It’s A Funny Old World: Nina Myskow
‘The tempura restaurant was an exquisite little place that cost £25 a head. In 1979!’
Be warned: if you get travel sick, before reading on you may need to don a motionsickness band.
All set? In the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was known as the ‘queen of pop’. No, seriously. I was the rock writer on a big newspaper and travelled the world interviewing pop stars: Elton John in Los Angeles, Abba in Stockholm, Rod Stewart in Paris, Blondie in Brussels and Barry Manilow and Sting in New York (not together).
Before you reach for the airline sick bag, I can reassure you that while travel is involved, what I really want to tell you about is coincidence.
It started in Japan, where I’d gone for a week with punk band The Stranglers. The trip was fabulous and more than made up for having to go to their very loud gigs. They gave me a wonderful interview, and along with Barry, a showbiz writer from another paper, I marvelled at temples and was royally treated. One night, we were taken to Ten-Ichi, the best tempura restaurant in Tokyo. An exquisite little place that cost £25 a head. In 1979! It was so special, I vowed to return if I was ever lucky enough to be there again.
It was decades later that I managed it. I flew to Tokyo with Grant, my other half, to join a cruise around Japan for a travel article, and we went to Ten-Ichi the night before our cruise.
The tiny foyer looked familiar, and as we entered we had to stop to let a tall, imposing American pass by. All he did was thank us, but he had such presence that although I didn’t recognise him, I thought he must be a Hollywood star. Grant guessed perhaps a politician. He just oozed charisma.
We forgot about him as we enjoyed as superb a meal as I’d remembered, and the next day embarked on our cruise. But as we made our way to the ship’s atrium for a traditional good- luck ceremony for our voyage, who should we see, dressed in a kimono, in charge of the celebration? Our man from the night before.
He turned out to be Arnold W Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, which owns just about every cruise line in the world. In the cruise industry, he is Mr Big. We watched him charm everyone. Us too. Yes, it had been him at Ten-Ichi – wasn’t it fabulous, and wasn’t it a coincidence!?
But hang on to that seatbelt! We’re not at our destination yet. Here’s the real coincidence. The article I wrote about our wonderful cruise, which included my story about Arnold and Ten-Ichi, was entered into the CLIA UK & Ireland Cruise Journalism Awards, and one night at a glitzy London hotel, to my amazement, I heard my name read out. Dazed, I went on stage to collect my award, and afterwards into the bar to celebrate.
I heard a voice, ‘Remember me?’ and saw a familiar face. Arnold? No, it was Barry, who’d shared the trip to Japan and the tempura in Ten-Ichi. I hadn’t seen or heard from him for 35 years (and not since). We clinked glasses and toasted the past.
How strange life can be! It made me realise one of the advantages of getting older is you live long enough to prove to yourself that life is indeed a circle, and what goes around comes around. Somehow very satisfying.