Wednesday, 28th August 2024
My first Shisha experience
I went into city and had lunch with two friends.
It was a real Chinese restaurant, the kind that Chinese people go to.
I arrived early and was adjusting my time at the coffee shop when these people came to pick me up at the entrance of the building.
I didn't know the city well, so I was very grateful.
We cooled off in the Department Shop until the restaurant opened.
I remembered I needed to buy shoes to wear at work.
But I was wearing trekking shoes at the time and didn't have that much time.
It had been a long time since I had been in a Department Shop.
The restaurant had Chinese signage and the menu was viewed from a smart phone, with a choice of languages from Japanese, Chinese and English.
The food was really delicious.
Soon the other tables were full of people.
The portions were large and cheap.
I even made the mistake of eating my friend's portion of the staple food.
That was not good.
I'm sorry.
After lunch, we almost talked about going to a cat café, but I am actually allergic to cats and cats can give me asthma attacks, so we changed plans and went to a shisha bar.
Both friends had shisha experience.
Both of them and the shop staff taught me how to smoke.
In fact, I used to be a smoker.
So after a while the pleasure of blowing out smoke came back to me.
Shisha can be enjoyed for a long time, and in the meantime, we can have a lot of talks.
I felt this was a great opportunity.
The bar was well air-conditioned and did not give me a carbon monoxide headache.
As we smoked, shop staff came over frequently to adjust the charcoal and smoke.
I'm conservative and wouldn't think of smoking shisha if I were alone, so it was great to have an experience like today.
I got back before the train was crowded on the way home.
On the train, one of the friends listened to me talk about the Theaster Gates exhibition, which I saw at the Mori Art Museum in June.
I usually tend to hold off on using the lavatory when I meet someone.
The last time I saw fireworks, I used to hold it in for 18 hours.
It's not so much that I put up with it, it's that I forget about it.
I don't think that's good for me, and I'm sure I have FOMO*, not wanting to lose a single moment of fun.
*Fear Of Missing Out
I want to be able to casually say, 'Well, I'm off to the bathroom', no matter who I'm with.
That is purely a problem on my own side.
From an early age, my mother used to tell me that you never went to the bathroom.
Today was a really wonderful day.
I can't thank my friends enough for taking me out.
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