Happy Bar

I rarely go out to bars these days, but "Happy Bar" sounded cool so we checked it out. It's run by a woman who's undergoing the transformation into a man. She/He had beard and if I hadn't heard she/he was born a woman, I'd never have known. (she-man not pictured) I had to wonder if she/he decided to undergo the change because there's so little information about lesbianism in Japan, and she/he thought that a sex-change was the most plausible option.
It was a sit-down bar with dim-lighting and a classy atmosphere, and they also served takoyaki (batter filled with pieces of octopus and grilled into spheres, then covered in your choice of sauces and toppings). Takoyaki is probably the main reason why Japan imports so much octopus, so much that some countries are over-exporting and depleting their octopus population to dangerous levels (I saw a program about the severe decrease in octopus off the coast of Africa). I ordered mine without octopus, which most people think is weird since takoyaki literally means "grilled octopus". Even so it was delicious. After having a few drinks and stuffing ourselves with takoyaki (or in my case spheres of pancake batter) we headed to another bar for a change of atmosphere. Gaucho looks like a concrete storeroom scattered with tables and chairs, and is usually packed on nights when someone's on stage, but it was a non-band night with just a small circle of guys relaxing with some beers and strumming on their guitars.

We found out it was Moritaka's birthday so a couple of us ran to a nearby cake shop and brought him back a strawberry shortcake. He and Yuka are getting married in a couple months. Here she is doting on him and looking all wifey.