Birthday, BuzzBuzz Weddding Party, Snow!
I've been a little remiss in updating, thinking I didn't have enough pictures and not much to relate, and then realized I have too many pictures and we were kind of busy after all.
First of all, I had a birthday. I have decided not to count anymore, and am going to stay with "ni-ju roku sai desu." I am 26, just like everyone else in our crowd. It seems like a good age to be, and it has "rock" in it.
I like my hair in this picture.
Helen and I (and half a dozen others) had our birthday party at Blue Corn. Like last year, Mooney played. There was a big cake. I have to say, the Japanese birthday cake is far superior to the American birthday cake. It's usually a sponge-cake layered with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Which is way more palatable than the ultra-sweet artificially-colored American affair. Yum.
Helen, Kevin, Cynthia and I later went over to Tanuki for the karaoke I've been bugging Helen for. The highlight, for me, was Kevin doing "99 Luftballons." In German, naturally. He apparently doesn't really remember this, but I have video proof.
On my actual birthday, Wednesday, Macky generously offered to babysit. Jeff & I met Martine in Shinjuku. I had found this cool-sounding tempura and sake place on bento.com (thanks to Martine). called Tsunahachi Rin. I recommend it. It's on the top floor of the Lumine building. The decor was super-styley
and the tempura was good, too. Not just your usual shrimp, kabocha, and potato in the usual batter. The batter was light, and the contents were interesting. There were flowerheads and oyster-stuffed green peppers, and my favorite izakaya dish: little whole fish stuffed with their own eggs. mm-MM! The sake was also quite tasty. You get to pick your own cup from a basket.
It was a good thing we had Martine with us, because there was no English on the menu or coming from the mouth of the staff.
The whole rest of the floor had the coolest look. All recycled materials, like keyboards, old VCRs, conduits, and cardboard.
Pretty good birthday.
Saturday was another wedding party for Tomoi & Norichan. This one was for the friends, and much different.
I made this! Not this, though:
Jeff got tapped to make the toast. Spontaneously. In Japanese. That was fun to watch.
Abbey the Dingo played. One of my favorite bands in Japan. Maybe my favorite.
They have added a keyboard, with a ragtimey sound. I liked it.
Tomoi actually did a song or two with The Waits. Good job, too.
M & D were unimpressed with the food, and went over to McDonald's. Jeff insists that the fries are better in Japan. Like they used to be in the US before they stopped using beef fat.
D was totally unimpressed by the whole event. He said he liked the other wedding party better. He found a way to make the time pass more quickly.
Here's a random collection of the revelers.
I took the kids home after the official party was over. Jeff continued on. He assumed he'd stay out another hour or so and share a cab back with some of our neighbors. I have no idea was he was so deluded. I think he got home at 7:30 or so, after getting on the first train and sleeping past his stop. Twice. Soon after, D came running into the bedroom. "It's snowing!"
It really was, too. It snowed a day last week, but it didn't stick. This day, it was sticking. This is rare for Yokohama, so we were excited.
Surprisingly, Jeff managed to get up almost on time for our fully-planned day. We had to drive D to a playdate, finally, at Remina's house. On the drive, there were plenty of photo ops.
I loved seeing everyone carrying umbrellas against the snow. I don't know why we never did that in Cleveland. Umbrellas are used for every kind of weather here. Rain, obviously, and snow, and even when it's too sunny and hot.
At M's request, we went ice skating. We'd been planning to do it for awhile. We wanted to go to the outdoor rink at the Brick Warehouses, but apparently the freak snowstorm closed it for the day. So we went to to the Kanagawa indoor rink. Not cheap, but it was pretty fun. Made me feel really arthritic, great. Something about ice skates just perfectly lines up all the joints in my legs for pain. I'm glad we went, tho. I'm sure the separation was good for the kids, too.
Jeff just left for another 2 week trip. D has come down with something and is home sick with me today. I'll just leave you with this picture and a warning not to eat at the "Hawaiian" restaurant Sun Aloha, if you are expecting anything remotely resembling Hawaiian food. It's near Osanbashi Pier and has a row of big flaming torches outside. Seems enticing, but it's really just a curry restaurant with a theme to justify it's prices.
