Today is the day to meet David and go up the mountain! I’m really looking forward to it! I slept until noon today. I was up late last night working and writing in my journal. Once again, I think the work I’m doing right now is nothing short of a blessing.

Because I can freely choose the time, people, and place of my work. It really is the best.

That being said, for example, my salary for January is 500,000 yen. It’s like finally achieving a monthly salary of 500,000 yen. I’m really happy. I’m working only about six hours a day on average, but to get this much is really, really up to me, I thought again.

I want to learn more, acquire more skills, and become more intelligent. I also think, once again, that the most important thing about going abroad is to interact with the local people. It is really important to go somewhere with local people and interact with them. If you can make friends, you can meet them when you visit the country in the future again, and you can also build a network for the future. I really learned the importance of this.

Finish lunch at your favorite Wendy’s

I’m going to meet David at 2:00 p.m. near the Metro near freedom square, so I’m going to have lunch at Wendy’s in the Galleria before then. Wendy’s might be my favorite junk food. The hamburger buns are really squishy and tasty, and the fries have a taste and texture that I really like.

And Coca-Cola is the perfect combination. So I ordered a set. And it cost me 800 yen. When I think about it, I realize how inexpensive it is in Japan. For me, it has become the norm. Really.

So I really understand the reaction when I come back to Japan from overseas. I wonder how cheap it is.

David was running a little late, so I went outside to listen to music and wait for him.

It’s so much fun to listen to music and dance outside while waiting!

I don’t get angry when people are late, and it doesn’t bother me at all. I’m also being late myself, so if my friend is late, I can just listen to music, dance, and wait. It’s more fun that way lol. After waiting for about 15 minutes, David arrived! I hadn’t seen him for a long time.

David asked me if I was cold on the way there. I was sure it was cold with only my Burberry trench coat on. But I am used to winter, so I don’t feel cold at all. He brought two warm scarves and gave one for me. But I’m fine enough, so it’s no problem at all.

The venue smelled very much like art.

So we both walked to the venue. I heard that they were going to do a drawing of a woman there today. I love people, so of course I love drawing women very much. In Japan, many people tend to think about eroticism, but I think this is really art and a philosophical time to draw women with a deep sense of human beauty. Because eroticism is the very essence of human beings.

When I arrived at the venue, I found that it was in the basement, and the second floor was a café. It really was a place that would turn into a club at night.

It was very dark. But it really looked like a venue for painting, with chairs set up in a circle. I was nervous. I hadn’t done any sketching in about 10 years, and my drawing skills are pretty much non-existent. When I told this to David, he said, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry so much.”

Moreover, I learned that we all had to show each other our work at the end, which was indeed too embarrassing. But I decided that it was an experience and I had to do it, so I decided to draw a picture.

The wine is exquisite, very stale.

Besides, David went out of his way to bring a bunch of sketchbooks. I took my pencils and sketches. Apparently you can order wine upstairs, and since many people seemed to be ordering wine and drinking it while painting, I decided to have some too.

White wine and water. The taste of this wine is unforgettably unique.

So David decides to drink water. I went upstairs and ordered a glass of wine…white wine. The bar staff said it was a very strange and weird tasting Georgian wine, so I decided to order that.

Drawing with a glass of wine

Indeed, when I actually drank it, it tasted really strange. It was the strangest taste I have ever tasted. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was like stale wine. It smelled and tasted like something rotten was in it. I really enjoyed that too.

A woman appears and we start drawing.

So a woman showed up and I thought she was probably showing solidarity with Ukraine because she was wearing a yellow tank top on top and blue shorts on the bottom. So I started drawing. I thought the woman would stop for hours, but she didn’t. She moved to a different position after a minute and then kept moving in slow motion, so the part I was going to draw was already in a different place and a different body part had already appeared, so it was indeed It was too difficult. I wondered how I could draw it normally. I couldn’t believe it myself.

Me doing a drawing

David, who was standing next to me, also said that it was really difficult and extremely hard. Even David, a painter, said it was really difficult, so I am sure it was very difficult. It seems that there is a first half and a second half, each lasting one hour. But I lost my concentration after 30 minutes. After that, I gradually wrote and didn’t write. It was really too difficult for me to write. It was to the point that I got sick of it. But I enjoyed the atmosphere and just kept on drawing.

And after the first half was over, I just sat at the upper bar and stared down. I wondered what it would be like. The second half was much more eccentric, and the women’s movements and postures were really funny. Like a museum exhibit. Then all of a sudden she would start dancing.

So I thought she must have a really unique mindset. It’s people like that that no one can imitate. That’s why they are so rare and interesting. Well, I also enjoyed the atmosphere of the upstairs cafe, which was a really nice place. There were not that many people, and I thought it would be nice to work at my desk here. Very nice place.

Motion is very unique

But during the break, everyone was outside smoking marijuana. I am so used to the smell that I immediately know it is marijuana. Everyone here has smoked marijuana, and conversely, there is no one who has not. I thought it was really interesting, like a cultural difference.

