I arrived at the finish area ten minutes after the race ended sat on one of those golf cart things belonging to campus security with my bike sat in the back dripping sludge and greenery much like yours truly.
“What the heck happened to you?” Dad queried.
“Er, went for a swim?” I offered pulling some pondweed out of my jersey.
“Ew, gross!” Jules exclaimed.
“Thank you for your concern,” I noted with just a hint of sarcasm.
“Where is she?” Mum demanded.
“Here,” I stated removing my helmet which released a fresh cascade of pond life.
“What happened, oh come here, kiddo.” She dragged me into a hug.
“Sorry Mum,” I sniffled.
“You silly.”
I guess even by my standards it was a bit comical, a fact I realised after retelling the tale several times before dinner. I must have looked a right sight emerging from the mire demanding the return of my bike, weed and wildlife dripping from my person. The bike came off worst, the front wheel receiving a new square look that no amount of wheel smithying would put right.
They had a little presentation, Mum receiving the accolades as winner that I had sought for myself. With Genji shaking his head at the state of my bike we got packed up and on our way to tonight’s accommodation. The New Osaka Hotel is quite posh but they didn’t even blink at the disheveled state of one Gabrielle Bond.
“Dinner at eight people,” George instructed once we had our room keys.
“That’s only thirty minutes,” I groaned.
“Well you’d best hurry up then, sis,” Jules suggested which got a tongue in reply.
“Girls, play nice,” Dad instructed, “and something tidy please, it’s a bit posh here.”
“Yes, Dad,” I sighed.
Great, I get half drowned and now I have to wear a dress to get fed, deep joy.
“Come on, Gab,” Mand instructed, “you can have the shower first.”
We were a few minutes late getting to the restaurant, partly because I had to borrow Jules hairdryer and partly because we got lost trying to find the restaurant.
“There you are, the others have gone ahead,” Dad advised.
“We got lost,” I admitted.
“And I thought you could sniff food a mile away, come on.”
Ever have one of those moments, you know, where it feels like all eyes are on you? This was one for me; it felt like everyone was following my progress across to our table, have I got two heads or something?
“Geez, Gab, it’s only dinner,” the Goth one opined.
“Don’t mind your sister, you look very nice,” Anja stated.
Okay, maybe the heels are a bit much but they go with the dress which just might be a little on the short side. Look if I’m doing girl I’m doing girl, okay?
The restaurant was western style, proper tables and chairs and cutlery to match. A dozen of us, Genji and Ken have joined us, makes quite a big table, the result of several pushed together. Having eaten Japanese style earlier I was ready for maybe Putensteak Hawaii or potato dumplings but the menu ran to neither. Oh well, it’ll just have to be steak and chips then.
“You feeling better now, Gab?” Mum enquired.
“Yeah, you’d be amazed where that pond weed got.”
“I don’t think we want to know, thank you,” Dad noted.
After we’d seen off half a cow and a barrow full of steak chips George got our attention.
“So tomorrow ist Kyoto, it is not so far to travel at least. Vincenzo suggests we ride up after lunch so you have the morning to go shopping or whatever. Everyone rode well today, even our deep sea diver.”
Okay, so I’ll have my little spill hanging over me all the rest of the trip.
“The Japon were very pleased, let’s give them an equally good show tomorrow. It’s mostly the same riders again of course so no surprises there, we’ll talk tactics tomorrow. Any questions?”
“Are there any ponds for Gabs to swim in?” my sister grinned.
“I think not so she’ll have to stay on the road, eh?” George chortled.
I could’ve been hurt! I’ll get you, Juliette Bond.
“What now?” Mand demanded.
“Dunno.”
The rest of our party had headed to the bar leaving me ‘n’ Mand to find our own entertainment.
“We could go for a walk?” my roommate suggested.
“I guess.”
“It’s not raining.”
“I’m not exactly dressed for walking,” I pointed out.
“We won’t go far, its not like the shops are all open is it?”
“I suppose.”
“Think of it as a dry run for tomorrow.”
“I’m convinced already, come on before I change my mind.”
The earlier rain had long gone leaving clear skies and damp footpaths. Once beyond the confines of the New Osaka Hotel it was evident we weren’t the only ones taking an evening stroll, far from it. I was quite surprised that I wasn’t the only one walking around like a dog’s dinner, I’m not sure what I expected Japanese women to wear for a night out but heels and micro dresses was not it.
In fact I fitted in better than Mand, not that she didn’t look nice but amongst the crowds on the streets she looked a bit Mumsie in flats and a knee length skirt.
“So where to?”
“Looks like some shops down that way,” she suggested pointing across the road.
“How come you can walk in those things, I struggle with a couple of inches.”
“Practice, the other Angels wear them, it’s just part of stuff we do.” I allowed.
“Angels?”
“You remember, Con, Steff and that, everyone call us the Ahr Angels.”
“Those Angels, but weren’t you like supposed to be Drew?”
“I wish, fancy a drink?”
“Er okay.”
“That place over there’s open.”
“Ritz City, you serious?”
“Come on, live a little.”
