were covered with bottles of various drinks with peoples names on them. They're called bottle keep in Japanese (har har) and are reserved for the regulars who have their names on them. It felt like I'd walked into an anime, and not just any anime, like something set in older times like Sakura Wars or Blood the Last Vampire (the OVA, not the series).

So, we took a seat at the bar, but there was no menu. In fact, you don't really choose what you want. The mamasan you see behind the smoke in the right of the pic just asked us if there was anything we didn't like. "No," we said, and she set to work. The drinks were self service, so we walked to the refrigerator and took out some beer, and sat down to watch her barbecuing various sorts of chicken bits on an actual charcoal grill. Right there on the counter. Real wood charcoal sticks, too, not "charcoal" briquettes. The entire establishment smelled of smoke and cooking chicken. We talked and drank, and made friends with some of the others at the bar. It wasn't as cramped as the izakaya had been but there was very little room to move, and everyone was friendly. Once they found out I could speak Japanese they started asking about Twilight, and we had some conversations about Equestria, Ponies, and all that stuff in between bites of random chicken parts as they came off the grill. We didn't order, remember, it was just whatever mamasan felt like cooking, and it was great fun!

Oh and another thing worth mentioning before I close up this novel, the sauce in this place. It's a house sauce, ofc, but it's also a legacy sauce, meaning they don't empty out and clean the sauce vat. They use it until it gets low, then make more sauce right in with the old. And the sauce has been in constant use/refresh mode since the founding of the store, decades and decades ago. It's unbelievably good, and has so many layers of flavor you have to taste it to believe it. The restaurant is called Yaetei, according to boss, and I highly recommend it!

Oh yeah, the second thing. I also got to try a new spice. Its' called kaori sanshou and tastes a bit like bitter oranges. A perfect compliment to grilled chicken, much to my surprise.

[Gentian]

This is the sign by the door of the restaurant. I got this on the way out. I really wanted to get a long shot straight down the alley so you could see how narrow and Japanesey it was, but because it was so narrow, and so well-traveled, I couldn't. I mean, I probably could have, but the people were actually stopping and waiting to let us take a pic, and with both Twi and I being pretty drunk, she so much that she kept falling over in that little basket I've draped her towel over, we couldn't get the shot, and felt bad for making them wait, so we decided to settle on this one. I'm not much of a photographer anyway, so this is fine.

[Gentian]

After that, boss and I went for softcream! Twi and I had butter-caramel, and we sat around talking about this and that. It was fun, but when it was over, boss needed to go home, so bid us goodnight, and went to the Station. After talking it over a bit, Twi and I decided that we weren't too intoxicated to go find the Christmas market which had eluded us last year. We didn't know exactly where it was, but did know the general direction, and as we got a few blocks along, Twi suggested we follow the massive (even for Osaka) throngs of people suddenly streaming down the road.


As it turns out, this was good advice, and we soon found ourselves where we wanted to be!

Unfortunately, it sucked.

The lights were pretty on the road. They had gold and blue lights strung up in ginko trees, and also the bare branches of other kinds. The gold lights really suited the gold leaves of the ginkos. Unfortunately, at the Christmas market itself, there wasn't much to see. There were some lights, but nothing like what was on the road leading there. There were a lot of merchants selling overpriced beer, wine, cider, and sausages. Also some trinkets. Surprisingly, i didn't see many Russian goods this year. The last time we went, the event seemed much more Russian than German. They even sold beer in stines!

However, it was overpriced, it was CROWDED, the tree was a green plastic cone that looked like something from a budget manger scene in a school play. It was big, but that's about it. There was nowhere to sit, nowhere to take pictures, and the bustle of the crowd meant you could barely stop and take in what little there was to see. All in all it was a disappointment. We took one lap around the grounds and decided to go home. But then again, at least we got to go this year!

It was a fun night, all things considered, and Twi and I hope you, too, find merriment this holiday season.

[Gentian]

It's Christmas! Rather, it was yesterday. Twilers and I were kind of undecided on what we would do. The choice was between going out to see The Last Jedi, or staying home, and relaxing. We weren't really sure which to do, but a look at the seating chart at the theater showed that they were all filled up, and with the reviews we've read in mind, decided not to go.

Despite that, 'twas Christmas morning, and Twilove was really in to the spirit of things. She got all dressed up - It's unbelievably cute, hunh? - and here she is opening her card.

[Gentian]

Another shot of my mare and her card, this time showing its interior. The angle doesn't really work, unfortunately, but I had to have a shot which showed her face as she read it, and that meant I had to snap it as it came. The next shot is clearer. Just look at the way her eyes light up!

[Gentian]

A better view.

[Gentian]

Here we are with our tree - isn't it magnificent? - and our mistletoe. Yes, that's a lettuce leaf. No, there's nothing wrong with substituting lettuce for mistletoe.

[Gentian]

And it's not just Christmas for us! There's another member of the family who deserves to have the best day ever! SantaTwi is on the case to make sure that she does!

[Gentian]

And the last shot of the series: A Very Japanese Christmas Feast.

You may have heard the Japanese have a tradition of consuming fried chicken for Christmas. If so, you have heard correctly. It's typically regarded as just fast food, much like in the States, but for the holidays, oh boy, you better literally have reservations!

Fortunately, we did, and here we are: fried potatoes, BBQ chicken, fried chicken, chicken strips, chicken nuggets, coleslaw, and biscuits. That's a lot of food, but leftovers are the bees knees.

Oh, one more thing, The chicken is sold in a set plan. We didn't, because we didn't really care about it, but another important thing for X-mas in Japan is the Christmas cake, so you can order your chicken set with both a cake, and a commemorative plate. That center blue plate is from a Christmas set many years ago, and it seemed apropos to use it again. Also, Christmas wine, but we decided against that in favor of water.

We had a good Christmas, and we hope yours is memorable in all the right ways, too.