nightlife

here’s a little glimpse of the nightlife that keeps us sane in our small, countryside town.
nova…
the only true dance club in joetsu owned by the sweetest couple who have been really friendly towards us from the beginning, even making "nova members’ cards" for us so we don’t have to pay the cover charge. they are a bit older, but still frequent the club, often hooking us up with bizarre treats, like plates of corn. i’ve been known to dance with the husband on occasion. the bartender is their nephew who also rocks, i’m not just saying that because he ‘forgets’ to charge us for our drinks.
there was a special event this night; unfortunately it’s not always this packed.

the local crew who hooks up a lot of the hip-hop nights.


club nest…
this is our usual coffee shop...

we bugged them long enough about happy hour that they finally offer one drink at half price between 5 and 7. go us.

once a month this place is transformed into a themed dance party.

since the flyers and info are in japanese it took us a while to catch on to the fact we should be dressing in a particular way for these soirees. it dawned on us during the hawaiian party. we obliged as best we could by drunkenly picking flowers from the sidewalk pots to wear in our hair.
this is the halloween shindig.

i racked my brain trying to think of costume ideas, as japanese and american cultures are so disparate, the most hilarious, fabulous idea at home translates to nothing more than bizarre clothes that illicit head tilts and looks of confusion here. so i dressed as an eki ben girl; a slick double-entendre that i was quite proud to have thought of.

eki ben is the name of an obento lunchbox sold at many train stations here. eki=station o(ben)to=lunchbox. back in the day, women used to carry trays around their necks hawking their wares on the station platforms and in the cars. today there are many kiosks set up to sell the popular meals. eki ben is also the name of a sexual position born from the way the trays of lunchboxes were carried. i was glad to see my humor wasn’t lost on the masses… i even managed to win the costume contest. ha, ha!
with friend/dj saitoh dressed as deniro from taxi driver. he was perfect.


shiro kiya…
although it’s a restaurant and not a traditional party spot, we do manage to transform it on occasion. the private rooms in the back are equipped with karaoke machines and for a bargain price per person [about $20] you get tons of food and all-you-can-drink for 2 hours.

they dread us because we tend to get a little wilder than the average customers. drawback: the lighting really sucks.


hag…
i’ve told you before about this cheap bar with 250 yen draught beer. the master is hot, young and finally not afraid to talk to us anymore. sometimes you’ve just got to wear ‘em down before they realize foreigners aren’t so scary...which may have been difficult cause we act like this...

another night's photo shoot that we made the master take part in as photographer.



heaven’s café…
every now and then this coffee and pasta shop goes crazy.

they throw various genre parties here but most often we’re looking forward to the rock shindigs. a lot of our friends who we know via nest [see above] have formed a group called ‘time for livin’, which usually hosts the parties.

their specialty is new rock, indie rock, dance rock, etc although last time they spiced it up with some swing and jazz.


nick’s bar…
this is one of the first spots i was comfortable visiting on my own and it’s since become a staple. they have excellent pork and ginger pizza and a dartboard. if you’re not sold on that, the two cute bartenders should do it. wonder why i don't have any pics of them...
carrie's b-day evening...

we turn to nick's as a venue when we're organizing events cause they aren't afraid to throw a party. pics from a birthday dinner for a friend who wanted a dress-up theme.



funaei...
a restaurant that has recently changed locales and forfeited a lot of its style. the old location was rowdier and grubbier, thus more our cup of tea. the new spot still has the good eats but seems a little stuffier. it's also more cordoned off which isn't so conducive to socializing with other tables.

most of the time we prefer to sit at the bar where we can both chat and chew.



**a side note about the music scene- the dj groups here are fiercely territorial and once they’ve secured a venue for shows, especially an unconventional one like a restaurant come club, they pretty much have that space locked down. a while back we were organizing a party at nick’s bar [see above] but all of their dj’s were engaged. too bad, we couldn’t bring anyone from outside their clique to do the job. i think that’s one of the major drawbacks of the music scene here, not enough collaboration happens between the music lovers. this means the same friends play together, pass off to each other, throw each other feedback time after time. in my opinion, this encourages mediocrity. one of the best ways to push yourself, in many regards, is to surround yourself with people who have varied and progressive ideas, creatively, intellectually, musically, etc. our town's music scene is fledgling so perhaps it's the lack of alternatives that keeps the cliques so tightly bound. or maybe they're a little closed minded and i'm giving them too much credit. it's hard to tell.