Punishment glutton that I am, I headed back to Ikebukero tonight with J to a cheese and wine at Caravan Books. Very mixed crowd - some English teachers and a selection of other "randoms" - a category that J and I easily fall into. J had met the shop owner before in what sounded like an interesting encounter (read: intoxicated) in Ebisu. Anyway J had to go off to practice her flute at 10:00 and left me with what seemed on the surface to be a happy, normal couple. The female half was a Japan veteren (14 years) and therefore, had that slightly jaded air about her, which I instantly recognized and took a liking to. The male half was a newbie and rare breed of a man, claiming not to like Japanese women. We enjoyed some happy banter and moved on to a nearby bar with the rest of the cheesers and winers. The female was quite drunk by this time but soon got drunker, downing two G&T's in a very short time. She then left me and her mate, saying she wanted to mingle. So mingle she did. In the meantime I made desperate efforts to sustain a conversation and maintain eye contact with the guy. Difficult as he only had eyes for her and the guy she was pawing and being pawed by (as anyone would in the same circumstances I guess). You can imagine it began to get a bit uncomfortable around this time and I decided to beat my retreat.
While I do hope they managed to sort it all out in the end, I did take some comfort in the fact that I only have myself to worry about and that things could quite obviously be worse.
Sounds like a fun evening....
I like Caravan - decent pricing, and a cosy scruffiness about the place.
Posted by: Gary | March 10, 2004 at 03:27 PM
Yeah, the book shop was great. Bit far off my beaten track but I would definitely recommend it. Would even recommend the cheese and wine evenings - I think they do them regularly. Just beware of couples going through a relationship crisis. Wherever the venue, I guess.
Posted by: tokyoredhed | March 10, 2004 at 04:57 PM