Happy birthday Hirotsugu...the big 3 5

Hirotsugu's two-day birthday marathon

On Sunday we had an early birthday celebration...a match of table tennis followed by a sumptuous steak dinner consisting of super-crazy premium Japanese beef, string beans, French onion soup and mashed potatoes. Notice the size of mashed potatoes - seems normal, doesn't it? Well not by Japanese standards...the Japanese portion is 1/3 of this pile 'o' potatoes. Dessert was 'rare' cheesecake which just means no-bake cheesecake. Last year's cheesecake was the traditional baked type (strawberry flavour) so this year's was not (blueberry). Next year's birthday will feature another type of cheesecake. Oh and it's always cheesecake because that's Hiro's favorite kind of cake right up there with Mont Blanc too. OH, the wine was sooo good and paired beautifully with the steak...a match made in heaven! Try it out: Viu Manent, Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (reserve) oak-aged. It is a not at all astringent Cab (in fact very mellow) and fine example of a reasonably priced Chilean wine. Nice berry notes and even a chocolately punch to it. Mmmm mmmm good...you can probably find if for around 10 dollars at your local liquor store!

UPDATE 1/12: this wine seems to have a lot of sulphites - either that or strong tannins...I had a minor hangover this morning from it

This was Hiro's birthday present, the incredibly light and sleek ipod nano. It holds up to 1000 songs and is really user-friendly. The user manual is really thin (not like a manual...more like some kind of simple pamphlet) and straightforward! It was sold out in our town and even most places in electronics town, Akihabara in Tokyo. These suckers are hot so snatch one up while you can. ^_^