The trip to celebrate my 40th birthday has been full of win and awesome.

Blythes added to collection: Mango, Margaret Meets Ladybug and Cherry Berry.

I’ve bought more dolly things than I can possibly carry home, so Box One of Three has already been posted back. The other two I’ll post towards the end of the week.

I’ve been to Osaka, Nikko, Nara, Kyoto and a whole bunch of places filled with incredibly natural beauty, and artifacts and people.

Bringing my niece for her first trip away from her home was probably the best way to rediscover this amazing country through fresh eyes. You can see photos on my Flickr and at our dedicated trip site, okiba75.

On Saturday, it is my birthday (or, it r mah burfdai) and my plan is to sleep in, then be pampered. I have an appointment at Watanabe Salon – recommended by many as the best salon in all of Tokyo, to get my hair and make up done, before heading to the 52nd floor of the Tokyo Park Hyatt for dinner at the famous New York Grill.

Apparantly we should see the who’s who of Tokyo there, but we don’t know who they are, or what they look like as we are nobodies.

The excitement to reaching middle age far out weighs any trepidation about getting older. I don’t feel 40, but I do feel wiser, and more balanced.

I promise to do a massive photo gallery entry on this website when we are back in Melbourne in just over a week’s time.

Spending an entire month away from home in a foreign country is a big task, and although I’ve done it before, I do recall the feeling towards the end of the trip of homesickness mixed with some regret that I had to leave such a fascinating place.

This time, there will be three of us on the trip, and one of my travelling friends hasn’t been out of Australia before, so it will be a huge adventure for all of us.

Will update this while we are in Japan, with lots of photos too.

see you soon

I received Revoltech Haruhi – Bunny Version from my Mum for Christmas. How cool is that?

Also, Crappy Cat from my Husband. Also incredibly cool.

All my time at the moment is invested in two new websites I am working on, plus the Japan 2010 itinerary for March/April. It’s going to be a blast!

Head Chef and owner of Kushya in Kyoto

Having eaten out many times in Japan, I’m fairly comfortable pointing at something and then enjoying the surprise of what turns up at the table.

I can even cook a little myself

Katsudon made by Me

But as this next trip is extra special, I’m wanting to get recommendations of good restaurants that I could try for my big 40th birthday bash in Tokyo.

I’ve eaten at was called the “Best Kushiyaki Restaurant in Japan” and also at street-corner beef bowl shops that offered incredibly value for money. Couldn’t say which is better, but I can tell you I wouldn’t swap my experiences for anything.

So, Tokyo-dwellers and visitors, where can a non-Nihongi speaker go for a very nice night out with friends, and not end up being served the only two items in the world she loathes – unagi and Sea Urchin?

Getting ready for a swim, Yoko is tugging off her stockings and is holding her shorts.

Manufactured by AmiAmi and available at their website for Y6465 – why not get one for me while you are there? ;p