Cause it's Yale spring break, so Stever-sensei, my 3rd year Japanese teacher at Yale, has been in Japan checking out possible language schools and stuff for the Light Fellowship (I think, anyway). But more importantly, she took all of the Tokyo (former) Yalies out to a fantabulous dinner! Along with Stever-sensei, my 1st year Japanese teacher, Nishimura-sensei was there, too, which was a really nice surprise. なつかしいなぁ～ On the student side (well, sort of) was me, Jason, and Jeff from IUC, plus 3 other recent Yale grads who are currently in Tokyo on other programs, or working, or whatever.
The restaurant we went to is called Ninja Akasaka (Akasaka being the area of Tokyo it's in), and 名前どおり、it's a Ninja restaurant! The door is small and fairly unobtrusive; you go through it into a dim room with dark wood paneling that has a reception desk and nothing else. When your party is all gathered, the receptionist calls out, a small door in the wall opens, and a ninja comes out! The ninja leads you through another door, and down a winding, labyrinth-like hall to your table. There's steep steps, little river-things, and a bridge that lowers down from the wall. Then you get to your table!
The staff are all dressed as ninjas, and the menu is on a ninja-scroll looking thing. The food was also really good. It's sort of an a la carte menu, so we ordered a bunch of small things to share. Some highlights:
Sushi boat! 
This really cool grapefruit thing with a sword stuck through it, and when they pulled the sword out, all this smoke came pouring out. 
A super-yummy soup that the "ninjas" made at the table. 
And finally...a "froggy" dessert! かわいい！ 
We finally had to leave the restaurant cause they needed the table for the next group, but that didn't mean the night was over. ^^ Cause next up was karaoke! Hadn't been in ages, so that was lots of fun. Also, Stever-sensei is amazing! She's got this super strong, low voice, sort of like a Stevie Nicks (sp? lol) or a Carly Simon. Anyway, she and Nishimura-sensei were getting all fired up singing songs they remembered from college and stuff. Then Jeff, Southerner extraordinaire, started up an impromptu marathon of Credence Clearwater Revival songs. lol.
It was fun times! We took the last train home from Shibuya--which, incidentally, only went as far as Yokohama station, so Jason, Jeff and I had to split a cab the rest of the way.
who, me?
- ☆sarita☆
- From a former North Carolinian and recovering Yalie: Currently living and working in the big city of Tokyo, while furthering an ever-growing obsession with Japanese pop-culture.
Karaoke!
Sunday afternoon Jason, Misa, Marshall and I got together again with the kids from HamaDai to go to karaoke and dinner. Molly was sposed to come too, but she got sick. :-(
We got to see Ai and Naoko again, as well as Jacky (the Chinese exchange student who was also one of our guides at the festival)--although Yan couldn't make it this time, which was kind of sad.
But we had a lot of fun! I even attempted a couple of Japanese songs--to varying degrees of success, lol. Although I do think I managed the Monpachi song relatively well. (I've certainly sung along to the CD in my room enough times.)
Here's a picture! (which for some reason didn't turn out all that great...oh, well). 
L-R is : Ai, Misa, Jacky, Naoko, Jacky's cousin (didn't speak English or Japanese, just Chinese), Marshall, and Jason.
After karaoke, we went out to dinner (minus Jacky and his cousin) at a yakiniku (literally "grilled meat") place near the station. YUM! They bring little grill-things over to each table, you order whatever kind of (raw) meat/veggies you want, and then cook it yourself at the table. In addition to being delicious, it's also a lot of fun!
Here's a photo I took of Naoko, Misa (middle), and Ai. Everyone is, of course, doing the obligatory two-fingers thing (I'm not sure if they call it a peace sign here, I don't think it has that association)--can't take a photo in Japan without one. 