Another year has gone by.

I was so lucky that my birthday this year fell on a Sunday. Perfect day for it. Sadly, that means I have to wait 5 more years before it falls on a weekend again, haha.
I made the most of it though!
Hubby kindly arranged a birthday dinner party for me, inviting my friends and making sure the meal was completely vegan for me.
We went to new organic restaurant and it didn't fail us! Beautiful atmosphere and a full course vegan meal. I really had a wonderful time with everyone!
The vegan cake tasted a little rubbery, but I was a happy chicken and didn't care less!

Our second stop was to the Cerelean Tower in Shibuya. The top floor, the 44th has a beautiful view of Tokyo and although the drinks were way over priced and the waiters were a little bit of a pain....I enjoyed myself. A friend, Jay, turned up a little late. He was cycling around all day and made an appearance in his cycling shorts and shoes. The waiters were trying to kick him out because there was a dress code. I couldn't let that happen and got him a seat out of reach of the waiters.
Jay in his pink jacket and cycling tights.

I think everyone's wallets hurt a bit afterward....so sorry! But I had a wonderful and happy time! Thank you so much everyone for making it out. The only thing I was disappointed about was that we couldn't take photos in the bar with flash (My cam doesn't take good photos without flash in the dark) because of course that was also the bar rule. It seems we broke every rule! ha. Oh, did I mention, we also were asked to quiet down because our group apparently was too loud for the classy atmosphere. How ridiculous!
We got to bed at around 1AM....living on the edge haha.

The next morning we were up bright and early for a trip to parents place. Jesse and Rumi's wedding 6 months ago was the last time I saw everyone. So I think the last time we visited the house was Joey's wedding. It's so amazing to see everyone growing. Jamie was speaking really good Japanese, Timy is almost the same height as Jamie and the girls are not really girls any more.

It was also very nice to finally see Rumi pregnant for the first time! I never even saw 1 photo of her pregnant! She's so beautiful and glowing....ah.....I hope I look that good when I'm pregnant one day.


Mum and the girls made a delicious spread of a dinner. Tortillas with lots of veggies and beans. Yum!


For the first time talked to Lils on Skype and got to see her belly live! So cute! She sent me this gorgeous black shoulder bag that I've been using every day now. Sorry, I don't have photos of it at the moment. But, man is it handy! I can put all my school books in it and my shoulder doesn't feel like its going to fall off because of the weight.
Parents surprised me with a vegan and gluten free cake! Here I am showing it to Lils on Skype. It was DELICIOUS! I had 2 vegan cakes this year...how lucky am I!

Everyone went out of the their way to give me gifts which I really appreciate. I would have been content as a clown to just be around everyone! Thank you!
The girls made this beautiful sign, that Motozo is holding, completely out of beads!

Motozo gave me a useful book on vegan cooking to add to my ever growing collection and a Lonly Planet book of France.

Were planning a trip to France in September! I can't wait. We'll go for a friend's wedding, maybe travel to the neighboring countries, but best of all....were going to do a wine tour. So excited!
I look tired and wrinkles are obviously forming at only a tender age of 24. But I'm happy, healthy and wouldn't want to trade my life for anything!

Ahhh....wine......how I love you! Thanks Amy for the Chardonnay! And thank you everyone else! You know who you are and I feel so blessed to have you all as friends！
Darling, thank you for sharing another birthday with me!