That swirl? It's whipped cream. Apparently that's what makes this curry Hawaiian.
First of all, I had a birthday. I have decided not to count anymore, and am going to stay with "ni-ju roku sai desu." I am 26, just like everyone else in our crowd. It seems like a good age to be, and it has "rock" in it.
I like my hair in this picture.
Helen and I (and half a dozen others) had our birthday party at Blue Corn. Like last year, Mooney played. There was a big cake. I have to say, the Japanese birthday cake is far superior to the American birthday cake. It's usually a sponge-cake layered with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Which is way more palatable than the ultra-sweet artificially-colored American affair. Yum.
Helen, Kevin, Cynthia and I later went over to Tanuki for the karaoke I've been bugging Helen for. The highlight, for me, was Kevin doing "99 Luftballons." In German, naturally. He apparently doesn't really remember this, but I have video proof.
On my actual birthday, Wednesday, Macky generously offered to babysit. Jeff & I met Martine in Shinjuku. I had found this cool-sounding tempura and sake place on bento.com (thanks to Martine). called Tsunahachi Rin. I recommend it. It's on the top floor of the Lumine building. The decor was super-styley
and the tempura was good, too. Not just your usual shrimp, kabocha, and potato in the usual batter. The batter was light, and the contents were interesting. There were flowerheads and oyster-stuffed green peppers, and my favorite izakaya dish: little whole fish stuffed with their own eggs. mm-MM! The sake was also quite tasty. You get to pick your own cup from a basket.
It was a good thing we had Martine with us, because there was no English on the menu or coming from the mouth of the staff.
The whole rest of the floor had the coolest look. All recycled materials, like keyboards, old VCRs, conduits, and cardboard.
Pretty good birthday.
Saturday was another wedding party for Tomoi & Norichan. This one was for the friends, and much different.
I made this! Not this, though:
Jeff got tapped to make the toast. Spontaneously. In Japanese. That was fun to watch.
Abbey the Dingo played. One of my favorite bands in Japan. Maybe my favorite.
They have added a keyboard, with a ragtimey sound. I liked it.
Tomoi actually did a song or two with The Waits. Good job, too.
M & D were unimpressed with the food, and went over to McDonald's. Jeff insists that the fries are better in Japan. Like they used to be in the US before they stopped using beef fat.
D was totally unimpressed by the whole event. He said he liked the other wedding party better. He found a way to make the time pass more quickly.
Here's a random collection of the revelers.
I took the kids home after the official party was over. Jeff continued on. He assumed he'd stay out another hour or so and share a cab back with some of our neighbors. I have no idea was he was so deluded. I think he got home at 7:30 or so, after getting on the first train and sleeping past his stop. Twice. Soon after, D came running into the bedroom. "It's snowing!"
It really was, too. It snowed a day last week, but it didn't stick. This day, it was sticking. This is rare for Yokohama, so we were excited.
Surprisingly, Jeff managed to get up almost on time for our fully-planned day. We had to drive D to a playdate, finally, at Remina's house. On the drive, there were plenty of photo ops.
I loved seeing everyone carrying umbrellas against the snow. I don't know why we never did that in Cleveland. Umbrellas are used for every kind of weather here. Rain, obviously, and snow, and even when it's too sunny and hot.
At M's request, we went ice skating. We'd been planning to do it for awhile. We wanted to go to the outdoor rink at the Brick Warehouses, but apparently the freak snowstorm closed it for the day. So we went to to the Kanagawa indoor rink. Not cheap, but it was pretty fun. Made me feel really arthritic, great. Something about ice skates just perfectly lines up all the joints in my legs for pain. I'm glad we went, tho. I'm sure the separation was good for the kids, too.
Jeff just left for another 2 week trip. D has come down with something and is home sick with me today. I'll just leave you with this picture and a warning not to eat at the "Hawaiian" restaurant Sun Aloha, if you are expecting anything remotely resembling Hawaiian food. It's near Osanbashi Pier and has a row of big flaming torches outside. Seems enticing, but it's really just a curry restaurant with a theme to justify it's prices.
That swirl? It's whipped cream. Apparently that's what makes this curry Hawaiian.
posted by Sandi at 10:12 AM
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