japanesedream_72 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
japanesedream_72) wrote2011-03-02 10:45 pm
japanesedream_72) wrote2011-03-02 10:45 pm
Entry tags:
Doodles, free cheesecake, & a dancing midget - what a birthday!
Let's see, where do I begin?
First off, I want to thank you all again for the lovely birthday cards, gifts, posts, comments, & wishes. <333 I was getting pretty down about this b-day, the first time the occasion has had a negative connotation for me rather than a positive one. But my friends - &, as you will see, my family, too - really made me feel good about it, happy & loved.
Friday night, went to dinner at Makkoli, courtesy of Al, Allison, Glen, & Randy. I haven't been there in ages!! Stuffed ourselves stupid, chatted like crazy, & stayed 'til almost closing time. XD
Saturday, it was up early to head off to my mom's. Hadn't seen them since Xmas, so I brought my Japan pics to show, & told my many anecdotes. XD And had tea.
Has anyone ever seen tea like this? It comes with these little bulbs you pour the boiling water over, & in a few minutes, they unfurl into flowers that flavour your tea! This was jasmine.
In the afternoon, we went to Ichiban. I'd never been to a hibachi before, so it was fun to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm7ATKXkM3E
The chef was kind enough to let me tape him as he did his thing (I asked first). I think that's why he dropped a utensil during his beginning 'performance' ~ he kept looking toward the camera. XD
OMG, the weirdest thing happened! Right at the point where he was gonna light the grill on fire (after the opening knife flips, they do that), MY CAMERA COMPLETELY FROZE!!!! I couldn't get it to stop "processing" the 30 seconds of video I had of the knife-flipping. I finally figured out how to take the battery out, & that did the trick. But I missed the fire. XP Did catch the onion volcano, tho'. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=selxHcuMuEI
You can hear us chatting in these clips (hopefully, my answers to their questions are accurate). XD And to make up for not taking pics of food when I was in Japan, I made sure to film the food. XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiezUqDBW_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7DxLqgi_Fk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjMLW4Ehgp4
They had this thing on the menu that said if it was your b-day, you'd get a free dessert, & they'd take a picture of your party, for $5. Mattie had it done when Bridget took him there last year as a b-day gift - he said they even had people come out & sing. But she'd called ahead, & ours was quite the last-minute decision. (Heck, finding the place - which is on the other side of the highway on the way down to where my mom lives - was an adventure in itself! XD) My mom thought it might be nice to have a pic of all of us (could've asked the waitress to take one, but we somehow didn't think of it. :P). But nobody would tell the waitress, so I had to. XD Felt like I was bragging or something, but I showed my driver's license, said it was my b-day, & asked if we could to "the birthday thing". She said yes, & the hibachi started.
Once we'd finished, there was no sign of anybody with dessert. Of course, it could have said "reservation only" or something on the menu, or she could've told us when we asked, but she'd said okay, & when whoever-it-was-that-asked asked (can't remember if it was one of my brothers or my mom), she said she'd forgotten. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPrQGQs6nw
She brought it out, my family did the singing (note the enthusiasm - LOL, j/k), & they didn't charge us the $5.
Back to my mom's, where I got gifties! ^_^
The Twin Peaks feature-length pilot episode, special home video edition (with previously unseen footage)! :D
Yes, I know, my Peaks is upside down. Would that make it Twin Valleys? XD
My other main gift ~ the Shogun box set!
I made Scott at work very happy when I told him I got this. He's been telling me about it for a while, & urging me to get it! He's itching to know when I start watching. Which will prob'ly over the weekend or next week.
I also got a large mock-Cat-o-Nine-Tails. ^_^ Goes nicely with my small one. There's a pic, but my face looks weird, so I'll have to take another if you want to see it. :P
I had told my mom about getting some "doodles" (i.e., AWESOME drawings) from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
diru915 as part of the Xmas/Valentine's/b-day packages she sent. :) I said even if she (my mom) didn't give me any presents, I'd be happy with just a doodle. She did a teeny little mini-doodle, which is still in my wallet, a cartoon of Lady Gaga. XD Johnathan is pretty good at drawing, & my mom had mentioned my doodle comment to him...
...but it didn't dawn on me when he disappeared after we got back to the house that he was drawing me this! :D
After a bit, we had ice cream & watched Splice, whichel_jefe59 got me as a b-day present. (I'd already watched it once, & thought my family would like to check it out, so I'd brought it along.) How he knew I'd love stories about (SPOILER!!) hot, bald, naked, alienesque, genetically-engineered, gender-switching French chicks with chicken feet, I will never know. <333
A little while later, the boys went to bed, & my mom & I stayed up watching tv & such. I conked out, woke up, & conked out again not long after. XD
My mom had to pick up some things on Sun. morning, so after breakfast & getting ready, we walked around the shops for a bit, then came back & hung out. Lunch consisted of the leftovers from Ichiban, & we watched my Twin Peaks video.
That's where the dancing midget comes in, by the way. They got a kick out of that.
"Where we come from, the birds sing a pretty song..."
I was back in the last days of high school (or was it just post-high school?), whencharaxinae first got me hooked on the show!! My family had never seen Peaks, so I'm there explaining who's who, what's what, what happens to this one & that one, & how Laura Palmer related to each of them. I got so back into it, I broke out the movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, earlier this week. XD I may have put a couple of my Peaks books up for adoption, but I will never let go of The Diary of Laura Palmer.
