today is my dear friend Noriko`s birthday. don`t ask. she won`t tell. we had a fun day which included a walk along the waterfall trail to the Philosopher`s Library (or at least that is what i call it). we were happily surprised to see a giant cherry blossom tree in bloom near the entrance to the library. unfortunately i didn`t notice Takeichi-san walking by with his three dogs. he was singing something but by the time i noticed he was gone. next time i will be watching for him. today is also Orchesta Day and there was a special concert at 3pm of the Osaka Century Orchestra. it was wonderful. i will explain why it is Orchestra another time. but i won`t say how i made a mistake (again) in recording the concert. i did manage to tape the encore, The Wedding of Figaro which was excellent. i recorded some of with my little digital camera. another highlight of Noriko`s birthday was a delicious obento dinner which means no cooking or washing dishes for her and her Mother. for desert we had some very tasty purin (pudding) from . . . Kobukuro. they were delivered today on her birthday as was a beautiful flower arrangement. i will add some photos another time. oh, and we stopped by a long-time friend of Noriko`s named Masayo. Noriko and Masayo visited Steve and i when we were living in Pittsburgh in 1988. Masayo gave me a little gift which reminds me, i need to open it. more tomorrow.
