The pictures alongside this post will show you that my birthday weekend has been fabulous here in Japan. Yesterday was my birthday and I have had one of the best birthdays ever. Honestly I was a bit nervous about my first birthday in Japan. I LOVE my birthday. It does not bother me to get older because it is a day to celebrate. And I actually tend to celebrate for an entire week and call it "Shari-fest", something I claimed from my friend Beki when she introduced me to "Beki-fest." So, being gone from home on my birthday, well I just did not know how it would compare. Remember that girl scout/brownie song, "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." My new friends in here are wearing the gold as they really did make my birthday a special day and weekend.
Friday morning I went to our play group and my "angel" as I have called her because that is what she has been to me here, made me a cake, candles, and everyone joined in and sang to me. Very fun. I was very encouraged. And I love chocolate cake so she did really well.
Then my sweet husband planned a surprise party for me with some dear friends from our church for the afternoon. Problem is I ruined the surprise. He told me to go to our friends' house and help her out because her husband was busy and she needed some help with the kiddos (she has five children, two of which are 4 month old twins). So, no problem. I called her up and said I would love to come help you, but need to put Miyako down for a nap. Since her twins napped at the same time I asked if I could come over when Miyako woke up. "No problem," she said. I called Kan and let him know of my plans so he could meet me there after work since we had dinner plans in the evening. All of a sudden, Kan comes home unexpectedly around 2:30 and said, "You are the hardest person to surprise. I quit.:)" So, my friend did not really need my help, but Kan wanted me to celebrate my birthday with a few people. We did go over after Miyako woke up and enjoyed our appetizer cake before heading to dinner.
My birthday dinner was excellent. Our family went to a great Italian restaurant in Akasaka with my "angel" friend and her daughter. The pizza was fabulous! It was thin crust pizza made in a wood oven. We sat outside and could see them making the pizza. We definitely enjoyed some pizza and hope to get back there in the future. It is a good thing we do not live super close to the restaurant. We would probably go weekly! Oh, and we bought tickets to see James Taylor with my friend and her husband in a couple of weeks so we have another great evening to look forward to.
Today it has been beautiful and we did the traditional Japanese viewing of the cherry blossoms called Hanami. The cherry blossoms have a quick bloom and you have about a week to view them. It is a very big deal here and based on the pictures you can see why. They are beautiful. We went to Shinjuku gyoen (a large park that I mentioned in an earlier post) and hung out with a very eclectic group. As we were riding home on the metro, Kan said, "I feel like we were the United Nations today." The countries of Ireland, Australia, Japan, Korea, and America were all represented in our small group. The park was full of everyone enjoying fellowship, sunshine, food, drink and the cherry blossoms.
To top off the weekend, Easter is tomorrow! I look forward to worship tomorrow. The main reason we celebrate life and have abundant life is because of Him who rose on the third day.
2 comments:
So glad you're having a great Shari Fest. I see red wine in your pictures. Good to know you're able to get red wine there!
Happy Birthday! You are in great company, as Aaron's birthday was Easter Sunday this year. I'm glad you had a great Shari-fest in Tokyo! People love an excuse to celebrate there, so again, you were in good company. Did you eat at Salvatore by the Prudential Building? Yum!
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