A wkend trip down the memory lane

Is it just me, or does every one go through the experience of reminiscing about things past even while creating new memories. I, sometimes, feel like being in a time warp. A feeling of being stuck, even while moving.

Anyways, before I started spouting philosophy, let me start with what I did this wkend and why I began my post this way.

Saturday day was spent in the lab, as are almost all my Saturdays. Shu, my diehard party animal lab mate wasn’t done with it, it seems. While I was leaving lab, he goes, “I am planning to go party tonight, will call you before I leave.” I told him to call but also very honestly told him that I might not come.

That's that, or so I thought. Walked around Shibuya and Ginza and got home around 6 PM. Was online talking to Apy when he said something about receiving a call from Shu (they’d both met during the sakura charity bazaar). Apy asked me if I was coming or not. I told him about being in two minds about it. Since my mind was not made up, he made it for me. Turns out, I was going.

So, we met up at roppongi station around 10:30 and our hunt was on. First stop HIDEOUT. Nice place, not too crowded. And I guess I was on a roll, effortlessly walking a line between the past and the present. When I went out pubbing with friends at NYC, we always started with whiskey sour. It was my poison of choice here too. The drinks were made really well. Our night was on to a good start. While shu and apy danced to the hip-hop playing, I nursed my drink and looked around. While I could see the people around me, in my mind I could see people around me from 3 yrs back. I could see myself with them, getting drinks, getting drunk and dancing. I could see our school toast and I could see the final sammich dance we did. All of this made me smile and led my friends to the conclusion that I was getting high. I was, high on the drink, the memories it brought and the fact that our waitress Victoria moved like my friend M. I made it a point to tell her that when we were leaving.

Next stop MOTOWN. This place was slightly crowded. The party had already begun here. We got some more drinks and we were again witness to why I like Japan so much. Apy was handing me my change but since I was drunk, I dropped the coin. The bartender looked for it and when he could not find it, he brought out flash light. He finally got the coin and handed it to us. Apy and I had an only in Japan look on our faces. We thought of moving a little inwards and that's probably when I dropped the sweater I was carrying. Again the same waiter handed it over. When we went out clubbing in NYC, M used to forget her jacket and some or the other friend used to find it and bring it over. M’s jacket was known among us as the little animal (it was a huge thing in faux fur). The running joke was that M’s little animal followed her home. On Saturday my own little animal followed me.

Am a little fuzzy on what followed next, but I guess one whiskey sour and two scotches would do that to a 5-zip gal. I was dancing. And continued to do so for quite a while. It was fun to dance to all the old numbers from ABBA. Brought back memories of dancing in NYC and off course dancing in hostel nights in JNU. More fun to catch sight of Shu every once in a while, steadfastedly continuing on his hunt but drawing blanks. Time for a trip to the restroom, and rendezvous with an Australian couple. The guy was drunker than a skunk. He pointed to his gal and asked me if she was gorgeous. I answered in the affirmative. He went on in a pseudo menacing tone, "Don’t touch her. "This, was followed by an eye roll from the gal in question. And only a drunk Bilbo can come up with, “she is gorgeous but I don't swing that way. “

Any drinking session of mine is ended with a cognac. I spill some of it and a friend finishes the rest. That's how the one on Saturday ended too. We did check out other places but I guess the drinking and dancing was done. The rest was walking around, talking, joking and just having a good time. It is April, but Tokyo weather has yet to make up its mind. Hot and cold it blows. Saturday was a cold night and we tried keeping indoor for the most part. Even spending sometime in the starbucks getting a coffee. Hung around on the road between a manned rotisserie truck and an unmanned stool with a few tubes of toothpaste on it. A random gal got tired of waiting for the guy to turn up and made away with a tube. That was hilarious. The stuff that happens on a night spent drinking. From your dropped coin being returned to you to some one committing a petty theft. It was, all good.