It has been a long time between posts! It’s time to get up to date on the blogging.
We had a really nice weekend, with a little more excitement than usual. Friday night I met Kuniko after work and we went out to try a new burger restaurant in Kobe. I’m always looking for the next great burger place. This wasn’t it, but it came close. The meat was excellent, and if you double the price they’ll make the patty out of Kobe beef. Unfortunately the thing was tiny – the bun seemed even smaller than a McDonald’s bun. The atmosphere was a strange combination of 50’s diner and hip hop lounge, and the beer selection was also odd – Guinness, Corona, or Heineken. Too bad.
After dinner we went and tried some other new places. Down the street we found a tiny shop that specialized in champagne, and so we enjoyed a glass there with a sliver of quiche. Next we went to a “Spanish” place, but it was a little too Japanized for us (and only one Spanish wine on the list!). It was a fun night to blow off some steam after the work week.
Kuniko had to work on Saturday, but she got home just in time to head over with me to the Fukumi’s to enjoy dinner. We spent the evening with them and the Yamajis, enjoying Sayaka’s cooking. We had lots of great wines and good conversation. The big topic was the upcoming baby in December. Sayaka sounded a little nervous but Koki looked thrilled. They still haven’t figured out their living arrangements after the baby arrives. That should be interesting to see what they work out. At the end of the evening they brought out a birthday cake for me, which was very kind of them. It was a fun night, and the food kept me full well into Sunday.
On Monday I had a health check at work. They do this every year, but it was only my second time. I thought it went much more smoothly, mainly because I know the procedure now. They gave me a clean bill of health, but they want me to try to keep my weight down. I’ll get the results from the blood check in a month or so, and then I’ll be able to see what my cholesterol levels are up to. I also had to drink the dreaded barium milkshake, but it was a piece of cake. The real trick is to get it all flushed out of your system during the rest of the day. Luckily I have fewer classes on Monday.
It’s a great idea to have a mandatory health check yearly. It is something I didn’t do enough on my own, and it’s pretty good motivation for keeping track of your own health day to day. Just another benefit of working for a big company, I guess.
This week is a pretty standard week for us. We’ve got a Costco trip planned, and Friday I’ll go into Osaka to have a drink with an ex-coworker, so there are a couple of things to look forward to. Kuniko has to work both days next weekend, and there’s a typhoon or two floating around on the horizon, so who knows how things will shake out.
