Day 6 - Networking Party

When Koko was in Japan a few years ago, I put him in touch with my college friend, Masako, who was from Tokyo. They were able to meet up and hang out with some of her friends.

This time, one of those friends, Ayako, invited him to a networking party, which is where we went last night. It was a few train stops away. This is what it looked like just outside the station:

Duotor (cafe) on the right

Featured menu items:

Sandwich with "Parma ham, ham

off-the-bone, Bologne sausage"

Sandwich with "Shrimp, potato and basil sauce"
(At $4.60, not a bad price if it really includes
that many shrimp)

Bakery on the left...smelled so good!

I was a little nervous because I'd never been to a networking party before in the States, let alone in Japan. There was an entrance fee of about $40, and we piled up our coats and bags into a little glass-walled room. (I think it  serves as a smokers' room in the day time? Not sure. But here in Japan, restaurants are usually smoke-free in the daytime and smoke-filled at night. Koko thinks it has something to do with the restaurants' trying to turn tables at lunch while trying to keep customers longer at night so they can order more and more [expensive] drinks).

There were about 20 people, mostly men in their 30s, I'm guessing, in suits, and some women in conservative yet stylish skirt-sweater outfits. I say "conservative" because they weren't like the lacey/frilly types of clothes I've seen many women wear on random weeknights--almost like fashionistas dressed to impress, but on a Tuesday night? You rarely see this in NYC.

Most spoke Japanese, but a few spoke English, including:

Severin- A guy from the Ivory Coast who grew up in Switzerland, attended college in London, and now works in at the French Institute in Tokyo. The Institute is a French government organization whose purpose is to promote French culture, like offering language classes, hosting French musicians, art shows, etc. Sev manages the catering at the Institute.

A Japanese princess! I didn't catch her name as she didn't introduce herself (nor her connection to the royal family), but she was leafing through and exclaiming over pages of a magazine that Ayako's company produced. She was pretty tall for an Asian.

Nobu- A guy who works for IBM and writes Japanese classical poetry for fun. He writes one every night and recently entered a competition to recite 200 classical poems from memory for (about?) the emperor. He was pretty nice.

Mizuki- A girl who works for a software company. She and Ayako met in Vancouver when Mizuki was studying at a conservatory there and her mom had met Ayako--a Japanese woman who reminded her of her own daughter--and asked Mizuki invite her over and become friends. (Something like that.) I would've been a little creeped out that my mom was inviting or asking me to invite strangers to my house, but I guess it worked out for these women. They're both really nice.

I didn't take any pictures of the food. =(  But it was pretty good. The first "course" (everything was served buffet style) was fried chicken (something kara-age). Not Kentucky or Korean style, but Japanese style--boneless, possibly soy-marinated, and crispy.

There was a nice heap of mixed greens (not just boring spring mix), but with some other greens, and tiny, fried anchovies similar to ones seen here--much more interesting than croutons!

The second course was a giant plate of misshapen fried thingies, so at first I thought they were fish. But no...they were chicken, but this time, coated in a light batter (didn't taste greasy at all), and sprinkled heavily with paprika and what I can only call BBQ-potato-chip seasoning. Delicious.

There were also some cocktail weiners, with little blobs of mayo, grainy mustard and ketchup on the side. They were ok. I mean, it's hard to get all excited about hot dogs.