Its been about three years since the last time I even thought of going out to a bar for Halloween in Japan. I’ve really lost a lot of interest in going out to bars most likely due to the fact it’s a fast way to kill your wallet here.
With my recently made friend Joel, we attended the Halloween parties that were being held in the two expat bars in downtown Kofu, the Rink and the Vault. Even with my reservations on spending money drinking out when I can do it cheaper at home I decided to go out again and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself having a lot of fun again.
The parties weren’t actually on Halloween night as that was a Monday and most people probably wouldn’t have been able to attend a weeknight drinking binge. So the parties were held on the last Saturday night before Halloween.
Joel dressed up as a California Park Services Ranger and I dressed up as a Ghostbuster. I really enjoyed walking about dressed up as a Ghostbuster that night. I got a few high fives for my costume and was happy that I wasn’t confused for a fumigator or janitor.
We spent a good chunk of the night at the Rink as we preferred the live DJ and the friendlier atmosphere there. The only downer to the Rink is the unisex restroom. Its really hard to concentrate when ladies are walking in and out on you.
A couple ladies even flirted with us while we were there and Joel even got a number off one of them. Probably nothing will come of it but at least it was fun! Of course I’m a married man so I stuck to my bottle of beer and nursed it good to avoid any trouble with the ladies. Plus, Joel’s the better looking one out of both of us. I am sure they were around because of him.
There was a costume contest at both bars but I only entered into the Rink’s. The DJ ended up choosing the winner and it was an original costume hybrid of the Godfather and a fairy godmother. Pretty funny and the guy who wore it was a really friendly guy too. I got his contact info and might get him to join Joel and I on a hike sometime if I remember to get a hold of him.
We spent about 5000 yen each and had a good buzz going through the whole night. It was nice to have non Japanese beers for once. The only downside to the night was the next day when I had a minor headache that went away around lunch.