Serendipity, or How Ramen Led to Karaoke

Lemon ramen

Remember I mentioned I hadn't yet bought random fish from the supermarket to cook at home? Well, I ventured out and bought a package of small squid, and mushrooms to mix them with. It was gross! The mushroom sauce was like slime and the eyes of the squid felt like tiny marbles in my mouth. Time to get dinner out!

Another JET took me to an inconspicuous little shop that's house special is lemon ramen. Old men sat at the far end of the restaurant, drinking beer and telling stories. The entire place was decked out in dekayama and Seihakusai symbols and photos. It felt like I'd found a "local" establishment that not a lot of foreigners venture into. Being a new Nanao resident and experiencing the city's festival first-hand, I felt a sense of belonging; that I understood this place, and liked it.

Just as our piping hot bowls of citrus-smelling ramen were placed in front of us, two other JETs walked in the door! One of them had never been there before either, and had chosen to come just by coincidence. It was perfect timing! They ordered the house special too, and we all ate our lemon ramen together.

During the course of conversation, we mentioned we should do more things together - like karaoke! It just so happens there is a karaoke place connected to the same building as the ramen shop. After dinner we went around the corner and booked ourselves a room to sing our hearts out.

Three of the four of us don't drink, so we sang sober. And you know what? It was still awesome!! We kept extending our time by a half hour until we lost track of the night altogether. NEWS, Disney, Johnny Cash, and even Eminem (I totally laid it down).

It was a blast. I can't wait to go back again :)

Karaoke machine