Reece, Reeba, and Restaurants

The 11th of November in 1984 was a wonderful time. I don’t remember it too well at all unfortunately. According to my calculations, I was only in my 30th day of Life. So I was about 1/12th of a Year old. I didn’t know what Australia was, and I especially didn’t know what Russia was. In fact the only thing I probably knew is that crying=attention or food. Crying was probably the only thing I knew how to do at 30 days old. Come to think of it, I can’t remember exactly what age I discovered that a country called Russia existed. Thinking back, it might have been Captain Planet. Although its called the Soviet Union in that particular cartoon. It doesn’t matter. It was certainly well after 30 days old.

On Saturday the 11th of November, 1984, in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, two proud Russian parents gave birth to another daughter, Svetlana. Over the years, the little dark-haired princess grew older. And older. And older. She turned 20 last November. This November was to be her 21st Celebration of the Anniversary of that day in 1984 where the world received another angel.

So to celebrate this anniversary, Four Russians and One Australian gathered together in one of Moscow’s best Sushi Restaurants. This is their story……

РИС и РЫБА (Pronounced “Rees ee Reiba with rolled Russian R’s) or Rice & Fish is located on the second floor of a building, in Central Moscow. With fancy views of the Moscow River and surrounding buildings, it is prime real estate. We had already made a booking, which we found was absolutely necessary as R&F was very very busy. So after informing the Manager (We will cover this term “Manager” in an upcoming Broadcast, “Being a Manager in Russia”) that we had a booking, we waited, and we waited. Past “McDonalds Waiting”, past “Russian Waiting”, and into “Soviet Union Queuing for Bread Waiting”.

Finally, a joint initiative between the “Manager” and Waitresses was able to procure a table from the seven tables that had been vacated, cleaned, and ready for service. I welcomed Sergei back to Russia. He responded with a laugh.


So we sat, ordered drinks, and then noticed that a table next to the “Sushi Train” was available. We consulted the “Manager” again. And after the second attempt, we obtained unrestricted access to Sushi. We came, we saw, we shouted, we grabbed, we ate. It was pure chaos. The plates stacked up. Sveta and I quickly devised a method of dealing with empty plates as they seemed to appear more quickly than they could be stacked. Coupled with the problem that only two people were within grabbing distance of passing sushi, and we had a very interesting and very fun evening.

I had never been to such type of Sushi Bar before. Like everything else in Moscow, the system worked at 100 miles an hour and required fast talking to work properly. For demonstrative purposes, I have included a transcript to show how this works.

Russian English
Davaj sushi! “Give me Sushi”
Kakoy "Which?”
Eta! “That one!”
Eta? “This?”
Nyet “No”
Eta? “This?”
Nyet “No”
Eta? “This?”
Da! Da!! Davaj!! Davaj!! “Yes! Yes! Give me! Give me!”

So as you can see. It is a fairly consistent system.

I ate things tonight that I wouldn’t have normally tried. And these things that I wouldn’t have normally tried, I actually enjoyed. Perhaps I am becoming more mature in my old age? Me? Mature? HAH!! But then again, think a little harder. Two points: First, this is Moscow. And Second, Stranger things have happened.
Either way, a wonderful evening was had by all who attended. Good food, good friends, good cheer. And I couldn’t help but feel a little sad when it was all over and everyone parted their separate ways. Thank you all for a sensational evening and Congratulations to my darling angel, Sveta. Happy Birthday again!!!!