Rai's 4th Birthday

It was Rai's 4th birthday today. We woke up at about 7am and some men came to the apartment at 8am to change our living room and kitchen ceiling. It was amazing - they managed to finish in 2.5 hours!! Now we have a lovely flat white ceiling covering up the ugly, asbestos-y looking one underneath (overtop?).

So, we spent 2.5 hours in my bedroom hanging out this morning. First, we opened Rai's presents. He got a lot of Shimajiro stuff that we had been saving - they sent out a present, and we had January's package as well. I had also bought him a few things at Ikea yesterday. A tin of ginger biscuits (which we had for breakfast - the kitchen being out of commission) and a dog's bowl with a cute crown motif. There was also a lovely book / first dictionary from his obaachan.

I took Rai to the nearby MacDonald's, which has a play area outside, and Tim and his twin boys Mark and Luke came along for a very good play. They gave Rai a lovely book called "The Magic Donkey Ride".

After that, we went and had sushi in Tama Center and bought some small cakes. WE got home, very tired, at about 2:30pm and I had a sleep for 2 hours!

Then, we went and had takoyaki and okonomiyaki at the local restaurant. Now we are home again, smelling of food and smoke from the restaurant and about to go to bed.

Before that, I might do some friendly proof-reading at a language site called Lang-8. I highly recommend it for anyone learning a language.

(Later) I just finished proofreading someone's writing on the Hanshin Earthquake which occurred in 1995 and severely affected my host family living in Nishinomiya. I didn't realise Rai was born on its anniversary.