Monday December 10, 2012.

I had a lunch meeting downtown today, down on 18th over between 5th and 6th, a Japanese place called Ootoya. The meeting was for 11:30, same time as they open. It went well and the food was excellent. Here’s what I ordered:

$18 but worth it. The steak tasted buttery and was perfectly tender. Simple bites went right through the meat and the combination of side dishes made everything perfect.

The highlight though was neither the food nor the company. While eating, an old Japanese man walked in and I recognized his face instantly, though it took me a few seconds to place it properly. I grabbed one picture of him, though this obviously didn’t turn out very well with my head in the way:

That guy with the gray hair sitting over in the corner is actually this guy:

 Yamada Sensei, who I think is the highest ranking Aikido master in the US, but in any case is the head of the US Aikido association and runs the school here in NYC, which was just a block away from where we were eating.

The people I was with were impressed that I recognized him and as I called up pictures on my phone for them to compare with the guy sitting behind us, it was all nicely confirmed. I probably should have said something to the guy, or bowed or something.

I miss that martial art. It’s gentle but powerful, it’s sensible and relaxing to practice. It’s less athletic than what I like these days, but I bet some day I’ll be back in the dojo rolling around instead of punching people’s lights out.

Back uptown and it’s raining, the start of the first week with no boss in the office. We’ll see how this goes.