It was cold, so Chris and I decided to grab dinner at the izakaya across the road from his place. Chris felt like takoyaki (octopus in deep fried ball things), and it was on the menu so we ordered it.

After about five months in Japan, we've pretty much worked out how to communicate with the waiters when ordering, but still have trouble when they ask us questions back. This time, the waitress asked us a question when we ordered the takoyaki, which we didn't understand. Since we didn't understand, she just kind of went "okay" and then took our order.

Suddenly she comes out with this gas stove, a takoyaki pan, and the ingredients, plus a sheet of paper (Japanese only, of course) on DIY takoyaki. How hard could it be when there are pencil sketches accompanying the Japanese instructions, right?

Let's just say the first batch was not really takoyaki, but more like lumps of coal with octopus in it. The drunk guys at the next table watched us (with great amusement) and one of them came over and decided to help us.

So I named him takoyaki boy.