Japan is infamous for its much loved, city and country immersing, sakura trees. Ugly as sin for most of the year but breakout in gorgeous fashion toward the, give or take, closing days of March. And so, Saturday was spent sitting in a local park under the beautiful cherry blossom. Hanami is a time the entire country finds somewhere to locate oneself under the trees, crack a few beers, catch up with friends or simply relax and take in the pleasure of spring. Didn't hurt that the weather couldn't have cooperated more either. And so began my birthday week in Tokyo.
Sunday, I was supposed to be meeting an old friend for lunch at a pleasant French restaurant we both have old memories of. My friend lives out of town near Fuji these days and we don't catch up as much as we used to so was very much looking forward to an afternoon of chat, wine and excellent food. Arriving at 1.30pm (again in perfect weather) I walk over from where I live and there, much to my genuine surprise, was the entire ensemble, nearly twenty friends in all, to congratulate me on getting just that little bit older (including the suitable red jacket, celebrating my age).
Monday, my actual birthday, we were invited to our Japanese friends' home near where we live. This is rare here, it's unusual to be invited to someone's house, dining tends to be out on the town. They set about imbibing me with shochu (knowing that's my poison of choice) and they fully succeeded in their objectives. Don't really remember the end of the evening. One thing I do remember though was the present from my son. A t-shirt from every concert we'd been to since he was seven. Seventeen in all from Eric Clapton, the first, to Queen and Adam Lambert, the last (Oasis in 2025 he took me to so that one didn't count). I'm not going to forget that gift, the thought or the effort. Ever.
The next couple of days were a blur of a birthday hat to replace the Panama I've had for thirty five years, which admittedly has seen better days but I'm not letting it go whatever, coffee with an old friend who had started my son's school many years ago, and in the evening I streamed in to a friend's funeral, he was young and cancer had taken it's toll. The service was an easy to access but I wish I'd received more invites to weddings rather than funerals if you see what I mean.
To brighten the mood, Thursday was shoot day. Photography is a passion of mine (portrait before you ask, put me in front of Fuji on a glorious day and I'd take a tourist snap, but people, I can make them relax and the results will make them smile). This one was a very beautiful Japanese lady who's an awful lot of fun and agreed to the shoot on the basis of I let her play with my dog when we finished. The pictures turned out stunning and if interested (or even if not) you can see some of them on my IG here but that's just me, blowing the proverbial self trumpet. Another great day.
The car is now in the shop in Yokohama (needed a specialist for this one). In Japan your car requires a service every couple of years which can run into thousands of pounds, so it's good to get problems fixed prior to the mandated bi-annual review (shaken) as it's usually significantly less expensive. The shop is doing the fix for a little over GBP2,000 but the brands own service center quoted a little over GBP10,000. See what I mean.
And the week finished with a regular medical check up which included being injected with what the doc referred to as a "radio-active isotope". Hmm, no additional details provided but it turned out to be a CAT Scan in the end. Funny, and a little unnerving, when you see your entire skeleton lying there. Japan works on a preventative medical basis rather than waiting until you're actually sick. No one spoke English but when they motion for you to lie on a bed that is clearly about to carry you into a large machine, you get the idea. Turns out I'm ok and even better, didn't glow in the dark afterwards either.
So, on the whole, not a bad birthday week and thank you so much to all involved. I had no idea about the surprise party if you were wondering. How they kept that from me is a miracle of the age. And now the week if over, it's raining here in Tokyo, but I have a smile on my face.
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