This year for Suzuna’s birthday, we went to the same fancy French restaurant as last year.

One of the first things we did when we got back to Japan was go to hatsumode (first temple visit of the year). We decided to go to Kawasakidaishi because it was late enough in the month to not be crowded anymore, and last time we went there were so many people we never actually made it inside. Unfortunately, Melina slept the entire time…

She still got an Omikuji anyway

While in LA, we made it a point to go eat all the good ethnic foods and do many of the things that are not available or just very expensive in Japan.
Here is the list:
Mexican!
Philippine
Vegan-Organic
Thai
Greek
Moroccan
Italian
German
Southern Cajun
California sushi
Jewish

Melina’s favorite pastime was playing with the cat food and chasing the cats around the house.

Painting ceramics was fun

One of the things I wanted to do back in LA, was to take the wife to go see a rose parade, especially since she likes flowers and plants. I havent been to the parade since I was a kid, so I also really enjoyed going to see it once again. We also went to go see the post-parade floats up close to really see the detail involved in making them.