My Kind of Heaven 1 ― 2010/08/01
In August, I suddenly become spiritual, feeling heaven(s) here and there.
Please don’t think I’m dying of the heat or talking about the Judgment Day.
I mean mid summer produces things that remind me of how Heaven would be like.
First thing is white peaches.
JPY590 for two fruits
Although I am trying to cut my food mileage (no longer in vogue?) and Fukuokan farmers do produce peaches, I can’t help getting this decadent (by my definition) fruits produced in Okayama, some 400km away from here, at least once a year.
The velvety texture, mellow aroma, and sweet yet refreshing taste is simply irresistible.
These ones that I instinctively bought at a local supermarket should be regarded as quite ‘downmarket’ in the world of white peaches. The best ones that you will find at upmarket fruit stores or department stores can be as big as a baby’s head, and can cost you JPY1,500 or more per fruit . Blessed price!
But I guarantee that once you try, you or your taste buds will feel like heaven.
The only flaw of this fruit is that they are too soft to carry. Although they come in a protective package, even a gentle push will ruin the pulp.
If you attempt to carry them by bike, you will very likely end up with peach juice in your shopping bag.
Today's Catch ― 2010/08/03
A variety of baby fishes
A blackfish
Some barracudas
Some sea breams
And two wrasses
Could I describe them as “too much for one, not enough for the other” or should I say it was just a poor catch?
My Kind of Heaven 2 ― 2010/08/04
Another reminder of the heaven is lotus flowers which can be seen only in mid summer.
I think I have posted an entry about lotus in moats around the former castle site last year (Here, Has my photographing skill improved? ).
In addition to the castle moat, there is another spot you can experience a paradise on earth. If you drive (or cycle or walk, if you wish to do so in 36 Celsius and nearly 70 percent humidity) about 10 or 20 km west, you will find some lotus fields.
In terms of serenity, these fields feels ‘Heavener’ than the castle moats which are located in a quite busy area.
Standing in front of the field, blown in summer wind in a total silence….and you will feel the next world.
(Or you are nearly losing consciousness from being exposed to direct sunshine and heat)
So, in my imagination, the deceased would be having a white peaches sitting on lotus leaves, without having mosquitoes and heatstroke.
Of course you can create your private heaven by getting a pot of lotus plant from garden centres and white peaches from supermarkets.
JPY1,970 per pot
Back to the Tradition ― 2010/08/05
As you might imagine, the repellent sheet (my previous post about the sheet is Here) turned out useless (for the product’s honour, I must say that it did a good job to deodorise the odour from the bin; my kitchen waste haven’t stunk until bin days). So I went to a DIY store to get a new weapon against flies. There are a great variety of insecticides to choose,
and so far my choices from new products have always ended in failure. This time I decided to employ a traditional method: fly coils.
JPY498/10 coils at a local DIY store
To begin from the conclusion, a single coil seems to have annihilated all flies in my flat. At last I came to have a fly-free summer!
The main ingredient of this patented fly killer is pyrethroid, which is said to be very harmful to the insects but not at all to human (indirect speech). So it is just an illusion that my hands go somewhat numb after inhaling the smoke, isn’t it? Please say 'Yes, it is'...
No-man's Field ― 2010/08/06
I’m sorry to keep talking about nothing but how horribly hot it has been.
The temperature hit 37.1 Celsius this afternoon. If my temperature becomes this high, I have a fever. Give me an ice pack.
However high the temperature become, as a housewife, I have to go to the shopping for something to eat. On the way home (nearly on the verge of death), I found a park usually full of children and their mothers was totally empty, probably because of fears for heatstroke. The heat wave assaulting
By the way, do people other than me go to the shopping after dark, or get their shopping delivered home, which I think a rather merciless treatment to the deliverers?
Summer Garb ― 2010/08/07
I found another model of ‘keep-out’ bar’s leg used in a construction site.
This time, plastic sunflowers supported the bars. Very seasonable!
Related entry (about another model of this item) is Here
Summer Herbs ― 2010/08/09
I suppose the most commonly used garnish in our everyday cooking are some kinds of spring onions and ginger. But during hot seasons, green shiso leaves and myoga buds take over their place.
Their flavour is not as stimulating as those of spring onion or ginger, but more fresh and clean. And their crisp texture stimulate our appetite.
Shiso is (in my understanding) a biggest summer herb. They appear nearly everywhere in summer cooking; apart from replacing spring onions, they wrap rice balls, garnish and suppress fishiness of sashimi, become tempura, and even replace basils in pastas or salads.
Given suitable soil and condition, the shiso can grow and naturalize quite easily to your garden. Actually in my family home there used to be a shrub of shiso in our back garden from which my mother picked up some leaves every day to decorate her dishes. Sadly, now I have to buy them as I have a brown thumb and don’t have my own garden.
I still faintly feel it extravagant to pay JPY100 for a bag of leaves (about 30 or something, but at supermarket only 10 leaves can cost you the same).
To me, myoga feels more luxurious than shiso. I am willing to pay JPY100 for this small packet of myoga buds.
I guess growing myoga is not as easy as growing shiso. I have heard that you need a shady and wet place to grow myoga successfully. These conditions seem to be against what people tend to prefer in their gardens, you see.
By the way, have you heard that eating too many myoga buds devastates you memory. Don’t worry about that. Resent researches have shown (sounds academic? ), the chemical components of myoga may enhance your concentration. Maybe I instinctively go for myoga driven by my subconscious desire to keep my aging brain somehow working.
Palace of Fish ― 2010/08/10
There are many ways to get familiar with fish in
One way is to go to aquarium where you can see and learn about fish in sort of academic, but indirect way.
And angling is also a way to get in (literally) touch with fish, which involves a lot of labour, costs, and time, but you feel the fish physically and directly (actually the fish will be a part of you in the end). Between these two extremes, there should be shopping fish at fishmonger’s or fishers’ markets.
Visiting this building should be somewhere between aquarium and shopping fish.
Located in the vicinity of Fukuoka Central Wholesale Fish Market,
On the ground floor there are some seafood restaurants popular among salarymen working at neighbouring companies and local foodies. Today, I had a bowl of rice with a variety of sashimi pieces (JPY600, including a soup and a small sidedish).
I think it’s polite not to evaluate the food I was served….
On the upper floor there is a sort of museum offering a wide range of displays.
I guess if you visit here, you should aim at this museum rather than a seafood feast (go for the basement floor of department stores to get ready-made sushi) as brochures are available in various languages,
and you could see this and that about fish and the market.
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