Tanjobi Omedetou Obasan: Retroactive Post

So a few days ago, on the 27th, was my Tita Elvie's birthday here in Japan.

A few days earlier, Sa-chan and the kids surprised her with dinner and presents, since they couldn't make it out for her real birthday date. We had a lot of food, and were drinking and exchanging stories, when I found out that Sa-chan and Uichi-san were inviting me for some drinks and tsumame at the izakaya downstairs. Sa-chan got really loaded, and it was hilarious because earlier she'd been making progress speaking English/Japanese with me, but she couldn't talk anymore at dinner. As we were leaving, she kept a hold of my arm, refusing to go near Uichi-san and kept whispering stuff to me in Japanese about him like I really knew what she was saying. Good times.

Then on the 27th, I ended up getting her this really nice orchid plant, and it turned out well since she said that just the other day she was thinking that she needed more flowers in the house. Later that day, I was trying to set up dinner at the Outback Steakhouse with my cousin, 'cause I know that they haven't been there before, and they like to eat, so the big portions would be perfect. I had a few moments of worry when my cousin suggested that we go somewhere nearer, since it's in Sakae, since my aunt usually likes the izakayas, like myself.

But my aunt and I turned out to be more alike than I thought, and she was up for somewhere new, so she convinced my uncle, and off we went. Luckily, unlike other American restaurants like McDonalds, KFC, and Denny's, it has not been Japanized, and had large portions of food for relatively cheap, which made us all happy. Plus, the best part was when I asked the waitress, (who was awesome by the way, because she spoke to everyone in Japanese, except for me when she realized I spoke English, and even offered an English menu for me), if they did anything special, since it was my aunt's birthday. I was expecting them to provide her with a birthday cake surprise, and maybe sing to her, but I was pleasantly surprised as well, when she announced to the entire restaurant and got everyone to sing to her. All in all, it was a very fun night. Here are the pics from those two nights: Happy Birthday!!!

But for those of you wondering how old my aunt is, just believe me when I say that she's still got it, regardless of what age she is.