It turns out that Xmas day in Berlin isn’t some ghost town, and in fact we couldn’t even fit in all the things we wanted to do. Call us last minute, but we did finally make it to the Xmas market finally today, and we discovered Kai’s shared passion for amusements. It was a struggle pulling him away from the rides.
It was a special evening. New friends and old friends. The holiday season. And a perfectly planned soiree by Chika. Everyone had great food, drink, and fun. And both the parents and kids were able to enjoy. I look forward to the next years Xmas Eve dinner.
Kai is my first mate when it comes to exploring new territories here in Berlin, and today we decided to head to the unchartered waters well beyond the central ring. I had read about the Gardens of the World in a local Berlin tourist guide, but never managed to build up the energy to head out. But somehow, I was inspired this morning, packed the picnic lunch, and set out for an adventure. And a good journey it was. Kai had a great time in the gardens, and miraculously was able to sit through a picnic lunch (at least until it was time to clean up and I had to chase him back a few times). We definitely plan to visit again.
I had found Famille bakery last visit to Japan in December 2010, and now with Kai as my trusted partner, we ventured for some local exploration. The raisin bun has a secret surprise – cream cheese in the middle. Oishi! But I am hooked on the milk cream bun.
It was a quick arrangement to see my friend in Kobe — little did I know that in the top of the heatwave in July his students were in classes and exams so he could not get away for a brief lunch meeting somewhere in Osaka or Kyoto. So he invited me to come down and stay overnight. It was a fun journey navigating from the main railway station in Osaka to the smaller local line to his university using what little Japanese I could muster. And I did make it on time. After spending time with some of Prof. Sato’s students, we went to a nice sake restaurant for a traditional Japanese meal, and some interesting sake — it had been simmer with roasted eel. In fact, it was quite tasty.
So it was enticing option — take a trip to Taipei from Kanazawa for 3 nights/days. But this was the longest time leaving Kai with others (we had done a test run for 30 hours to Paris). Thankfully we had lots of support. Mom was there and Meg flew in for the weekend. Plus 2 aunties and an uncle were walking distance away. We pulled the trigger and we were off. What a fantastic adventure — a second honeymoon, and maybe even a bit more sweet taste of freedom. Of course we missed Kai a lot, but we got to catch up with each other again too.
It is a wonderful feeling being at the start of a long vacation when reality is beyond the horizon, and the question is what are we going to do over the next 24 hours. Mainly it is focused on eating and drinking.
We had a great lunch at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art yesterday, with fresh cold pumpkin soup and a huge selection of meats and salads.
In the evening, Chika and I left Kai with his grandmother to put him to bed, and we went to explore on of the local isakayas (basically, a place for drinks and small plates). It was excellent — both the food (sushi, snow crab tempura) and the drinks (beer and sake flight for me and plum wine flight for Chika).
Wow. As if the first home cooked meal on the day of arrival was not enough, the family pulled out all the stops for the grand clan gathering — sashimi, sukiyaki, and shabu-shabu. It was great to see Kai playing with his cousins — an event sure to be repeated. And while it was a bit old-school, it was relaxing to sit at one end of the table with all the fathers to have drink and food and try to translate English jokes to Japanese (in general, miserable failures but fun trying anyway).
Chika began a garden on our terrace this year, and Kai is enjoying the fruits of her labor. Literally 🙂
