 |
| Red triangles, gifts from different friends |
Yesterday I worked until very late, and decided to stop by the Italian restaurant that my friend runs, since they are open until early in the morning. I was told that a few days earlier a group of foreigners had shown up and asked (in English) if there was an English menu available. My friend who speaks almost no English became panicked and just said "nai nai" ("no", in Japanese) and gesturing the Japanese gesture for "no" (which most people who are not from Japan do not recognize, I guess). Since then, he has begun thinking that having an English version of the menu might be good, so he asked me if I could translate their menu. If I show up with an English version of their menu, he would give me a free meal, he said. Which would probably be quite much cheaper than my usual hourly pay, but since we are friends I said that of course I will do it.
He gave me a piece of water melon just for accepting the offer.
A man came in and sat next to me at the counter. We have met several times before, and he has come to our magic bar to see me too. He said: "I promised to buy you dinner when we met near your birthday, right? And I still did not do that, right?" I have no memories of him making such a promise, but it might be true (and since it must have been at least one year since he made such a promise, I may be a bit fuzzy on the details of our last conversation). I said as much, but he was quite sure he had promised that, so he paid for my dinner yesterday.
Then I went home and started translating the menu (they gave me one big plastic folder with a laminated menu to take home). Another friend suddenly called me (people very rarely call me) and asked if I was near the place she works. Since I was at home, the answer was yes. She said that a guy we both know was coming to her place in his Ferrari, so I should come over and get a ride.
I figured that for riding a Ferrari I should wear cool sunglasses, so I grabbed a pair before leaving. I walked over and arrived slightly before the Ferrari. My friend's friend also showed up in his Lamborghini. Both the Ferrari and the Lamborghini were very cool. I have never been very interested in cars, but these cars looked cool and the sound the made was also very cool.
 |
| Me, looking like a guy who owns a Ferrari |
I got to ride around a few blocks in the Ferrari, and it was like riding in a roller coaster... Very powerful acceleration!
 |
| Me sitting in a Lamborghini (which was so low it was hard to get out). Also worth noticing is: 1) the police passing in the background; 2) the Engrish written on the car ("muffer that of best masterpiece is a heat magic") |
When we were standing around taking photos of the cars, lots of people came up to me and said things like: "Very cool!" (in English, no less!) and "Is it OK if I take a photo?" (in Japanese, of course). I said that I believed it would be fine, but that it was not my car. Everyone seemed surprised that it was not my car... I don't even have a driver's license. I guess it is the sunglasses?
 |
| Sitting around in a Ferrari |
