Today the Co-Worker and I were going to do a bicycle tour of Takasaki, but instead we are both doing penance for too much alcoholic indulgence last night. I actually don't feel so bad, but I have a feeling that may be because I haven't sobered up entirely yet. I'm kind of dazed - I went to pee a minute ago and had to stop mid-stream to double check that I actually was sitting on the toilet... for a minute, I didn't know for sure. I lost count of the beverages last night and that is never a good thing...

We kind of did a bicycle tour last night, and had a ball doing it so we've decided we should do it every Saturday. We met on a corner somewhere in between our apartments and CW had in her bike basket three cans of cheap-arse premix girly drinks so we made a meal of those as we rode around for two hours taking in the sights. We found a shrine that we'd never seen before and went for a walk through... then we rode up to the City Office and there was a bunch of people outside their cars doing this weird brand of Japanese dancing that involves these slashing arm movements and no leg movement, just stepping from side to side... we watched for a while. Then we heard drumming and followed the sound to the symphony hall - some dude had set up his drum kit in the courtyard outside, so as not to disturb anyone I guess, and was practising drums in the dark... so we stopped and danced under the lamp and I think he appreciated it. We stopped at a conbini to get another cheapie drink (I love how the convenience stores sell alcohol here, I find it extremely convenient :) and by this point we had enough Dutch courage to take a cycle through the hostess alley in town, which for some reason we've always been afraid to do. The mall was awash with men in business suits and skinny women glaring at us... one of the clubs has a picture of Audrey Hepburn outside. I'm not sure she'd approve.

At this point we decided to head into the bar, our eventual destination, but we stopped so that I could talk to a cat (bastard thing ran away from me) and then we ended up talking on a corner for maybe half an hour... I was telling CW about the tangled web of friends back home and she was telling me her views on religion and then something about a place near where she lived, that we should go when we got back, and that was kind of nice because until quite recently (maybe the last week or two) I never would have considered that we might still do stuff together when we got back to our regular lives. Our friendship in the beginning was definitely one of convenience, because that was what was there... and there was the occasional tense moment, generally my fault I think - my pedantry and general anal retentiveness threatened to really make things uncomfortable. A couple of weeks ago I found myself sending her an email (because I am a coward) to apologise for something really critical that I had said about one of her lesson plans. Fortunately, CW is extremely easy going and she hadn't really taken offense anyway... but I decided at that point to call off the whole po-TAY-to/po-TAA-to thing and just relax and not give a fuck about it. And something shifted, and we are getting to be quite close, I think. She's a good influence on me, I would like to be more easy-going.

We're still awaiting the arrival of the third gaijin at work and lately we've been discussing a hell of a lot how that may affect the status quo of what we've got going, especially since we've both emailed her and she hasn't replied and we are speculating as to whether she is 'unfriendly'...

Anyway, back to the night. We rode off to the bar and were receiving wolf-whistles aplenty while riding, CW was looking very hot in a halter top thingy and I had my Sexy Dancing Pants on, which I think feel sexier to me because I don't wear underwear with them since they're so fitting... which reminds me, I must wear underwear if I am riding the bike in again, it starts off rather enjoyable but after two hours there is just too much chafing.

Chafing aside, I felt pretty good when we arrived at the bar, our little jaunt was a lot of fun. This is where things started to go downhill for me... I proceeded to down a few drinks in quick succession, too much, even a tequila shot which we all know is not a good thing for me... and most of the night is kind of a blur. I remember a small group of girls divulging cup sizes (apparently it was relevant at the time, and I didn't have the biggest breasts there, thank heavens!), a couple of gorgeous Japanese girls who are sort of acquaintances telling me that if I was a man they'd fuck me, and an orgy of hugging and kissing (not *that* kind... at least not on my part, being for all intents and purposes off the shelf) and mildly dirty dancing on the dance floor, some beautiful friends that I hadn't seen in a while turning up unexpectedly...

...and then I felt like I couldn't stand up anymore. I had the sweetie from Cairns stroking my hair for a while, and then my head was on the shoulder of one of the guys from another English school that we've been seeing quite a bit of lately, I think he's a sweetie too but he'd kill me for using that word... so I'm going to use a boring psuedonym and call him the Writer. Interesting guy, I've been enjoying hanging out with him, and I think we will see much more of him and his friends, they're good value.

Anyway, I started to sober up (relatively speaking... I may actually still be drunk now) around 4ish I think and had enough coordination to stand and even dance again for a while, though it was only me and the Writer at this stage and I think he was getting worn out... either that or he was sitting down so he could watch me shake my butt :)

And so the night was over, I think it was 4:30ish and I was hit with the realisation that there were holes in my memory of the night, which is never a good sign. I feel like I have lost a night, which shits me, and I think I might have been rude to the odd person, which I feel rotten about. The place was really packed though and everyone was drinking a lot, so I can only hope that my misdemeanours were hidden in the crowd or will be forgotten in the alcoholic haze. Not that there was anything too bad, I just feel a bit embarrassed... I don't like being that out of control, and especially not in public view. Meh. Won't happen again, at least not for a couple of days :)

We headed from the bar to a raamen place with the Writer and the Barman, and enjoyed some tasty noodles before heading home. I think it may have saved me. I like these guys, they make me laugh. I was thinking about how I'm learning a lot about Australia at the moment, as well as Japan... I learned last night that apparently 'shits me to tears' is an exclusively Australian expression :)

I rode home in daylight, being gawked at by people going for their morning jog, and finally dragged my carcass into bed around 6am. I slept for as long as I could bear the heat in my loft. It is nearly 5pm and I haven't done a thing besides sit at the computer all day... haven't eaten, haven't showered, haven't bothered with the clothing thing... it is actually really fucking hot here today. At some point during in my sleep/alcoholic coma this morning I took my clothes off, don't remember doing it at all, and it's something that I don't do here because I have a weird fear of there being an earthquake and being found starkers in the rubble... so that's how hot it is. Talked to Co-Worker on the phone, dissected the night that was (she couldn't fill in any of my grey areas, I think she was otherwise occupied), vetoed the idea of going anywhere today... and she was doing the naked thing at her place too. I'm finally picking up a nice breeze through the windows just now.

I think we might be going to see a movie tonight, so I should probably shower my stinky self sometime soon...

How's that for alliteration? Fuck yeah!

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