Awaji Birthday Party

We’re back from a weekend in Awaji. The trip was organized by Kuniko’s sister, and she and Atsushi drove us all over the tiny island seeing greenhouses, bridges, and taking in the natural scenery. On Saturday evening we pulled into a tiny town near the southern part of the island and checked into a Japanese-style inn that is a favorite of Tomoko and Atsushi’s.

The place was very 1970’s – but comfortable and the service was quite good. Dinner was very good – lots of blowfish to be eaten as sashimi, in a nabe soup, and on sushi rice. Maybe the best was shirako – which is described in wikipedia as “referring to the male genitalia of fish when they contain sperm, used as food.”

Yeah, I ate that.

In other potentially homosexual behavior news, the next morning our shower had no hot water, so I was left with no choice but to brave the public bath, for some bathing with a bunch of naked strangers. Good times. Luckily the steam in the bath made my glasses inoperational, so I couldn’t wear them, and everything was blurry. Sometimes my vision problems are a blessing.

Beyond that the dinner was a big success, and it was kind of the purpose of the trip, since nobody could get free closer to Niro’s actual birthday in April. It was his 60th birthday, and in Japan that means the theme is red and black. We gave him red wine, champagne, a black wallet, and a red scarf as a gift, and since it was so far in advance of his birthday he had no idea. I was surprised to see some tears in his eyes after opening all the gifts. We also worked hard to pay the bills before he got to them, and that was the real trick. He is quick getting at the bills usually.

Yesterday we drove back in the early evening, and after saying farewell to everyone we did some shopping for the week and then went home to relax and take a long (private) bath. It was a good weekend all around.