On Sunday we had a relaxing time with friends. But before that, I was pretty busy.
Saturday morning I got up at a reasonable hour and spent the first half of the day cleaning the house, from top to bottom. Things don’t get so messy around here, but we were having guests on Sunday afternoon, and I wanted things to look spotless. I spent a lot of time on everything, and it turned out nicely. I sure used a lot of cleaning supplies, though.
After housecleaning I donned some cleaner clothes and trekked out into the heat to Kobe. Kuniko was working on Saturday, so the plan was for me to meet her there, and then head over to Costco together to buy party supplies. I decided to go early to Rokko Beer Diner for a couple of pints to reward myself for all the sweat and labor I put into the cleanup effort.
Rokko Beer Diner (R.B.D. for short) has become my favorite place to drink in Kobe. They have a nice bar that I can belly up to, lots of local beers on tap and even some craft beers from other countries tapped, too. I enjoyed a pint of Coronado Islander IPA, and then a lager that I’ve never had before. Great stuff!
Kuniko and I met up and then we went over to Costco to spend too much money on things that will eventually kill us. Like beef and alcohol.
We were hoping to get some takeout from Costco for dinner, but they didn’t have any of our favorites. Instead we went over to the local yakitori and ate the usual course over there. As always – delicious. There were a lot of female customers in the place. The master gets his share of attention from the local ladies, I guess.
Sunday we were grilling in great weather starting in the afternoon. Anthony, Risa, and their son Koki came over and we celebrated nothing in particular. It was good to see them – they are really friendly. Anthony is always full of questions, and Koki was running all over the place making himself at home. He is 2 years old now, but he was talkative enough.
The grilled foods turned out great, and the conversation was also a lot of fun. They are going to travel to Bali this summer, so we shared tips and talked about some of the other travel adventures. Koki is only 2 years old but he has already traveled with them to Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The kid is shaping up to be an international jet-setter.
They ended up leaving around 3 p.m., and we cleaned up the kitchen and the grill and then covered things up. As I was covering the grill I could see huge black clouds on the horizon. I got inside, we sat down to watch a movie, and the rain came pouring down like crazy. Thunder, lightning, high winds, the works. Talk about good timing, though. Luckily the BBQ was all finished before we got hit. Just in time.
Today was a holiday for the rest of Japan, but I was off to work as usual. Kuniko could enjoy a well-deserved day off, though. The day went well today, with nothing special to report. My students are continuing to work hard as the lessons get more challenging, which is all I can ask of them.
This week should be interesting – I’m looking forward to a couple of highlights. Anniversary dinner, curry with a coworker, and Game of Thrones in Japanese. Should be fun!
