1st night
A dark and deep port city night.

There is a very cosy bar in Nachikatsuura. I haven’t been around enough to know what a good bar is, but as a beginner I feel what a good bar is, so it really is a good bar.

The bar, on Route 42, is a authentic bar with just seven seats at the counter. Each bottle on the back bar has a beautiful label that I’ve never seen before and has a great appearance. Just looking at the bottle is enough to make me swoon. That’s all I need for a good bar certification (too early?). I was waiting for my friend one night when it was becoming a habit to stop by there everytime I went to Nachikatsuura. I promised to go with him, but my friend couldn’t finish his work. I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to drink alone. It sounds like I’m an alcoholic, but I’m not a strong drinker. I just like to drink a little bit of strong alcohol. I was the only one in the bar. While I was chatting with the master, who is a classy guy who doesn’t mind a woman drinking alone, a customer came in and sat down two seats away from me.

“The usual, Master,’ said the man. After a while the master served the ‘usual’. The fact that he can say “always” means he lives in the neighbourhood. I want to come here so often that I can say “usual”. I was having a weird jealousy about my neighbour, where are you from? He came over to talk to me. It’s a small town, so it’s easy to recognise a tourist if you’ve never seen him before. He said, “Would you like to try this? He even offered me a small squid-shaped seaweed from his “usual”.”This is actually sake,” he said, “and the ‘usual’ turns out to be, surprisingly, sake.
The power of alcohol is amazing, and after some conversation, the guy said “I’ll buy you a drink”. I thought it sounded like one of those pick-up joints you see in the movies, but I decided to buy him a drink as it was a good place to drink anything. The master said “I have some interesting wines”, so we decided to order the recommended wine.

As I was drinking and listening to the story, what I found out about the man was ;
-after all, he lives in the neighbourhood.
– apparently, he plays a musical instrument
-drinking until dawn and then driving to work a few hours later and having his licence suspended

When I found out this third one, I thought, “Well, it’s not so bad, is it?” I thought, and prayed that my friend who was meeting me would come.
As I was doing this, my friend finally appeared. My friend sat down between him and me. At the same time, the bar is getting crowded, the counter with only 7 seats is full, and there are even people who are allowed to drink standing up. The clock strikes midnight. I’m getting sleepy.

“He was giving a talk about music to other people (locals) who came into the shop. It sounded more like a sermon. Maybe it’s because he’s drunk, but I get the feeling that there’s more to it than that. After all, I feel something is wrong.

I left the bar with my friend.
I tried to thank him, but he was too absorbed in his knowledge to hear me. I quietly left the shop. That was how I met Machan. I didn’t know that night that we would meet three times in a row in a bar, although we hadn’t made any promises or exchanged contact details since then.

To be continued.