Oriental adventures in Bochum

I simply must tell you what happened yesterday.

My friend Yrjö called me yesterday and we agreed to meet in an Indian restaurant called "Taj Mahal". The call ended by Yrjö promising to "try and reserve a table". And that's how we left it.

"I'm already late", I'm thinking as I walk towards the infamous Bermuda Dreieck. I've never been to Taj Mahal so I waste a few minutes finding it. I finally notice that it is on the second floor above two other restaurants. I can't see a door, I'm wondering if I need to go through one of the street-level restaurants. And if so, which one.

Finally, I notice a door that reads "Taj Mahal". There's a woman taping a note on the glass door. I'm not interested in the note, because it says something about "Freitag" and it isn't Friday today. She lets me open the door and I walk up the stairs. She follows me without a word and I let her in the door upstairs. I also enter the restaurant.

In the small restaurant there are half a dozen, mostly empty tables. One table is full of Indian people, adults and children. They all turn to look at me quite surprised. Well, I've been to a restaurant before, I'm not embarrased or anything. "I'll just find the table where Yrjö and Petra surely already are sitting", I think. "Maybe behind that corner? No, there are no more tables there. Hmm?" An Indian DJ is playing some music in the corner, there's a bartender behind the bar. Strangely, nobody is talking to me and helping me to get to a table, as you'd expect in a restaurant.

The bartender finally says "Hallo" and I tell him that I'm looking for a reserved table. "Oh, no", he says, "we haven't taken any calls at all today, as this is a private party." "Oops", I think and try to explain that I didn't want to disturb. Then I decide to retreat quietly. On the way out it strikes me that today IS Friday, and the note on the door must have meant today.

Okay, I'll call Yrjö and find out where they are. It is five minutes past our agreed meeting time. I call Yrjö from the second floor, but get only his answering machine. Just as I'm thinking how angry a message I should leave, I start to walk down the stairs and notice Yrjö outside the door with a mobile phone to his ear. I hang up, and go greet him with sarcastic comments about communication skills and how you know real friends.

Apparently, Yrjö had failed to reach anybody in the restaurant, but had not notified me. Understandable, maybe he wanted to catch me before I went in. Only two minutes separated us, I guess. We decide to instead go to the other side of the city, to a Thai restaurant and the rest of the evening turned out to be really funny and amusing.

Of course, we end up in Mandragora.

I'm sure I'll be able to report more embarrasing situations I end up in in the future.