my amazing night

i went to kickboxing class last night in the city and after my coach and i went to his friend's antique 'shop' for some food. his friend owns a tiny little antique shop in furumachi, but he has another full time job so it's open very infrequently. it's more like his hobby, as well as cooking. so we sat down on the tatami mats and zabuton cushions, and his friend served us mouth watering delicacies like curry (*not* japanese style) and naan, sausages (also not jpns), grilled mushrooms with olive oil, sweet soybeans, and ulong tea. it was honestly the best curry i've ever had (with the possible exception of Indus...but the meat was more tender).
his friend told me to have a look around. there was tons of stuff in the antique shop from dolls to ceramics to old collector's items. he asked me if i wanted to see the collection of antique kimonos upstairs in the attic. so i went up and had a look around and there was one that i liked. it was only Y1000! ($10). so i thought that i might get it.
then he showed me a box with a wedding kimono in it. he took it out and let me try it on. it was gorgeous. bright red with white birds on it. it was really heavy - must have been at least 10 lbs. kazeta was saying that that kind of kimono people will rent for about Y200,000 a day ($2000).
and he said he would sell it for Y10,000! i don't know if it was because he's selling his shop soon or if he got a really good deal on it or what...but i absolutely couldn't pass up this chance to own something so incredibly beautiful and 100% authentically japanese.
so i bought it!
i'm going to have to ship it home on it's own...it will fill an entire suitcase on it's own, as wedding kimonos are designed to have that big huge part at the bottom.
here is a video i took of it, and some photos below:










i'm so happy!