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The original 30th plan was to be skiing today. However, the unfortunate of the day fell on a weekend. This meant the slopes would be busier and more importantly to us budgeteers a lot more expensive. James had already claimed a two week celebration for the big three O and wasn't bothered at all as we were in an amazing city in this fine country.
We decided that bike ride was in order; well we had better get the strenuous activities out of the way whilst we are still young! We demolished the breakfast pastries and then carefully selected our two wheeled machines. I chose a comfortable city bike with a fully sprung seat, handles that allow you to sit upright, an easy to use stand and a useful basket at the front. Comfort wise it was an excellent choice, no sore bum or back for me. James, on the other hand felt the mountain bike was more his style and sure, he could use his gears to get up the two hills we encountered, but was this really worth the sacrifice of extreme comfort?!
We packed a lot of kilometres and temples into the day and tried more street food; it is so nice to eat whatever we fancy from any stall and not worry about the dreaded Delhi Belly! The winning temple was Kiyomizu with gorgeous views and pretty landscaped gardens. We managed to see tow Geisha girls which I was pleased about and perhaps a little embarrassed as moments before I had taken a photo of three girls in their kimonos. Later Ellie told us they were wearing this as a 'coming of age' ceremony and were not, in fact anything to do with being Geisha. The girls politely accepted my photograph request but looked confused and giggled furiously as I walked away!
For dinner we took advice from the LP and went into the train station. This sounds a bit lame for a 30th birthday meal but this train station is no ordinary place. It is St Pancras on steroids, with shops, three levels of restaurants and two deli halls with food choices that rival Selfridges (not corned beef though!). As always in Japan everything was of the highest quality, with prices to match. We had breaded pork and prawns with endless shredded cabbage, sticky rice and miso soup. The food was good and extremely popular with the Japanese who were queuing out of the door.
I treated James to one slice of the cake of his choice. This decision took a long time as all of the food looked amazing. In the end I came up trumps as the topping James chose contained nuts. As a loving and generous girlfriend I carefully ate the top half so James could enjoy his birthday cake-nut free!
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