Thursday, July 28, 2005

I need a shower, and a fistfull of yen

Decided that my stomach was ready for another meal, so I went and got some yen. I traded a ten spot for a thousand yen note. It felt like confident money. It was crisp, and new and had a cool picture of the Emporer that you could see if you held it to the light. And the change had a hearty jingle to it. (A stark contrast to the cambodian riel, that people only used for sums under a dollar. (for everything higher than one dollar, they use US dollars) It is a sheepish currency, small and plain-- it could have been made with a desktop bubble jet printer. and no coins in cambodia-- everything is strictly paper). I got a bowl of noodle soup, but there was so much food, I couldn:t eat it all. most of the patrons in the diner where beer swilling, cigarette-smoking japanese men of all stripes. I have never seen anyone eat so fast. In the time it took me to slurp up some noodles, entire meals were eaten. For the longest time I was the only white person, then a group of Dutch barged in (in spite of the sign, maybe they couldn:t read it, asking people to wait outside until the hostess seated them-cuz there is no room!). It was rather embarrassing, I could see how the waitresses were struggling to get the food to the patrons in the cramped space, and having a 1000 lbs of dutch in the way wasn:t helping, and they were so oblivious to the mess they were causing. they just stood there with really stupid looks on their faces. I had to shove them aside to bring my tab to the cashier. But now I smell like a cheap asian cigarette, but the soup has stayed down, so I am happy about that.

I bought a little chocolate icecream and cafe latte with the change. I passed over all the mochi. Not at all in a mochi mood. I:ll be getting on the plane soon, and when I arrive, friday will be beginning again.

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