Ninja Bar, etc.

Oh my God, you guys. Oh my God. I went to a ninja bar. A bar. Run. By. Ninjas. (note: Please realize that this marks the culmination of my childhood dreams regarding hanging out with ninjas. I understand that I'm getting to be a grown man, and that I should have overcome my juvenile fascinations with ninjas. But, chill.)

Okay, okay...so, they're obviously not real ninjas. Actually, the ninja bar was kind of a bizarre, Disney-fied theme park. It was excellent, when taken with 1 part wide-eyed amazement and 1 part sense of humor about the whole thing. In fact, the ninjas especially provided humor. For instance, we got an appetizer that was shuriken-shaped crackers on a little model tree. One of the people I was with jokingly asked if they could eat the tree, to which a female ninja somberly responded in Japanese "....You need more practice." There was even a card-trick ninja, which isn't the most fear-inducing ninja spectacle. It was really surreal to walk inside from busy, downtown Tokyo, and find a dark artificial ninja-village.

But, hey, I got drunk with "ninja" and got to hang out with some good friends. I'll be putting up photos shortly, so be sure to click the photobucket link on the left-hand side of the blog, when you have a little time, okay?


I have many things to blog about, but I don't want to jumble this poor old entry with more than she can handle. So, I'll keep it to a short non-sequitor. I had my first experience with the Japanese Healthcare System. Which was incredibly painless. It's a remarkable testament to precisely why it will be so difficult for me to leave Japan and return to America. Everyone was curteous. The waiting room was clean and full of respectful people. I was in an out in THIRTY MINUTES, after paying only 65 dollars for a Hepatitis A shot. It's a far cry from my memories of waiting in Amerian hospitals for hours to get rushed into and out of a room as quickly as possible before getting stuck with an incredible bill. What a wonderful place Japan is. Really!

This Friday, I'm headed to the dentist. I've had a bit of an ache in one of my front teeth, and I figure I'd better get a check-up while I'm in Japan. I am a little bit leery, though. Some Japanese people have some pretty jacked-up grills. Mostly, though, they're older people. But, I'm a little worried that through some bad translations, I'll come out with a mouth full of metal. On the plus side, though, if all of my teeth are replaced with metal fascimiles, I just need a stylish suit and I could be a Bond villian. And all for pennies on the dollar, compared to American healthcare! It's a win-win situation.