1st floor

i knew the new place was on the first floor of the same building as the old one, but which door? the other side of any of these doors concealed elderly salarymen swilling back shochu, or university students getting drunk on cocktails they couldn't afford-- but regardless of the bodies that contained them, it would be the questioning, frozen eyes staring back at me, telling me i don't belong.

unless i got lucky and chose the correct door....

i took a deep breath and pushed the red door. "Snatch" was playing on the TV in its new red niche, with the same sticker instructing all patrons to "Enjoy Yourself." the red bar, red chairs and trimmings with the kelly green Heineken light gave the bar an odd Christmaslike glow. Hacky and Noriko, already 3 sheets to the wind (in Hacky's case it was more like 4 or 5) bade me an enthusiastic hello. Tsugie poured me a beer.

yeah, I'd chosen the right door.

while it's definitely not the same place I'd made panda nesting doll towers, foraged friendships, tuned guitars, passed out, learned lewd Japanese slang, watched bizarre films and sang along to the Pogues so many times before and once had an intense conversation that lasted until sunlight filtered dust through the window--i could definitely get used to this place.

it's nice, having a little pocket of the red-light district of a dirty old town. and it's nice knowing everyone wants that, from San Fran to Bangkok and Aberdeen to Cape Town, Melbourne to Vancouver, and Buffalo to Oita.