Turks and Hydrangeas
We went out to dinner with Hakan Abis, a Turkish PE teacher/computer guy from the kids' school, on Saturday. We met him "at the dog," which is a popular meeting spot in Shibuya. Obviously.
He took us to Turkish place called, appropriately, Ankara (the capital of Turkey). We had really yummy food and Turkish beer (which seems odd, as 98% of Turkey is Muslim and doesn't drink alcohol). Hakan paid for dinner, which was super-nice of him.
After dinner, we wandered around Shibuya trying to find somewhere cool to go. Hakan showed us The Coins Bar, which he had been shown by Jason. It was full of drunk American girls acting loud and stupid and bad "R&B"/hip-hop music, but they did have really cheap drinks (300 yen). We couldn't take the atmosphere for more than one drink, tho, and called Macky (who was watching the kids and having a small BBQ at our house) to ask if there was anyplace decent to go in Shibuya. He told us of a place, but we had a really hard time finding it, and wandered around for half an hour.
Happily, with the combination of my ketai google-ability, the local police box, and Jeff's fun-dar, we at last found Garageland. It was small, but perfect, and the bartender played The Cure, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, and stuff of a more punk bent, from his computer behind the bar. I will definitely go back there again, and drag all of my friend.
We left Hakan in Shibuya after that and Jeff finally took me to Playboy's, a small bar in our neighborhood. The other 3 patrons easily were 2 decades older, but they love Jeff there. We started with their signature drink, which is Jinro (a Korean whiskey) and green tea. Tastes like nothing, and therefore super-dangerous. It turned into a Billy Joel karaoke-fest, and I got a free whiskey-soda AND had my karaoke paid for by the guy next to me. I should do this for a living.
On Sunday, Father's Day, we took a walk to Mitsuike Koen. I took lots of pictures of the ajisai (hydrangeas) that were blooming in profusion.
OK, those aren't hydrangeas, but they are really pretty.
And here are some examples of interesting modern Japanese architecture in our neighborhood.
Also saw the saddest litter of stray kittens ever at the park. This one is obviously going to end up blind.
It's litter mates didn't look much better, and M said he and his friend saw one get attacked and killed by a crow last week. My heart was breaking into a hundred pieces, but there's nothing I can do for them. If it had been in Seattle, I would've taken a couple home and gotten them some veterinary care, but here, we can't have cats in our apartment (and Jeff would kill me). Valerie would've scooped them right up, I am certain.
And finally, here's some friendly reminders to pick up after your dog.
This is the kid's last week of school. Yea.
He took us to Turkish place called, appropriately, Ankara (the capital of Turkey). We had really yummy food and Turkish beer (which seems odd, as 98% of Turkey is Muslim and doesn't drink alcohol). Hakan paid for dinner, which was super-nice of him.
After dinner, we wandered around Shibuya trying to find somewhere cool to go. Hakan showed us The Coins Bar, which he had been shown by Jason. It was full of drunk American girls acting loud and stupid and bad "R&B"/hip-hop music, but they did have really cheap drinks (300 yen). We couldn't take the atmosphere for more than one drink, tho, and called Macky (who was watching the kids and having a small BBQ at our house) to ask if there was anyplace decent to go in Shibuya. He told us of a place, but we had a really hard time finding it, and wandered around for half an hour.
Happily, with the combination of my ketai google-ability, the local police box, and Jeff's fun-dar, we at last found Garageland. It was small, but perfect, and the bartender played The Cure, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, and stuff of a more punk bent, from his computer behind the bar. I will definitely go back there again, and drag all of my friend.
We left Hakan in Shibuya after that and Jeff finally took me to Playboy's, a small bar in our neighborhood. The other 3 patrons easily were 2 decades older, but they love Jeff there. We started with their signature drink, which is Jinro (a Korean whiskey) and green tea. Tastes like nothing, and therefore super-dangerous. It turned into a Billy Joel karaoke-fest, and I got a free whiskey-soda AND had my karaoke paid for by the guy next to me. I should do this for a living.
On Sunday, Father's Day, we took a walk to Mitsuike Koen. I took lots of pictures of the ajisai (hydrangeas) that were blooming in profusion.
OK, those aren't hydrangeas, but they are really pretty.
And here are some examples of interesting modern Japanese architecture in our neighborhood.
Also saw the saddest litter of stray kittens ever at the park. This one is obviously going to end up blind.
It's litter mates didn't look much better, and M said he and his friend saw one get attacked and killed by a crow last week. My heart was breaking into a hundred pieces, but there's nothing I can do for them. If it had been in Seattle, I would've taken a couple home and gotten them some veterinary care, but here, we can't have cats in our apartment (and Jeff would kill me). Valerie would've scooped them right up, I am certain.
And finally, here's some friendly reminders to pick up after your dog.
This is the kid's last week of school. Yea.
posted by Sandi at 9:23 AM
4 Comments:
Hey! I went to that Turkish restaurant a few weeks ago for a catchup dinner with my friend Christian. Delicious, ne. My second last week of school. Outta here in 27 days.... we gotta get drunk together before I go!
Poor kitties! I would have. I don't know when or why I became such a cat advocate.
I think you need to say all of my friends.
Hai, oishii desu!!
Yeah I agree with martine! Ankara is a super-delicious place to go with friends. That coins bar is a kewl place for me too ;)
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