Birthday Hambagu!ー誕生日とハンバーグ

Today is my birthday! In all honesty, I usually get pretty sad on my birthday. In America, Christmas is a time where people return to see their family and make many vacation plans. As a kid, and even as an adult, people tend to lump Christmas and my birthday together as well. It just makes the day feel very forgettable compared to other peoples' birthdays. As a result, many people forget my birthday or fail to say "happy birthday" to me. For that reason, I do my best to remember peoples' birthdays because I don't want them to feel the same way. I don't really expect gifts or anything like that but I do appreciate being remembered. I have some close people who always remember and I appreciate you ❤️

Today, I met up with my friend makun for some ramen for lunch and then for Dinner we went to a popular hambagu restaurant. Makun said that it's pretty difficult to get reservations there but he works nearby so it's a bit easier for him. We walked up to a machine where we put in money pressed a button for our order. These machines have a cool vintage feel to them and you get physical recipets to give to the waitress. Reading the machine was diffucult so luckily makun helped me out. I put in my order and got three separate reciepts.

We sat down and a small drawer under the counter had all the utensils and tools you would need to enjoy the meal. I thought this was pretty cool, but I'm unsure if it's common! We waited a bit and were served some rice along with miso soup. Makun taught be that to ask for more rice you can say 代わり(kawari)お願いします which literally translates to "replacement please". We got three hambagu total and used a series of different sauces from the dispence to season the hambagu. I would describe hambagu as little meatloafs that look like little hamburgers. Many americans are confused by the concept of hambagu because it sounds very similar to hamburger. I suspect many foreigners have been suprised when they order the wrong one.

On the way back from the restaurant, we saw some Christmas lights hanging down an alley. During this time of year, Japan has many christmas lights. It may be more than I'm used to even in the states. I really appreciated having someone to spend time with today as it was a weekday and many people are busy with end of the year activities at work. Thanks Makun for being an awesome friend 😊Läs mer