A nice few days

Well, the 23rd July passed again with another birthday. The days surrounding my birthday were very pleasant indeed. On Saturday 21st of July, I went to the nearby Indonesian restaurant called Makashi which my friend Awin owns. Not only did he ply me with booze, but his girlfriend was also kind enough to give me a small birthday cake. Another staff member decorated the plate with a nice birthday message. Thanks guys!

After Makashi, I headed off to Elwood's Bar for a joint birthday celebration with two other customers. The other customers were very kind and supplied me with drinks whilst the owner, Keisuke, provided a birthday cake. I feel very grateful to those who made an effort to celebrate my birthday. I'm lucky to have good friends.

The 23rd of July, my actual birthday, was pretty low key. I did my laundry, went to the gym, and later went to Elwood's Bar to have a pint of Boddingtons Ale. Nothing too heavy. It was also nice to get a card from Scotland in the post from my parents.

Clara is now in Scotland and appears to be having great fun with her grandparents. I'm sure there won't be any dry eyes when the time comes for her to return to Japan. As usual, she has a busy schedule planned and has already visited a number of relations on the Isle of Skye.

So, a very good few days. Many thanks to those who also left messages on my Facebook page.

Fancy a Cuppa?

The title for this blog entry really does sum up July. It has been an uneventful month so far......I have done so little that I am struggling to think of a topic to write about.

I suppose the biggest highlight of the month was visiting a Japanese supermarket recently called Tsurukame to buy Tesco tea bags and a selection of British biscuits. Tsurukame has supplied certain Tesco goods for a number of years, but this will soon end as Tescos has left the Japanese market. I imagine that in a couple of months time, there will be no more opportunities to buy products from Britain as stocks finally run dry.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have managed to work my way through a packet of Ginger Nuts and a packet of Bourbon Creams. The double pack of Custard Creams is scheduled to be consumed soon. Once my hunger for British biscuits has been sated, I'll return to the shop one more time to make a final swoop on the remaining stocks of tea bags. This should keep me stocked with decent tea well into the New Year.

As today is a Japanese national holiday, called Marine Day, I ventured out in my local neighbourhood for a couple of drinks last night. The local Japanese seemed in good spirits as most were on a long weekend. After a long-lie today, I dealt with my laundry and am now sweating in front of my computer without the benefit of air conditioning. I have used the air conditioner pretty aggressively over the last couple of weeks and now have to put up with a sore throat.

The big event coming up will occur on Friday. Clara is flying (by herself) to Scotland to spend 3 weeks with her grandparents. It looks like she'll spend about 18 days in Scotland and 3 days in the Netherlands. Lucky girl - so well travelled and still only 11 years old.

I'll try and summon some inspiration for another blog soon, but I really have very little planned this summer. My birthday is coming up next week, so I may add something then.

Ok, time for tea and a custard cream.