Happy 30th Birthday to My Sweetheart!

That’s it! No more jokes about me be being “around 30” or a “Christmas cake*!” Because you are ACTUALLY 30! Haha! January 11^th was my boyfriend’s 30^th birthday, so I made sure to plan something nice for him. We had a perfect date, and I’m proud of it, so I want to tell you a little about it.

*In Japan, a woman 25 years old or older is considered to be a “Christmas cake” because past the 25^th of December, Christmas cakes for sale at stores lose their value and nobody wants them…supposedly just like a girl who is 25 years or older is past their prime and not worth marrying…oh Japan, sometimes I hate your messed up logic, but whatever. These days they seem to be getting away from the idea that women should marry before 25. Thank God!

For Shinya’s birthday, I started off by taking him to a nice, expensive sit down sushi restaurant near Nagahoribashi Station. It was a surprise. He had no idea where we were going or what we were eating. I had called ahead and made a reservation. The restaurant’s name is Jinen, and I had been there twice before with coworkers. It sooooo delicious!

We of course got sashimi because we are obsessed with it.

It was kind of surprising because they sat us down at the sushi counter right next to one of my acquaintances! We said hello, but still kind of kept to ourselves while eating for the most part. We enjoyed delicious sushi over a few drinks. I got to try raw blow fish which was fun. No tingle though.

Fugu, raw blow fish.

Next, I gave Shinya some options of bars, and let him choose where he wanted to drink. We hit up two of his favorite bars in Tamatsukuri. The first place we had all to ourselves. At the next place, Bacchus, I enjoyed a super delicious and fragrant hot spiced wine with essence of orange and cloves

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Spending a nice birthday together. <3

So delicious!

We took the last train home, and went back to my place where I surprised him with a birthday cake I had previously ordered and picked up that day. He was so surprised and happy! His name was on it and everything. There were three long candles to represent 30. I even sang happy birthday to him haha!

Happy Birthday!!

Next I sat him down on the couch and handed him his present. There were two parts. First, he opened up a nicely wrapped, small box and found a watch inside. He was so shocked! He said he never expected to get a watch. He had never had one because it wasn’t something he really would want to go out and buy from himself. I chose one that I thought suited his style and would go along well with his shoes and bag.

Next up was a love letter. I had spent a lot of time neatly writing a love letter to him in Japanese. I was so nervous as he read it. I thought about reading it out loud to him, but I felt too embarrassed. After reading it, he smiled at me and said, “Thank you. I can tell you really put a lot of feeling into this.” He seemed so happy.

His family didn’t give him any gifts or even say happy birthday to him (which I guess is somewhat common in Japanese culture once you reach a certain age, but I still thought it was weird), so I could tell that me preparing this birthday date for him meant a lot. He even told me so. I was so happy to do it for him too. We slept in each other’s arms, and for that day at least, everything was perfect.