friday nite fun

So tonight I went out with my boyfriend and his friends Geoff and June. We started the night out with dinner and drinks at a local izakaya. It was amazing! The entrance was very low so we had to duck to walk in the door. The reason for that, I am told by June, is so that every customer bows before entering. We then took off our shoes and put them in these wood lockers. The keys for the lockers were small squares of wood, which I thought was totally neat. We were then escorted through a narrow dark hallway. When we got to our booth I assumed that we were sitting on the floor because the table was barely one foot high. As I looked closer I noticed that there was a hole under the table to put your legs. Between the four of us we ordered sashimi, edamame, garlic rice, taco salad, shrimp dumplings and fried chicken bites. Not to mention the drinks. I started off with sake! Delicious. The boys all had kirin beer. It was so neat for me because I had never experienced izakaya dining until tonight. We all shared the food, just putting portions onto our individual plates. Man I love shasimi!! The fish is so fresh here. I am definitely in love with "taco" (octopus) and squid. After our meal was over we had a few drinks and joked around in the dark setting of the izakaya. My favorite drink was the dita and tonic that June picked out for me. It's lycee liquor and tonic water. Very tastey stuff! After we had our fill at the izakaya we journeyed down the street to June's bar, The Bar Beenie. I had a Japanese margarita, to die for!! June gave me a box of Ghana chocolates, which are definitely my favorite. I could tell that June wasn't so happy to be working after such a fun time. Suddenly he yelled, KARAOKE!!! And within 2 minutes we were on our way to the karaoke complex. This is extremely exciting for me. I had heard about how the locals love to sing karaoke, but I wasn't ready for what I was about to encounter. As we walk in I notice it's quite silent for a karaoke bar. But this my friends was karaoke on a whole nother level. We walked down the hallway to entered our own private karaoke room. Flat screen TV, booze, large speakers, sound proof walls.... Need I say more? I think not. At first I was shy but warmed my vocals to the likely of Sublime and Queen in no time. Ahhhhh.... what a great time. I love OKINAWA!!!!