Sadly, it was soon time to go, tho' I told my family I'd bring the Peaks movie next time I visit ~ my mom was, like, "Now I wanna see what happens to all these people." XD
Drive home was uneventful. If only the rest of my life were! XD Between house stuff, car stuff, work stuff, life-planning stuff, & a little bit of fun stuff (almost no time lately for creative stuff), I'm exhausted! :P
First off, I want to thank you all again for the lovely birthday cards, gifts, posts, comments, & wishes. <333 I was getting pretty down about this b-day, the first time the occasion has had a negative connotation for me rather than a positive one. But my friends - &, as you will see, my family, too - really made me feel good about it, happy & loved.
Friday night, went to dinner at Makkoli, courtesy of Al, Allison, Glen, & Randy. I haven't been there in ages!! Stuffed ourselves stupid, chatted like crazy, & stayed 'til almost closing time. XD
Saturday, it was up early to head off to my mom's. Hadn't seen them since Xmas, so I brought my Japan pics to show, & told my many anecdotes. XD And had tea.
Has anyone ever seen tea like this? It comes with these little bulbs you pour the boiling water over, & in a few minutes, they unfurl into flowers that flavour your tea! This was jasmine.
In the afternoon, we went to Ichiban. I'd never been to a hibachi before, so it was fun to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm7ATKXkM3E
The chef was kind enough to let me tape him as he did his thing (I asked first). I think that's why he dropped a utensil during his beginning 'performance' ~ he kept looking toward the camera. XD
OMG, the weirdest thing happened! Right at the point where he was gonna light the grill on fire (after the opening knife flips, they do that), MY CAMERA COMPLETELY FROZE!!!! I couldn't get it to stop "processing" the 30 seconds of video I had of the knife-flipping. I finally figured out how to take the battery out, & that did the trick. But I missed the fire. XP Did catch the onion volcano, tho'. ^_^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=selxHcuMuEI
You can hear us chatting in these clips (hopefully, my answers to their questions are accurate). XD And to make up for not taking pics of food when I was in Japan, I made sure to film the food. XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiezUqDBW_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7DxLqgi_Fk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjMLW4Ehgp4
They had this thing on the menu that said if it was your b-day, you'd get a free dessert, & they'd take a picture of your party, for $5. Mattie had it done when Bridget took him there last year as a b-day gift - he said they even had people come out & sing. But she'd called ahead, & ours was quite the last-minute decision. (Heck, finding the place - which is on the other side of the highway on the way down to where my mom lives - was an adventure in itself! XD) My mom thought it might be nice to have a pic of all of us (could've asked the waitress to take one, but we somehow didn't think of it. :P). But nobody would tell the waitress, so I had to. XD Felt like I was bragging or something, but I showed my driver's license, said it was my b-day, & asked if we could to "the birthday thing". She said yes, & the hibachi started.
Once we'd finished, there was no sign of anybody with dessert. Of course, it could have said "reservation only" or something on the menu, or she could've told us when we asked, but she'd said okay, & when whoever-it-was-that-asked asked (can't remember if it was one of my brothers or my mom), she said she'd forgotten. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPrQGQs6nw
She brought it out, my family did the singing (note the enthusiasm - LOL, j/k), & they didn't charge us the $5.
Back to my mom's, where I got gifties! ^_^
The Twin Peaks feature-length pilot episode, special home video edition (with previously unseen footage)! :D
Yes, I know, my Peaks is upside down. Would that make it Twin Valleys? XD
My other main gift ~ the Shogun box set!
I made Scott at work very happy when I told him I got this. He's been telling me about it for a while, & urging me to get it! He's itching to know when I start watching. Which will prob'ly over the weekend or next week.
I also got a large mock-Cat-o-Nine-Tails. ^_^ Goes nicely with my small one. There's a pic, but my face looks weird, so I'll have to take another if you want to see it. :P
I had told my mom about getting some "doodles" (i.e., AWESOME drawings) from
diru915 as part of the Xmas/Valentine's/b-day packages she sent. :) I said even if she (my mom) didn't give me any presents, I'd be happy with just a doodle. She did a teeny little mini-doodle, which is still in my wallet, a cartoon of Lady Gaga. XD Johnathan is pretty good at drawing, & my mom had mentioned my doodle comment to him...
...but it didn't dawn on me when he disappeared after we got back to the house that he was drawing me this! :D
After a bit, we had ice cream & watched Splice, which
el_jefe59 got me as a b-day present. (I'd already watched it once, & thought my family would like to check it out, so I'd brought it along.) How he knew I'd love stories about (SPOILER!!) hot, bald, naked, alienesque, genetically-engineered, gender-switching French chicks with chicken feet, I will never know. <333A little while later, the boys went to bed, & my mom & I stayed up watching tv & such. I conked out, woke up, & conked out again not long after. XD
My mom had to pick up some things on Sun. morning, so after breakfast & getting ready, we walked around the shops for a bit, then came back & hung out. Lunch consisted of the leftovers from Ichiban, & we watched my Twin Peaks video.
That's where the dancing midget comes in, by the way. They got a kick out of that.
"Where we come from, the birds sing a pretty song..."
I was back in the last days of high school (or was it just post-high school?), when
charaxinae first got me hooked on the show!! My family had never seen Peaks, so I'm there explaining who's who, what's what, what happens to this one & that one, & how Laura Palmer related to each of them. I got so back into it, I broke out the movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, earlier this week. XD I may have put a couple of my Peaks books up for adoption, but I will never let go of The Diary of Laura Palmer.Sadly, it was soon time to go, tho' I told my family I'd bring the Peaks movie next time I visit ~ my mom was, like, "Now I wanna see what happens to all these people." XD
Drive home was uneventful. If only the rest of my life were! XD Between house stuff, car stuff, work stuff, life-planning stuff, & a little bit of fun stuff (almost no time lately for creative stuff), I'm exhausted! :P