Phrase of the day… You hate me don't you?

In my office, we had a year end's party 2 days ago, or Bo Nen Kai as it is known in Japanese. The Kanji characters read in Chinese are Wang Nian Hui; or rather translated literally as forget year gathering. As explained to me by my sensei, the party is for us to forget about the bad things that happened in the year in anticipation for the new one.

Unfortunately, this time the party wasn't free (unlike the introductory party), and each of us have to part with S$60 to attend. The party is held at a restaurant in Nikko Hotel near our office with traditional tatami mats to kneel on. Even crossing my legs for the duration proved uncomfortable for me as I kept alternating between kneeling and sitting in various positions.

I was nestled strategically beside my trainer and our TAP coordinator with the big boss siting diagonally away from me. Thus I was constantly torn between the food and the interesting conversation which these people offered. Sometimes food previled.... who can resist bbq scallops, a big platter of sashimi, baked oyster with cheese, ox toungh, deep fired oysters, succulent Japanese long legged crabs and the main course of Nabe (steamboat)?

scallops grilled on our table

I got the chance to get my first taste of warm sake and I must admit that it agrees with me. The wiff of its aroma hits you before you even drink it, and as you sip it down, the warm tingling sensation of alcohol is magnified due to its temperature. And to cap it off, a slight banana like aftertaste is left on your tongue. I was told that high quality sake should taste fruity. And I enjoyed the sake in another way as taught by my big boss. The top shell of the crab is used as a receptacle for the sake along with what I think is the brains of the crab. This method of drinking was described by the boss as a luxurious indulgence; to me it was just interesting and seemingly gave the sake more body.

The top shell on the left is used as a sake receptacle

After several more rounds of sake and beer, the Japanese begin their transformation into crazy party animals. When a Japanese offers to help you refill your cup, its the culture that you have to drink up the cup's contents before he tops it up for you. And don't think of getting away with just taking a few token sips at your cup for he will simply give you a disapproving look and refuse to fill your cup till you have bottomed up. And as the protocol goes, you have to return this gesture to him. As you can imagine, this sets the stage for lots of drinking!

After awhile I soon lose my inhabitations as well and start going around to offer filling up other peoples' cups. And when someone refuses to let me top it up, my colleague, Takeda san, will teach me new Japanese phrases to make them drink. The phrases start off simply with variations of "one more cup?" and graduates to "this is to thank you for your assistance" and when the particular person proves to be particularly adament, the surefire phrase will be used... "you hate me don't you?(if not why won't you drink up?)". Hahaha... it was all taken in good spirit and everyone had a good laugh during this hilarious time.

Like the usual practice here, after the party, our colleagues brought us for round 2 of drinks at a karaoke place. At this karaoke, the gigantic mugs of beer are served up like a conveyor belt even before your previous mug is emptied! (Alcohol here is cheaper than Singapore since they are not subjected to our draconian import taxes) The Japanese sure aren't bashful about their croaking voices while singing and would often bellow into the mike at the top of their voices! The encouraging audiences do their part by clapping and cheering for even the worst singers! I could not escape holding the mike and I attempted singing "Say Yes", trying hard to keep up as the Japanese characters flashing across the screen. But I felt quite good after singing due to the amazingly supportive audience!

Crazy drunk colleagues... my trainer is 2nd from the right

We have missed the last bus by the time we left and had to take the train back. And I really enjoyed the fun and new experiences and the dampener is that it was only a wednesday meaning that there was still work tomorrow! Gosh... how do the japs keep up with this kind of lifestyles? The more amazing thing is that they put on their strict faces the following day as though the previous night had never happened...

empty beer glasses and sake cups drank by me and Ivan