Having survived the typhoon that blew through at the end of last week, we were able to suitably enjoy the three day weekend thanks to physical fitness day on Monday in Japan. As for the typhoon – it was a pretty mild one as the main part of it passed to the south of us, and it passed during the middle of the night so I slept through most of it. No damage to the house or the yard, so no problem.
Besides the excitement that always surrounds a three day weekend (especially one based on physical fitness) we had a chance to celebrate my birthday on Sunday. During the daytime we took a hike out to the ocean, and at the shrine there we watched for a while as they held a mini-matsuri. This one was pretty small, but all the more scenic thanks to the beautiful ocean view.
In the evening we went out to dinner near Motomachi in Kobe, and then bar hopped to a couple of places before heading home. Dinner was pretty good, and coupled with a great wine (a 2004 Shiraz from Australia) it was a memorable evening. The best dish of the night was grilled Iberico pork with a homemade mustard sauce – yum.
Monday we went over to visit Kuniko’s parents. Kuniko’s sister and his husband were in town, so we all had lunch together. Kuniko’s mom made sekihan (one of my favorites) for my birthday, and we also had fried shrimp and potato salad. After exchanging lots of goodies we headed home, and spent the rest of the day cleaning house and watching movies.
It was a very relaxing weekend, and now I have just two days of work before my parents arrive here in Japan. Hopefully we’ll have some spare time to blog while they’re here…
