Contrast: Non-Small Talk Dinner

Dinner last night with my project team went well... I can even say it was pretty fun! And here I was all worried that I'd be smothered in small talk again. As I said to a friend today, this time I think I actually enjoyed the conversation more than the food. And that rarely ever happens!

We ate at Sakaeya, a Japanese resto in Queen's. The menu comprised mostly of Japanese dishes, but infused with slightly Japanized Western food. We occupied four tables in all, and each table was free to decide on what they wanted to order (all within the budget, of course).

I guess the great icebreaker of the night was the shochu and beer that our table ordered, and they insisted I have some, too! Interesting thing: the way they prepared to drink the shochu--first they drop in a piece of umeboshi or pickled plum into the tumbler, and then pour in the shochu (which has been mixed in with some hot water, making it a smoking concoction), and then they grind and mash the umeboshi into the shochu, diffusing some its flavor into the drink. After that, it's bottom's up, and I must say, the taste was fairly interesting.

Conversation was made up of Nagoya, Toyota City, secret marriages, mountains in Lahore, diving in Boracay, cooking adobo (with some mention of sinigang), how old is so-and-so and how so-and-so looks younger than us, the English word for that mysterious fish we were eating, original and "actual" sizes of roasted octopi, the working habits of Westerners vs Japanese, shoguns preferring to build capital cities elsewhere other than their hometowns, tuition fees in Todai, San Miguel Beer, living in high places, and some more random stuff I can't remember anymore but which I know I had much fun talking about.

I wish most business dinners could be at least as fun as this... even without the shochu and beer.