This weekend was my sister's birthday!
My sister came over to my place for the weekend and my bbf also came over so we could celebrate with
nabe at home. I always say this but this is the ultimate healthy and delicious meal to have with friends and family in the wintertime. So so good.
And what is a birthday celebration without cake?
This year I went by Giotto, a pastry shop in Odakyu Shinjuku, and chose their citrus fruit cheesecake tart. I should have taken a picture before I stabbed all the candles in it because it was very pretty, but you'll just have to take my word for it.
It's become something of a tradition to use the exact number of candles to celebrate my sister's birthday.
Last year's cake almost ended up being a ball of fire so this year I got three different lengths of candles to diversify the flame. I think it was a good plan, nothing caught on fire. But the candles were a bit too skinny and some of them started doing yoga moves while we were taking pictures! :D
Don't you love that my sister claps her hands after blowing out her candles? (She's a kindergarten teacher...it comes with the occupation. So cute.)
And the cake was delicious!
We spent the night just chatting away. And when I say night, I meant way into the night. We went to sleep around 4:30am...but I think that's what a sleepover is all about. Especially when you're celebrating a birthday!
Happy birthday, Yoko! May your year be filled with happiness and joy!!! x
PS: Isn't it interesting how you congratulate someone's birthday by saying, "Hope you have a great day!" in English, but you say something like, "Hope you have a wonderful year!" in Japanese? I noticed the difference when someone mentioned it to me. I'd written "素敵な一日でありますように!(Have a wonderful day!)" on a Japanese friend's facebook page. When I went to see what other people had written, many were wishing her a wonderful year. Now I usually wish Japanese friends a full year of happiness but still stick to a day for my state-side friends (not that I'm wishing them any less of their happiness!). Which do you use often?