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Saturday was Reiko`s friends wedding in Kyoto. There was a wedding ceremony, a first party for close friends and relatives, a second party for everyone else and a third one for those who want to carry on partying. All at separate places. I wasn`t invited to the wedding or first party as I`d only met her friend once four months ago so I was left to wander around Kyoto for four hours.

It`s an interesting city with a network of long streets filled with small and large shops with thin pavements to walk on with interconnecting pedestrianised arcadewalks with cheaper (and generally more interesting) shops to browse. I tried in vain to find a large electronic shop to manhandle digital cameras I could never afford to while away the time but finding only a small one with a minimum of equipment to break, I browsed some bookstores and walked the long streets squinting and twisting my head like a tourist.

After a while I began to get incredibly hungry and not wanting to eat at KFC, Mcdonalds or Wendy`s, I searched the streets for hours for a place that was cheap and tasty and not western. I eventually found a cheap cafe that served me the meal below (comprising of large fish, blowl of rice, soba noodles, miso soup and extras for 700 yen or three quid.

After leaving the restaurant accompanied by small burps, (My favourite Bryson sentence), I walked around a bit more and then met up with Reiko and her friend for a quick bout of karaoke to pass the time before the second party. In my opinion, if you are forced to sing karaoke, sing an early Beatles song. Everyone knows them (even in Japan) and they are all less than three minutes so over quickly.

The two parties I went to were good but expensive although with unlimited alcohol. We won a hairdryer and an electric toothbrush in a game of human bingo. I won (as did many) when my own name was called out to complete a line. Simon-san. Yes. The party ended abruptly and unexpectedly and they stopped serving beer. We went to another place for the final party which was incredibly expensive although free alcohol again. We drank and the Japanese started to get highly drunk. The karaoke was wheeled out and strange Eastern songs were sang accompanied by awful dancing. I was forced to sing a song and sang Love me do (see above hint) to wild applause and beating a smug American marine based in Tokyo who followed with his wife in an awful rendition of a obscure 80`s love song. Of course although I can beat him at karaoke, he is far better than me at saving the world (or bombing and invading poor defenceless countries for oil). All in all a good time was had.