Festive Tidbits

In the end, I never managed to take pictures of the family dinner to celebrate Clara's 11th birthday on 22nd December. Well, that's not exactly true.......in the 3 pictures that were taken, there were at least a couple of people who either looked deeply unhappy or mildly aggressive. I thought it best to delete those from the memory card of my camera.

Despite what the pictures might have indicated, we all DID actually have a very nice dinner. Clara was very proud to be the center of attention and happy to be growing up. The food in the restaurant was adequate as always, but nothing special. What was special was the occasion. Lovely to see Clara soaking up all the attention.

On the 23rd, Clara hosted a party for 4 of her school friends. Really nice kids - very polite and well behaved. Clara did not want me to cramp her style, so I headed off to Kinokuniya book shop in Shinjuku and then had some beers. Nice.

Christmas Day was pleasant, but typically low key for Japan. We opened the presents under the tree and had a great dinner later in the evening. My friend in Shimogo, the local doctor, sent us an extremely tasty bottle of Napa Valley wine called The Prisoner (2009). According to this link, the 2009 vintage actually debuted in a real prison! All in all, a very satisfying day. Christmases in Japan used to be a difficult time for me in the past. Everything is much more low key in Japan and it was difficult to hear about the fun others were having in other parts of the world. Now I know what to expect, it doesn't phase me anymore.

We are all now in limbo waiting for New Year to arrive. I am sure I will soon make another visit to my local bar and am equally sure we will have a nice lunch on New Year's day. I will endeavor to be a more active blogger over the next couple of weeks. Better go.....dinner time.

'Tis the season to be jolly

I've been a bit of a boring boy recently, hence the lack of updates to the blog. However, as with most people at this time of year, there are a number of noteworthy events coming up.

We only put up our rickety old tree a few days ago, but it makes a welcome addition to our living room. I'm not sure how comfortable our dog is with the tree beside his bed, but he has not cocked his leg at it yet. Clara commented that we she was younger, the Christmas tree appeared massive in her eyes. I'm sure there is a song about that somewhere.....yep, it is called 'The First of May' by the Bee Gees.

The start of all the special events is today, 22nd December. I'm very proud to say it is Clara's 11th birthday........11 years ago today I was pacing up and down the Simpson Memorial Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh waiting for a little noisemaker to arrive.

11 years later, she is coming along great and Yuki and I are very proud of her. Happy Birthday Clara!! We will all go out for a special birthday dinner to celebrate. I'll try and post a couple of pictures on this blog tomorrow.

So, it looks like it will be a very busy and enjoyable couple of weeks. I'll be sure to post a few more blog entries in the near future.