Birthday celebrations...

That time of the year again. Saint Patrick’s Day, which is cool enough, but also my birthday, which is a bit less cool of an occasion these days ;-) But anyways, I firmly believe in the attitude of “any excuse for a party” – so decided to team up with my fellow Finn Henna to celebrate the occasion anyways on Friday.

Henna kindly took care of the organizational side of things, and booked a Japanese restaurant called Zen for the occasion. We didn’t get quite as good a turn-up as last year; but Mikko, Marianne did show up, as well as a few friends of Henna and Aki.

As for the evening, it was great. Excellent choice of venue, the place specializes in Teppanyaki (a type of cuisine where the food is cooked on an iron griddle) – I think the showmanship involved makes for a great dining experience with a large group, especially since the chef was well into the game. I have to say the food itself wasn’t quite up to the high standards we have, perhaps, after our holiday in Japan, but it’s pretty good value for money, anyways. I don’t think there’s a single Japanese person on the staff either, but hey, the most important thing is that we had an excellent time, right!

Afterwards, the youngsters made their way home, whereas the rest of us headed on for a last drink at Big Ben pub ; a pretty nice little place with a good beer selection (I went for Scottish Ale, it’s been a while since my last pint of McEwan’s !). Nice ending to a superb night out! Thanks to Henna again for sorting it all out!

Saturday was my actual birthday, then… After a rather lazy day at home, we made our way to Decathlon, where I got my birthday present from Mathilde – a mountain bike (I’ve been taking Stephane’s bike to work the last few days – so figured it was time to get my own one – a mountain bike seems fitting since my office is located on that darn hill…).

For the evening, we were meeting our parent’s in Antibes for yet another birthday celebration. After dodging various drunken St. Partick’s partiers, we made our way to the restaurant of choice, Vauban. Vauban is a kind of gastronomic venue with some Michelin star ambitions, I reckon, serving some rather excellent food for a price that’s quite reasonable, considering the quality, I would say. I have to say it’s definitely the best food I’ve had in Antibes. I do find the place a bit formal and stiff, somehow, and also the service is not quite up to the high standards set by the food. But all in all, a very nice dining experience, and great to catch up with the folks again!