Bonenkai - December 22, 2004
Our Bonenkai, or "Forget the year" party was last night. I missed out on last year's because I had the flu and I almost missed this year's because my husband had duty. Everything worked out and the party was held at Guruguru Kun, a sushi/Okinawan food restaurant in Naha. The building had a ship sticking out of the front wall and on the inside, the while the first floor was a deep pond for the fish that were to be on the Menu that week. The building was 4 floors high and we were on the top floor.
I've never understood Californians' fascination with sushi. Maybe because it is "so Japanese", but to be honest, not even all Japanese people like raw fish. Some like sushi but not sashimi (just raw fish - no rice). A couple of the people I was sitting next to waited patiently for the cooked fare to arrive. The sashimi plate was amazing. I'm accustomed to eating maguro or tuna with a little soy sauce but this night I also tried raw squid (too chewy and not a pleasant taste for me) and some kind of white fish that you dipped in a dashi sauce (yummy watery, golden sauce made out of fish flakes). I don't care for sashimi so that was all I ate but there was this beautiful tropical fish on a stick. It was about a foot long broken up into the head on one skewer, tail fins on another skewer and part of the body on a third. It was electric blue with beautiful orange stripes along it's face. I have kind of a bleeding heart and wished I could glue him back together, revive him and place him back in the port across the street.
The cooked food was delicious! First they served yakitori chicken in this delicious sweet sauce. Then fried, but not greasy fish in that same sweet sauce with dribbles on mayo on top. I had two of those and now that I'm writing about them I want some more! There was also cooked squid with....maybe the same sweet soy sauce?? Not as chewy as the raw stuff. Maybe the same consistancy as cooked eel and very good.
The party itself was pretty fun. It is more of a company bonding experience than a random drunk-fest. Not all of my company attended, just the engineer section that mostly worked in the main Naha building. I met this older gentleman who was very nice and allowed me to call him by his first name. This does not usually happen when an older Japanese person speaks with a younger person but he figured I might not be able to remember/pronounce his last name, Akimine-san. The longer I'm here in Japan the easier it is to remember names and new words. I think he will be pleasantly surprised the next time I see him.
As everyone started to get drunk, the party planner made us all stand up one by one and announce the "big news" that happened to us over the past year. At first it started out serious but by the time it had gotten to me, one of the guys was determined to find a bride in 10 days, another guy was pregnant with another man's love-child(??) and someone else "found fifty dollars" (a Drawn Together reference). When I speak at these types of functions I try to use as much Japanese as possible because the others will slip in an Engrish word once in a while, so I said, " I learned a new sentence this year, 'Kino wo, San-A cardo wo motte kuru wasuremashita'" or Today I forgot to bring my San-A card. Okay so it was an inside joke with my office because I lost my wallet on a business trip up in Fukuoka including my all important San-A store credit card. I got a laugh out of everyone.
The party started at 6:30pm and lasted until 11:00pm. Everyone was wasted. I didn't drink because I had to take care of my girls that night but it was fun seeing everyone tipsy and having a good time. You know it is a good party when you're not drunk but still manage to have a great time! When the party was over we realized there weren't any taxies in the area so we walked the distance to the main highway. There were about 15 of us walking down the middle of the street laughing and forgetting to hail the occasional taxi that did drive by. One of the engineers had just arrived at the Naha airport before the party so he rode his bicycle. On the way up the street his drunk ass rode around in circles while we paid homage to Queen. It was a fun evening and it was nice having everyone in one place.
I've never understood Californians' fascination with sushi. Maybe because it is "so Japanese", but to be honest, not even all Japanese people like raw fish. Some like sushi but not sashimi (just raw fish - no rice). A couple of the people I was sitting next to waited patiently for the cooked fare to arrive. The sashimi plate was amazing. I'm accustomed to eating maguro or tuna with a little soy sauce but this night I also tried raw squid (too chewy and not a pleasant taste for me) and some kind of white fish that you dipped in a dashi sauce (yummy watery, golden sauce made out of fish flakes). I don't care for sashimi so that was all I ate but there was this beautiful tropical fish on a stick. It was about a foot long broken up into the head on one skewer, tail fins on another skewer and part of the body on a third. It was electric blue with beautiful orange stripes along it's face. I have kind of a bleeding heart and wished I could glue him back together, revive him and place him back in the port across the street.
The cooked food was delicious! First they served yakitori chicken in this delicious sweet sauce. Then fried, but not greasy fish in that same sweet sauce with dribbles on mayo on top. I had two of those and now that I'm writing about them I want some more! There was also cooked squid with....maybe the same sweet soy sauce?? Not as chewy as the raw stuff. Maybe the same consistancy as cooked eel and very good.
The party itself was pretty fun. It is more of a company bonding experience than a random drunk-fest. Not all of my company attended, just the engineer section that mostly worked in the main Naha building. I met this older gentleman who was very nice and allowed me to call him by his first name. This does not usually happen when an older Japanese person speaks with a younger person but he figured I might not be able to remember/pronounce his last name, Akimine-san. The longer I'm here in Japan the easier it is to remember names and new words. I think he will be pleasantly surprised the next time I see him.
As everyone started to get drunk, the party planner made us all stand up one by one and announce the "big news" that happened to us over the past year. At first it started out serious but by the time it had gotten to me, one of the guys was determined to find a bride in 10 days, another guy was pregnant with another man's love-child(??) and someone else "found fifty dollars" (a Drawn Together reference). When I speak at these types of functions I try to use as much Japanese as possible because the others will slip in an Engrish word once in a while, so I said, " I learned a new sentence this year, 'Kino wo, San-A cardo wo motte kuru wasuremashita'" or Today I forgot to bring my San-A card. Okay so it was an inside joke with my office because I lost my wallet on a business trip up in Fukuoka including my all important San-A store credit card. I got a laugh out of everyone.
The party started at 6:30pm and lasted until 11:00pm. Everyone was wasted. I didn't drink because I had to take care of my girls that night but it was fun seeing everyone tipsy and having a good time. You know it is a good party when you're not drunk but still manage to have a great time! When the party was over we realized there weren't any taxies in the area so we walked the distance to the main highway. There were about 15 of us walking down the middle of the street laughing and forgetting to hail the occasional taxi that did drive by. One of the engineers had just arrived at the Naha airport before the party so he rode his bicycle. On the way up the street his drunk ass rode around in circles while we paid homage to Queen. It was a fun evening and it was nice having everyone in one place.
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