Stoat - Where?

Saturday Night’s Alright For Frightening

Japan doesn’t celebrate Halloween at all. Although it’s not as important in England as it is in America, it was still a shock to go through an October without seeing any pumpkins, decorations or “scary” costumes. A couple of gaijin bars realised the possibilities and so arranged fancy dress halloween nights with a few special offers. As the 31st fell on a Sunday with work following the next day for most, the event was moved forward to the 30th, pragmatism winning out over tradition. Naturally, any excuse to dress up and go drinking is warmly received (see Pimps and Hoes for more evidence) so there were quite a few people out.

My costume was a pretty last minute affair and I had use of a wig but no real inspiration. It was only on the day and under the threat of being made to go as a woman that I finally pulled my finger out and got something together. It started off as kind of Ossie Osbourne with brown hair, (well actually more like Justin Hawkins from the Darkness) but then the face paint meant I ended up looking like a poor man’s Kiss. The shirt (yes alright it’s a blouse) was kind of like Adam and the Ants. A top-hat later on was a bit like Slash I suppose. All in all, it was a kind of rock stars mish-mash. In any event I looked sufficiently silly and that’s the general idea I guess.

Some of the costumes were great, from zombies to skeletons, with a gimp and even American white trash thrown in somewhere. And as if the night couldn’t get any better, we also got free karaoke all night and free gifts. Mine was pop-up pirates, which provided literally minutes of fun…

You can see the photos in the gallery or follow the quick links below.

And finally, congratulations to Jeff, who completed a half-marathon today. 21 kilometers, the only gaijin, no walking and a time of 2 hours flat on his first ever try. Good on’ya mate, you deserve the rest!