Last Minute Meeting for the Dinner Club

Due to the earthquake and relief efforts, the Marines have been working a ton and personnel from our base have been going up North to help. So, when I realized that most of the inaugural members of the Dinner Club were on station last weekend, I called Mick's fabulous Japanese jurisdiction employee, Kazumi-san, and asked her to make reservations for 10 for us. She set up an all you can eat, all you can drink, for two hours, for 3,800 yen at a beautiful restaurant in downtown Iwakuni.  Then I scrambled to fill the seats!

After sending out the first e-mail and getting reply after reply of "Sorry we can't...next time..." I started phoning people. Much harder to turn me down when you hear my pathetic voice instead of over e-mail!!!! ☺

We didn't make it to ten, but since it was a March Madness weekend, I thought the "Elite Eight" was perfect!

It was a beautiful restaurant! Every group dining there had their own private dining room by closing the beautiful doors with carvings and rice paper behind us. We sat on the floor, Jan Jaka's style, with a little cut out for our legs, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

 There was a little Lost in Translation at first, but we called Kazumi-san (sorry to bother you on your Saturday night!) and got it worked out. 

I'm sure the waitress was "thrilled" to have us as her customers! ;-)

They must not get many, if any, Americans because they didn't have any English translations on their menu, which is unlike most places in Iwakuni I've been.

The food was good! Lots of food from that wonderful, magical animal, the pig. They even provided scissors for the sausages!

Watch out tonight, gentlemen!

And Mick laughs all of the time about the ever present marijuana leaf as a decorative item in Japan. 

Don't call the authorities...it was just paper!

And if you go there and need to go to the 

This is the Men's Room

and this is the Ladies'. If you open the wrong door, and I'm not saying I did, just supposing, just say "Sumimasen" quickly and move on...quickly!

Here's a few more pictures from the beautiful restaurant. 

Another view of the beautiful doors!

So many pretty bottles!

We didn't want to leave!!!!!!

So, if you would like to go to it, go to the Monte Beer place...but don't go in there...although that was fabulous as well, more pictures later....go to the set of doors to the left of this place and go to the second floor. There's an elevator as well as stairs, so you'll know you're in the right place.

The shoe lockers are always so fun...and here's a picture of what the front of the resaurant looks like!

Almost everything is an adventure when you live in Japan!

Just four of us braved a nightcap at Monte Beer, but it was a beautiful place!

Ice cold Heineken

served in chilled glasses.

Or  you could have a Harf and Harf. ☺ But as I always say.....their English is waaaaaaayyyyyyy better than my Japanese!

And one of my favorite photos of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

All in all, a great night! We were happy to have the lovely Soraya and her dapper husband Apples join us for the first time!

He told us that his beautiful wife told him "You look nice" one night when he was wearing a hat, so he went out and bought a closet full of them. That's one in-love man! ☺

And since, you know, it's my blog, here's a gratuitous photo of Mick and me. 

We hope you can join us next time!!!