Social whirl

Considering what my usual social life is like (drinks after work, mostly), yesterday was exceptional. I think I managed to get most of my social life for 2008 squeezed into one day.

Actually, it also made me remember why I prefer a quiet life. If 'having a social life' means getting up at six a.m. (SIX AY EM! ON A DAY OFF!!!) in order to get into Osaka to have a buffet breakfast at the Ritz Carlton, then I think once a year is quite enough.

I could swear I remember saying something like,

"Ooh! The Ritz Carlton for breakfast! What a good idea!"

Was I drunk?

It was lovely, though. For a morning we pretended to be rich. Eight people, some of us dressed up (representing the nouveau riche) and some of us not (representing old money). (Only the nouveau riche would dress up for breakfast.) I was dressed up, in that I was wearing a new (to me) top with roses and glittery black sequins on it (not as glittery as you might think – actually I could wear it to work) and a designer skirt (found massively marked down in a wonderful little shop a year or so ago). The top was given to me by someone it didn't fit any more, but it is DESIGNER, so who cares?

There were eight of us. One, who arrived late, decided that since this was a sort of New Year breakfast we should have champagne. That was probably the most decadent breakfast I have ever had.

Breakfast was from seven to ten-thirty, and by ten-twenty my stomach was, rather inconveniently, starting to wake up. I cannot say I made the most of the buffet, but I did manage to eat a LOT more than I usually do for breakfast.

After breakfast we went our separate ways, and two of us decided to continue the rich act by having a look around the shops around the Ritz, which are mostly designer stores. There were a lot of sales on. At one point I checked out a rack marked as 70% reduced, held up a little red beaded and sparkly embroidered top and said to my friend,

"Does this suit me?"

Then I looked at the price, and discovered that the marked down price was ¥45,000.

The rich really ARE different.

At one in the afternoon I had agreed to go to another party, in Namba, with a completely different bunch of people. This was a margarita party, and I had been to that particular person's parties before, and knew them to be rather dangerous. I couldn't imagine why I had agreed to go again, but apparently I had. (What was thinking in the last couple of weeks of 2007?)

I went anyway, and it turned out to be rather fun. This time it was seven people, only three of whom seemed determined to get drunk. Somehow the other four of us managed to extricate ourselves and go off for coffee without being rude before the party moved on from the eating and drinking and exchanging gossip stage to the 'let's get smashed' stage. We found a good coffee shop, and I think we were there for about two hours, chatting and catching up. These are all colleagues, and at work we never get enough time to talk. That particular university is my longest commute, so I'm not inclined to hang around afterwards for long because it's such a long way home.

Eventually we trickled off, one to go home (she lived near) and the other three of us to check out a couple of shops before heading off ourselves.

But that shopping expedition does not belong in the same post as champagne breakfasts and margarita parties, which is why a post about eggbeaters, frypans, and bad shoppers will be coming your way soon.

But not yet. I have a lot of work to do before classes start again on Monday.