Saturday, 19 March: We're invited to Barbara's 50th birthday party, at the Vietnamese restaurant Green Rice in Kreuzberg - directly opposite Görlitzer Bahnhof U-Bahn station - which is due to open next weekend.

Minimalist chic interior with bare concrete walls, loose cables, an empty fish tank...

... and a big sound system. (And Eva's iMac, for photo slideshow during the dinner, and for music playback for dancing later :-)

The birthday girl. Sorry about the blurry photo. My camera couldn't really deal with the strong backlight.

Barbara introduces all the guests - there are about 30 of us altogether, several having especially travelled from the West.

The staff at work. The open kitchen is still... well, very open.

And now the food is ready: spicy soup, summer rolls, chicken salad, chicken satay, tuna & salmon nigiri, various makis. (Followed by some delicious cakes.)

They give us fugu-shaped dishes as ashtrays :-)

Kousa whispering sweet nothing into Theo's ear (I suspect.)

Dr. Kousa and Sister Usako have to attend to young Herbert, who has passed out...

Much later on: Herbert is awake again...

... but then they all fall asleep - OK, it's well past 3AM, and Theo's already gone home with his parents...

Another angle: with U-Bahn outside the window.