Adventures with Mano-san

Mano-san is the head of the office at school. Over the past month we've done a few things together and become decent friends. He's really into music having played in bands for over 30 years, and he likes going around to different places, trying out new restaurants and such. A couple weeks ago we had a three day weekend and Mano-san suggested we go out to Osaka for udon. The thing is Mano-san is also a Buddhist priest and had a Buddhist event he had to attend to that day until late at night, so he said it would be a bit later at night. I said it was fine, and would wait for his mail.

Around 11:00, I got a mail on my phone saying. If you're still ready I'll be there at 11:30 to get you. After picking me up, we picked up a couple of Mano's friends. One of them, said he must be crazy for agreeing to go to Osaka at midnight for a 600 yen bowl of udon. Even on the highway it took us a good couple of hours to get to Osaka. We got there around 1:30 and walked around trying to find the restaurant in question.

I wish I could say something like "So - we go. And - it's closed. So there's me, and Mano-san, and his friends, breaking into that little udon shop, eh. Well, instead of a guard dog, they've got this bloody great big Bengal tiger. I managed to take out the tiger with a can of mace, but the shopkeeper and his son... that's a different story altogether. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. Nasty business, really, but sure enough we got the udon, and left feeling most satisfied." (+20 points if you get the reference) But I can't.

Normally, it's supposed to be open until 6:00, but it turns out they close at 11 on Sundays. Before, we'd even left Shiga the restaurant was closed. It was so deliciously ironic that we all laughed about it on the walk back to the car.

The urge for udon was still ever present though, and we drove around trying to find a restaurant somewhere with late hours. No luck however, but we managed to score some udon at a service area along the highway. I gotta say the Japanese service areas really trump anything in the States or Canada. The service areas are fully stocked. Every one has a food court, along with at least one convenience store like outfit, and a number of vending machines for warm and cold beverages, and snack foods. They are staffed 24 hours a day as well, so anytime you're travelling you can get anything your heart desires. Excellent service. The only downside is, all highways here are toll roads, and they're rather expensive as well. It costs you roughly about 1500 yen per 100 km.

Anyway, I made it home around 5 am just as the sun was coming up, went to bed, and woke up at 10 when the guy came to set up my internet.