I'm such a baby

Tonight I met some friends at The Lockup, a prison-themed izakaya in Shibuya. (The homepage makes it look innocent enough, but believe me, it isn't!) I had never been there, and I was running late because of work. I found the entrance to the place, which was nothing more than a wooden door lightly marked "entrance." Strangely enough, you had to push the door open to go in, and then I found myself in a dark room with no visible exit. Most restaurants in Japan have staff waiting at the entrance to shout "Irrasshaimase!" ("Welcome!") when you walk in, but this place had no one.

I couldn't even see well enough to tell where I was supposed to go, but I thought I saw the faint outline of a hallway to the left so I took a slight step toward it. As soon as I did, BAM!! Flashing lights, a fake skeleton popping out of the wall at me, and a tinny laugh coming out of speakers. I thought this was a prison-themed place, not a haunted house!!

Unfortunately haunted houses are not my thing, and after a long and frustrating day at work I just could not force myself to walk through a semi-scary attraction. Thank goodness for mobiles. I called a friend who was waiting inside and begged for her to come meet me at the entrance.

She led me through the haunted house portion of the restaurant with ease, laughing the whole way at what a wimp I am. In retrospect, it was quite embarrassing that I had to call her. I don't think I'll ever live this one down.