So if you read this post you are a truly dedicated Evil Twins reader as I am making a poor effort to bury this posting.
The weekend before the baseball game, I went to Tokyo again. This time a friend was flying in from Boston on business. Since Tokyo was so far away, I considered blowing him off but H told me that it would be rude not to go. Before G came there was a flurry of e-mails about what to do see, where to eat, what hotels were acceptable etc..
On Friday after work, I hopped on the Shinkansen using the last weekend of my rail pass. G met me at the train platform with a Wall Street Journal and a manilla folder with "Evil Twin #1" scrawled in black sharpie. When I asked what was inside the folder, he showed me train station maps, maps of Tokyo, a train schedule, and a note I had H write in Japanese that said "I am meeting my friend on Shinkansen train#46. Please help me find the correct platform."
We went for a late drink/dinner and navigated our way back to the very western Hilton hotel. It had been a while since I had seen so many gaijin in one place, and it was strangely comforting to hear English all throughout the building. Both of us were exhausted from traveling, (admittedly my journey of 4 and a half hours on a train was a little less arduous than 17 hours on a plane and a 2 hour bus ride).
Saturday morning activities involved going to the Tokyo Dome and picking up baseball tickets for the next night, a visit to Asakusa (ye olde town Tokyo) and Kappabashi dori (for looking at the plastic food). While at the Tokyo Dome, we decided to make a brief stop to the Japanese baseball hall of fame. Now I have never been to Cooperstown, but .... well lets just say at least G had fun and I enjoyed the air conditioning. Off then to the old section of Tokyo, which is a mad house of tourists. It was a big festival day in Asakusa. That night they were going to have one of the largest firework displays in the world.
Even though we were tired and dehydrated, we rallied for a night out on the town. In Japan, a popular night time actvity is to go an izakaya, which serves drinks and the japanese version of tapas. I had not been yet so I suggested we go. G wanted to find something that looked more familiar like an italian cafe. We downed one apertif at one of those cafes, until I convinced G that my way was the right way. Unfortunately, as we entered an izakaya on the fith floor of some building we realized that no one in the establishment spoke english. So we ordered food by pointing to other peoples tables. The nice hostess poured us very large glasses of sake with saucers underneath. The sake was from her home town. Either that or that was the only thing she could say in English.
By 10, we were trashed. What the hell lets go for another. Two bars later, we ended up in weird creepy dark place with stone tables and benches. We looked around realizing we were surrounded by couples everywhere. Uncomfortable silence. G leaned in for a kiss. Making out ensued. I'm not proud, but there are those people in your life with whom you will always be inexplicably blind and stupid. Then he said the most irritating thing. "I want you to know that I am not serious or anything. I am seeing someone in Boston. I want to be honest with you, and I don't want you to come back and thinking you and I are a couple or something."
What irritated me was not what he said, but it is like how my sister calls me the day before my Dad's birthday every year. I'll never get credit for calling becasue she always beats me to the punch. Back to the story: G stole my thunder.
The next day was a more relaxing day. I got over my irritation during my all-you-can-eat gourmet breakfast buffet. Its amazing how quickly fresh figs, papaya, and pig-a-licious bacon can smooth things over with a friend. It is hard to be passive aggressive bitchy with your mouth full. We chatted and laughed a lot after then. I asked him about work and what he was doing in Japan. "Business stuff blah blah blah blah blah. To tell you the truth, I did not have to come to Japan this summer. Didn't you wonder why I'm only working one day? I could have done a conference call. I flew to Japan to see you."
Admittedly, that was the ego boost I needed. But then I thought, who has the time and energy to fly 7000 miles, 12 time zones, and suffer the massive jet lag to see a girl, when he has a girl a phone call away?
Well, all of that aside, we had a good weekend. We went sightseeing some more. G was a good sport about the early morning wake-up call to go see the sights on my Japan itinerary. He even did the cabbage patch with me when we found Hachimangu after getting a little lost (something V and H refused to do with me all summer). I being an insomniac and he being jet lag, we stayed up and watched late night World Cup Soccer and Charlie Chaplin movies. We ate one truly posh french meal over an argument on why the world hates Americans, in which I think we scared our nice waiter because G called me unpatriotic and I called him ignorant in slightly elevated tones.
Guess I know the answer to my question. I am hella fun. Now what do you all think if I go to Anarctica for a summer?
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