Blast From the Past

On Friday, I met up with an old friend of mine (I told my dad in advance so he can stay and make sure the kid doesn’t set the house on fire). We were really close in middle school, but since I moved away, we naturally grew apart as well. We still talked time to time and still wished each other happy birthday each year. Once I learned how to drive back to the city, I visited her once last year. It was a bit awkward due to the fact it was the first time we saw each other in almost 9 years, but really fun. Apparently, I’m really different compared to my middle school self. It makes sense I guess. Who didn’t have an awkward tween phase?

So, the other day, we agreed to meet up at the mall and grab a bite. There was a really famous Japanese udon place that gained traction on TikTok. Apparently, when it first opened up at the mall, the line would wrap around the whole building and the wait time would be 2 hours! All that for a bowl of udon? I normally don’t really like Japanese udon since I think the taste gets a bit tiresome after a few bites. The first two bites an amazing. The chashu pork, soft boiled egg, and rich pork broth is very tasty, but you kinda get a tastebud-sensory overload after eating it for a while. BUT, I wanted to see what was all the hype about and she did too. Luckily, by now the restaurant has been open for a few months and the line had died down drastically. I got the tonkotsu udon with a shrimp tempura and she got a kitsune udon with a shrimp tempura as well. It was mid. The noodles are nice and bouncy, but other than that, the broth tasted like every other udon place. She enjoyed it since she loves udon. I just swallowed quickly and drank a lot of water to give my taste buds a break.

Talking with her was really fun. We caught up a bunch. Last time we talked, she was just getting into a new relationship with her girlfriend. When I brought it up this time, I wasn’t even able to finish my sentence when she replied, “We broke up 3 months ago.”

…it’s like you could hear crows cawing in the background.

BUT luckily, she is in the middle of talking to two people right now so, I’m praying Cupid will shoot his arrows at one of those girls. She was able to graduate early from college, and had a job waiting for her instantly. She’s doing well and I’m happy for her.

After our meal, we walked around the mall for a while and stopped by a matcha place. This stand also got popular on TikTok and used to have a lengthy wait-time. And again, the hype of it died down by now, and had almost no line. We got a matcha ice cream sundae to share and an iced strawberry matcha latte. She was so sneaky with it. In line, she was in front of me and asked me what I was thinking about ordering. We bounced off ideas if we should get ice cream to share and in the end, I added I was also thinking about getting the drink. Since she was ordering first, she ended up ordering my latte for me! She was so sweet. Also, sad to note, I’m not the biggest fan of matcha. I like matcha lattes since the milk can dull out the flavor but anything else matcha flavored, I’m not really a fan of. It’s too bitter sometimes and it tastes like straight earth. But since my friend likes it, I decided to give this place a try. The latte was good and the sundae was like eating a plate of leaves and grass. You win some, you lose some.

I was able to power through the sundae with a smile on my face since I didn’t want her to be sad, and I started asking her about her tattoos. She had 2; a paper crane on her collarbone and butterflies on her arm. Apparently her parents still don't know about it even when it's staring at them straight in the face. They also don't know she's lesbian either so maybe a sign of neglect? Haha all jokes. The talk of matching tattoos came up and we impulsively decided to get them. Being honest, I never thought I’d want tattoos. I’m too indecisive and scared of needles. But, I thought it’d be nice to get one with her to commemorate the day and I could just get something simple. We weren’t getting matching tattoos (even though that was the original plan) and she decided on a small outline of a lightning bolt on her wrist, and I wanted an outline of a small heart on my upper arm.

We searched for nearby tattoo shops and set off. The first place was closed, so we headed for the second closest place. When we opened the door to the shop, it smelled like straight reefer. That shook me a little bit not gonna lie. I’ve never smoked weed before so this was going to be an interesting experience. Okay, that’s a lie. My coworker offered his pen once and after a single hit, I coughed it out and just gave it back. Anyways, a lady comes out to greet us and she is talking reallllly slowly. At this point, alarms are going off in my head a bit and I back out of the idea of a tattoo. My friend still asks her about the lightning bolt and the lady estimates $80. EIGHTY!?!?! The lady also says to give her a 15 minutes to get “oriented” and for us to just wait in the lobby at that time.

My friend equally starts to freak out. I’m convincing her it is a bad idea. Both the price and the tattoo artist seems out of this world right now. “If you let her tattoo your lightning bolt, it’s going to end up looking like a crinkle cut french fry.” Not to mention, $80 for a tattoo that small and simple seems outrageous. We agree to leave and make an excuse to her coworker that we don’t have enough in cash. They take the excuse and we book it to the car.

The whole day was fun. Even though most of the stuff we did/ate wasn’t particularly stuffed I liked, I still enjoyed it. I was able to catch up with an old friend, and her company was more than ideal. We usually only meet up once a year, but I hope we can change that. Anyways, that's all for now folks!

TLDR: I met up with my friend and was gonna get inked like the true daredevil I am.