This year was not a “big birthday” and it was one Dan celebrated during the Covid pandemic physical distancing, but still, I wanted to make sure it was one to remember. Dan deserves a celebration and I wanted to provide it in a socially responsible and physically distanced way.

So, I took to Google to find some places in central Tokyo with terraces and I had some amazing luck! Firstly, heading into the centre of Tokyo seems counter-intuitive to physical distancing, but because of few tourists and lots of closures of popular places, the city streets were not very full. I managed to book a bargain of a hotel room to avoid using public transport, and almost everywhere we ate was outside.

The celebrations took us around the world, eating lots of good food and enjoying the odd local tipple. We started in Italy with lasagne, fresh pasta and homemade limoncello, before spending the next morning in Hawaii. After a mammoth of a feast on Hawaiin goods including fresh juice and much coffee, we ventured to France for some wine. We ended the weekend in central Tokyo once more, overlooking the sprawling city from ‘the bar in the sky’. It was a lovely way to celebrate the birthday of the most wonderful man, who deserved it all and more.