Today happens to be my birthday, and to celebrate, I took the day off from work. So with time on my hands, I was wondering what to do… maybe go for a ride on my motorcycle? Maybe go for a long bicycle ride? But after all, I decided to go running. I’ve discovered that I really love it!

I ended up running on Brushy Creek Regional Trail and I felt so good that I completed my half-marathon challenge on Strava. It’s a really good feeling to know that at 53, I can still increase my distances and get stronger. I hope I can stay healthy for a good long time!

I admit that part of my motivation for running so far today was because I knew that I was going to feast on pork katsu curry for dinner. Normally I request oyakodon for my birthday dinner but I’ve been craving curry for a while now!

All in all, I had a very nice birthday. I’m looking forward to my next year!

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So, my birthday happened. :) I took the day off and decided to go for a long ride on the north loop near Castell. I rode the south loop a few days ago, so I wanted to compare the two, and I think I prefer the north loop, but both are great.

This time I took my camp chair and a sandwich and took a nice break at the halfway point. It was definitely a good idea, and something I would do again. I actually thought about bringing my camp stove and some ramen but the Texas weather is still quite warm, so I nixed the idea. Maybe when the weather turns colder.

By the way, this was my longest ride (of my adult life), and I felt great afterwards. I also enjoyed riding with the new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. The puncture-resistance gives me a bit of peace-of-mind which is welcomed. But even if they do get punctured, I have the tools to make repairs in the field. I’d rather not do that, of course.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/13, 1/350 sec, ISO200

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Today was my 51st birthday, and it was relaxing and fun! In the morning, I had some relax time as Mariko and our guests went out to visit some breweries. I thought about going as well, but I decided to take care of some things at home and enjoy some alone-time. Which included cutting and tying up a lot of cardboard from the massive boxes that Koa’s marimba shipped in. Fun! And after that I tried a new taco place nearby, then met everyone at the high school football stadium to watch the marching bands perform in the UIL contest. It was cool and I think our guest from out-of-town enjoyed the Texas high school marching band experience.

Later that evening, we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, Jardin Corona, for a yummy dinner. I really like their carnitas, so it was my birthday dinner of choice. One of our guests lives in London, and another in Tokyo, and they don’t get Mexican food very often so I thought they might enjoy it. To complement the food, we had Texas beer (Shiner), Mexican beer (Negra Modelo), and margaritas. A truly satisfying meal!

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

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Today was a busy day for Mariko and me, plus a milestone for my son Bay. For him, it was the first time that he drove alone – he took my car to school and then back home at the end of the day. And happily, it was an uneventful trip. I am hoping this is the beginning of a long and safe driving career.

The reason that Bay took my car today was that Mariko and I flew to California in order to attend my brother’s wedding this weekend. We actually flew to LAX, where my parents came to meet us, and then we all drove down to Oceanside together, where my brother and his fiancée rented a beach house for the weekend. We’ll be having the wedding here, on the sand, with dinner to follow. It’s gonna be a blast!

Earlier at the airport in Austin, Mariko and I splurged a bit on some wine and cheese at the Vino Volo wine bar. It was pretty good, but of course more expensive than normal being as though we were at the airport. Still, we enjoyed living the high-life for a little while before getting on the plane. Speaking of planes, we like Delta a lot these days. The Delta planes we’ve flown on the past few times have had a great entertainment system with plenty of Japanese and other international movies. I watched a little bit of a Chinese movie How Long Will I Love You but then decided to read my Kindle. I really enjoy flying (being on the plane) because I can concentrate on reading. I love it!

And when we arrived at the beach house in Oceanside, we had a little birthday celebration with cake and gifts. It was fun. (It’s 10/19!)

I hope you had a nice Friday!

またね～

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こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today is my wife’s birthday, and her dinner request was steak! She actually did all of the shopping: rib-eye steaks, potatoes, and salad.

On her recommendation, I “dry brined” the steaks for about 8 hours which means that I salted and peppered them, then left them uncovered in the fridge. I can honestly say that these were some of the most flavorful steaks I have ever had! I don’t know if it was the dry brining or not, but they were super delicious.

Bay helped to make the mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot, and Koa helped with consuming the food. We all ate so much, but it was a fun dinner. Birthday meals are the best.

またね～

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こんにちは。 How’s it going?

Well, today is my birthday, but for the longest time now, I’ve always preferred it to be low-key (which is odd since the name of this blog refers to my birthday). So, for dinner, which is one of the ways my family celebrates, I always choose something which is not special, expensive, nor fancy, but rather someplace new or that we haven’t been to in a while.

So I chose to go to Red Robin, which is a chain of hamburger restaurants.   A new location recently opened near our house, and I was looking forward to their “bottomless” steak fries.  It turns out that I only had one serving of these, despite the fact that you can order as many as you’d like. I guess as I get older, my eating limit is getting smaller. (Even though my waistline is growing!)

Besides the yummy dinner, I also enjoyed the gifts I received from my family, especially a large set of watercolors from my son. It was a really nice surprise since he bought it on his own for me, without my wife’s knowledge! I am so happy!

Today’s photo is of the carpet beneath my desk at work. This morning I dropped off my wife’s car at the mechanic to get some work done and then made the 10-minute walk to the office, which included a short detour through a small lawn. Sorry to the cleaning crew in the office!

Oh, and as an added little birthday treat, my favorite baseball team, the Los Angeles Dodgers,  finally won the National League Pennant for the first time since 1988! I’m very happy about that!

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

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4⃣8⃣

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