I nearly dragged her across the street, Ritz City certainly was open and they did sell drinks, they were also a karaoke place.
“Konichi wa,” the lad behind the counter greeted.
“Er konichi wa, um two cokes?” I’m not my linguist sister, so shoot me
I’m not sure he quite understood.
“For two,” he grinned before selecting one of those plastic door lock things you get in some hotels.
“Come, come,” he ushered us to the back of the reception and into a corridor.
“Tanoshi on nanoko o motte imasu!”
He disappeared back the way we’d come.
“Um what was all that about?” Mand queried.
“I think we just got a karaoke booth.”
“I only wanted a drink.”
“Come on, we can at least take a look,” I suggested.
“Whatever.”
I found ‘our’ door and let us in, the lights came on automatically to reveal what I recognised from my manga as a typical karaoke room. To one end was the ‘stage’ with the mics stowed in wall brackets, a screen for the lyrics off to one side. The other end of the room had surround seating, a couple of low tables and a console – I guess for selecting the tracks.
“Cool!”
“Really?”
“Don’t you think? Come on we’re here now let’s have a go,” I suggested heading for the couch.
“Do we have to? I can’t sing for toffee.”
“That’s the whole point, I’m hardly Madonna, come on it’s just a bit of fun, no one else gets to listen,” I mentioned.
“One,” Mand allowed.
“Each?” I pressed.
“Okay, each then we get that drink right?”
“Right,” I agreed.
It was midnight when we left Ritz City, I discovered you could order food and drink from the room and it was quite easy to convince Mand to have a second, third, fourth go. The music menu was in Japanese and English, well a mangled form but it let us work out the titles and the prompt could be set to English too.
My singing is a bit cat’s chorus but I think I did a fair job of ‘Like a Virgin’ and we both had a blast with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Despite her protestations Mand can actually sing quite well, she even knew the words to Sheryl’s ‘My Favourite Mistake’. By the time we called it a night we were in fits of giggles trying to follow some of the Japanese tracks – the lyrics on the screen were in phonetics so I’ve no idea what we were singing about.
I’ve no idea how they worked out the price but I thought ¥1200 was okay when you factored in the drinks and crisps we had during our stay.
“Oyasumi arigato!” our ‘host’ stated as we readied to leave.
“Um arigato.” I offered, it must have been a reasonable reply as he smiled back.
We were still giggling when we got back to the hotel; yeah we were in a silly mood.
“Where did you guys get to last night?” the dark one enquired joining us at the breakfast bar.
“Just for a walk.” I told her.
“Must’ve been some walk, I know you weren’t in your room at twelve.”
“We went in one of those karaoke places,” Mand admitted.
“You didn’t?”
“Did, talk about a blast.” I added.
“Coulda told me, I’d’ve come.”
“We didn’t exactly plan it,” Mand mentioned.
“Still.”
“So, we going shopping this morning?”
“I’ve not got much to spend,” Mand observed.
“Who said we’re buying anything?” I pointed out.
“Back here for twelve.” Dad instructed.
“Yes, Dad,” I sighed, “we know.”
“Off with you then.”
In daylight the streets outside looked totally different, bustling but not with the night birds we saw last night, instead a typical mix of housewives, students and crumblies that you see pretty much anywhere. There was a big department store a few doors away from the hotel – well you have to start somewhere so we headed inside. The contents may vary but these places are similar wherever you go which allowed us to avoid menswear and domestic appliances!
Even a lot of the brands were familiar, Wolford, Jaeger – even Clark’s shoes. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular but I couldn’t resist the ‘Hello Kitty’ tights despite them costing ¥980, nearly as much as last night’s karaoke. We soon became bored and decided to look for different entertainment in smaller stores.
Apart from buying Pocky we didn’t buy anything else although Goth Gurl found some shoes she fancied but they didn’t have her size in stock. We did try a few things on but nothing really clicked enough to make a purchase – a typical day’s girl shopping. Mum was waiting for us when we got back to the hotel.
“Spent up?”
“Hardly, Gabs got some hose,” Jules supplied.
“Miracles never cease, anyway pack your swimsuits, you too Jules, we’re going to a hot spring after the race.”
“Cool!” I crowed.
“Calm down kiddo,” Mum instructed, “down for lunch as soon as okay.”
We headed up to our rooms; Jules is with Anja next to us.
“What’s the big deal with this hot spring thing?” Mand asked as we rode the lift up to the seventh floor.
“It’s just soo Japanese, like I dunno, fish and chips is English.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“You will,” I predicted.
“If you say so.”
I was buzzing now, this trip is turning out to be brill with a capital B, well if you ignore yesterday’s ‘incident’. Let’s see, Tokyo was pretty cool, we saw Mount Fuji on the way down yesterday, karaoke last night, hot springs today and I did win on Sunday. Yeah excellent.
“Earth to Gaby, anyone there?”
“Eh?”
“Come on we need to get a shift on or your mum’ll go ballistic,” Mand suggested.
“Sugar, is that the time?”
“I did just say.”
“I was er just thinking.”
“Likely story,” she giggled.
Maddy Bell 17.10.15
