Musashi with Japanese 10

I had dinner last night at Musashi to mark the end of Japanese 10 and for me, the end of my Japanese major. All I have left to do next year is to finish off my education units in semester one (including an ESL practicum and an internship...eek!) and my remaining Chinese subjects in semester two and then I'm done! (Woah, actually...it's kinda scary when I put it that way...)

It was a relaxing night and as a group of five, our numbers were just big enough to try quite a few dishes but small enough to be able to hear each other without people having to relay messages back and forth or shout down the table.

It was my first time at Musashi and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. The food was not ridiculously overpriced for Japanese food in the city and the staff were great, constantly topping up our glasses of water after barely a sip. Be sure to make a booking (although they only accept dinner bookings up until 6pm) because the place gets packed pretty quickly.

Musashi was also playing a wonderful compilation of traditional Japanese songs (e.g. Sukiyaki) on acoustic guitar and various Joe Hisaishi piano pieces from Hayao Miyazaki's films (e.g. "My Neighbour Totoro" and "Spirited Away"). It reminded me of the good ol' Eminence concert days and made me feel like I was either in a Japanese department store or at the birth clinic I visited in Beppu which was playing an instrumental rendition of "Everything" by Misia (from the Japanese TV drama series "Yamato Nadeshiko") on the glockenspiel in their lobby. (Why oh why do I remember the most random facts?)

Two of the pieces from last night are included for your viewing/listening pleasure. The first one is "Kaze no toori michi" from "My Neighbour Totoro" played by Joe Hisaishi, the composer himself, and the second is "Ano natsu e" from "Spirited Away".





Last night also turned into a bit of a trip down memory lane when someone mentioned the ridiculous slapping machine from the "Silent Library series" (a Japanese game show which uses all sorts of underhanded means to get a group of people to laugh whilst in a library with those who break their silence being punished with a sound spanking).

That inevitably led to the mention of this rather hilarious video...



Lol, no matter how many times I watch this, it never fails to send me into fits of hysterical laughter. "笑ってはいけない？！（No laughter allowed?!）" I would have been a goner after the first two minutes. It's a miracle how some of them survived the whole ordeal with minimal spanking (although the guy who shoved a textbook into his mouth may be on to something there...)

Anyway, it was a wonderful night so thanks for coming, everyone! It's a shame we didn't do some karaoke as well but you'll see, I'll have you all belting out tunes the next time I organise an event! Until then, happy holidays to you all!