Attracted to David’s Girl Next Door

So I was waiting for the second half to end, and the woman sitting next to David wrote in a very tasteful way, so I really found her attractive. And her face is pretty. She seemed really positive and very interested in art. She was the type of person who would go for something, and she was passionate about it. So I really felt attracted to her.

I was watching her from above, and she painted so crisply that I thought, “Why don’t you become a fashion designer?” David and I were going through the paintings, and I wanted to talk to her, but I didn’t have the courage to do so, and I was shy at the same time. I bit my lower lip. Damn it, I thought. This is what it’s all about. This is the issue. Why am I so shy? Really, this is where I lose opportunities. If I had talked to her, we could have been friends, and she’s really attractive. And she has big hips, too lol.

I was too nervous to talk to her. So when David and I were showing each other our work, I was too embarrassed to say anything because I didn’t deserve to show my work and I lacked confidence.

The girl was also very close to me, and I thought she was very aggressive and passionate. I found also that she was using Faber-Castell. I should have said something to her, but I was too nervous to speak. That is also my problem. I thought to myself, “This is the time to test myself.”

If I was nervous, then I must like that person. Unfortunately, she went upstairs, and David went to the restroom while I waited on the first floor. In the end, I left the place without communicating with the girl.

A Russian man who had been exchanging opinions with David also left with me, and he asked me if we wanted to have dinner together. But we were going up to the top of the mountain now, so we declined. So we decided to go up the mountain, crossing freedom square and running up and down the hill. I was quite tired. I was feeling a little drunk, because painting women all the time was a bit hysterical, and I felt like I was being questioned as a true human being.

Arrive at the gondola to go up the mountain

We walked outside, up the hill, and arrived at the station for what looked like a gondola to get to the top of the mountain.

Christmas tree and photo shoot on the way to the walk

David even bought my ticket at the ticket center. And when I asked for a card, he gave me his own card. Thank you so much. I really feel bad about get paid from my friend. With that feeling, we went to the gondola.

In the gondola, there were only two of us and a few Iranians? Indian? The scenery was getting more and more beautiful. However, the weather in December was often bad, with rain and fog on top of the mountains. So it was not so beautiful.

However, the scenery in Tbilisi is really beautiful, with a few spots of light in the blackness. We arrived at the final point. It was really high. I don’t know how high it was, but it must have been even higher because we were climbing up from the top of the mountain.

Two shots with David

The view is very beautiful.

Upon arrival, David and I enjoyed the scenery. I annoyingly asked David to take my portrait, but I was not satisfied with it. I don’t know how I looks on camera. So I think I need to practice posing a lot more. So I’m going to make learning about posing a goal for 2023.

So, David took a lot of pictures for me.

Photo shoot at the top! A little disappointed because it’s cloudy today.

Then, we decided to go to the Ferris wheel. But the Ferris wheel was not moving as we looked at it. So we went closer to the Ferris wheel, but no one was around and the Ferris wheel was not moving. So we gave up on riding the Ferris wheel.
Instead, we took some pictures near the Ferris wheel and took in the scenery. It was really beautiful. I heard that this place is crowded with many tourists in summer. There was also a pool slide. It looked really fun.

There is also a radio tower with lights that change color every hour. And there is a lot of fog around now, so the light was refracted by the fog and the colors looked like the scene from “Lovely night” in La La Land.

Very romantic.

It was a really nice view. David took a lot of pictures of me. It was really beautiful. I felt very romantic. If David was a girl and she was so beautiful, I think I would have asked her to dance with me lol. I told him about it lol. Anyway, I was taken a picture near the light. Then we went for a walk, because the park is very big.

Running at full speed together

There was a very long hill there. So, I said, “Since we’re here, why don’t we come run together?” and David and I decided to run together! For the first time in a while, and it was great! David has a lot of endurance, so he ran a lot.

Finish the race with David! Run 100m as fast as you can!

We were running about 100 meters up the hill. David was exhausted, but that’s what makes it fun! It doesn’t matter how old you are! That’s how it felt! We had a great time! And my hair was mussed.
After that we were hungry, so we decided to go to the restaurant directly connected to the last station, so there we went. But the price was 16 lari for 5 hinkaris, which was very expensive, so David suggested that we go to a different restaurant. So we went to a different restaurant after getting off the gondola.

In search of dinner! I want to eat Khinkali.

After getting off the gondola, we decided to walk to Daphna, the always packed restaurant we had talked about the other day. We walked there, but it didn’t take that long, and when we got there, it was packed and there were reserved seats. So we went to the cafe next door, they said it was OK to go outside. But I feel not good this restaurnat, so we decided to go to the restaurant called “Pictograma”. David had been there several times, so we went there.

It was a very stylish restaurant. The outside wall was made of bricks, and there were wines on the table.

A very comfortable and stylish restaurant.

We were seated at the far end of the table. We looked at the menu and decided to order Khinkali first. Then, I decided to order a Georgian wine. But there was no wine menu, so I asked the waiter.

David was about to order about 20 Khinkali, which I thought was too much! I told him that 5 Khinkali would be enough, and the waiter said, “That’s not true! That’s not true!” But anyway, David said he would eat 10 Khinkali, so I ordered 15.

