Day 111: Surprise, surprise

It was supposed to be a farewell dinner with Hide and Noko in Tokyo as four of us were flying out the next day. Hide and Noko were going to Hawaii for their honeymoon while Katy and I were going to Singapore to continue our backpacker journey.

Hide picked us up from the hotel and drove us to a nice brewery restaurant by the water. Inside it feels like west coast decor with heater patio on the outside. Everything was great – the pale ale, the crab cake, the pizza, the fish and the ribs. Towards the end of the meal, Katy and Noko had to use the lady's room. It took longer than usual. Just as I dived into my plate to finish the last rib, out came the candle and the cake. It was my birthday next week. Katy even prepared a PowerPoint presentation. There were videos of my nephews and niece playing piano, a letter from Roberto and ecards from my brother and sisters. Katy had been secretly preparing for this since we were in Indonesia (with help from Hide and Noko to put the last piece together).

meet the accomplices

meet the mastermind and the surprise target
mission accomplished

It really touched my heart. Thank you, Katy. And Hide and Noko, thank you for your generous hospitality for making our stay in Japan so wonderful.