After that, I told the waiter that I wanted a red semi-sweet wine, and she told me that she recommended a white wine, so I decided to go with that. The waitress was very friendly. She was about the same age as me, very friendly, and seemed to be unique in some way.

Drink semi-sweet wine. It’s so good.

Then, I told David about my recent problem, that when I gain weight, the first thing that happens is that my face gets fleshy on my cheeks! David laughed and said, “I don’t think so at all! I was embarrassed.

So when the clerk came over, I asked her and she said “Like when I see you , just omg, like amazing guy coming here…”. I was very embarrassed. But she complimented me and said my cheeks were not fat at all, which I was happy about.

But I’m not happy because I’m the one who decides if I’m fat or not! lol. But David said, “Look! That girl said you are not fat at all either, in fact she like you Kota! Why don’t you ask her for her contact?” I was indeed embarrassed because he said it like that. But I also thought she was very nice, so I thought I should ask her for her contact. But I was still shy, so I felt embarrassed.

Khinkali is really the best. Khinkali in Georgia. The best.

So I ordered a menu similar to Khinkali and Khachapuri, so those came. And then some white wine. The white wine was very, very good and excellent. And the quantity was very much larger than usual, about 80% of the glass was filled, which was indeed surprising. But it was really delicious.

Finally, Khinkali and wine. It’s already great.

Get to know that girl! Take a picture with her!

Then I asked her to take a picture with me, using a film camera and an iPhone. David suggested that we take a picture of the three of us together, and I thought that was a great idea, so I asked her to take a picture of the three of us together. But she was very nervous and shy, or maybe she didn’t like her own face, so she said no.

So instead, she took our picture with the one used for credit card payments and printed it out for us. It was amazing, really amazing technology. I had no idea that the machine could take pictures. So David and I had our picture taken. It had a nice retro feel to it.

During the meal, we talked about her and David, who seems to become like a child when he is drunk because he was not able to express himself freely when he was a child, and therefore, he does not express his emotions well. His mother told him not to do this or that, and his father passed away some years ago, and it seems like it has been more than 10 years since he last saw him. He shared these things with me. So we were talking about how his true self appears when he is drunk.

I also told him that my parents were divorced. “Have you met your father?” “Have you never met him?” “How would you feel if your father showed up here?” He asked me how I would feel if my father were to show up here, but since I don’t even have a father, I didn’t feel anything at all. That’s how I felt. When I thought about it, I realized that everyone around me had either no father or mother, including Eva, David, and April, all of whom were in the same situation as I am. Perhaps some unseen force is at work, pulling us together.

Khinkali is the best in this restaurant.

We had a nice chat and decided to write each other a message. While I was in the restroom, David borrowed a ballpoint pen from her. David said I should write a message to her too, and I said, “That is the main thing you know.” That’s right. Of course I wrote to David, but the main thing was to write something to her on the back of my business card. I wanted to thank her for treating me so well, and I also wanted to be her friend.

David writing to me

In fact, she is a fan of Japan!

So, as I was writing the letter to David, the clerk came in and said, “Oh, this is japanes!” Surprisingly, she is a big fan of Japan. So she wanted to go to Kyoto. She also told me that she was going to get a tattoo called “Ukiyo” soon. She also told me that her dog’s name is Haru, because she loves Japanese spring.

I was really surprised to hear that such a thing was possible. I was very surprised. I was thinking that she seemed to be a kindred spirit, and then she told me that she really loved Japan, and that her dream was to visit Japan someday. I was surprised because I had never imagined it. At the same time, I was happy.

I wrote a message on the back of my business card. Her name was Mariam. I asked her name, and I said, “Please, let’s take a picture with that barcode thing!” Also, this film camera isn’t very clear, so I asked her to take a picture with me. So she agreed, she wouldn’t let me take a picture with the iPhone, but she would take a picture with the two cameras. So, we took a picture together.

Handwritten message from David and Mariam

On the back of the receipt I got her signature and a brief message. The message said, “Your personality looks like HARU”. I was really happy to hear that. So I gave her my card with the message on it. “I hope we can meet again someday somewhere.” She was very happy. At first I was embarrassed because I didn’t want to translate it, but then she told me that she had a Japanese friend and she would ask him to translate it for her.

Two shots with David and Mariam

We had a petit international exchange like that. It was really nice. She asked me about Instagram and I was really happy about that too. We probably won’t have a better relationship than this, but things like this are really great memories. It was really fun.

Thank you so much David!

Thanks to David, it was such a pleasure to interact like this and to make friends with Mariam as well. I ordered and ate 10 Khinkali with meat and 5 Khinkali with cheese and potatoes, which were also great. Everything was really good. I’m the type of person who gets full quickly when I’m having a good time and talking, so I didn’t eat much at that time either. So I paid the bill this time, and it was about 60 lari, or about 3000 yen. 3000 yen for two people was really cheap. Then I said bye bye to Mariam and left the restaurant. David offered to take me back to the hostel.

It was really cold outside, but we arrived safely and ended with a hug and bye-bye. See you this Saturday!

A cat outside the hostel. Very cute.