Delicacies in Mid-Rainy Season ― 2021/07/04
We are at the height of rainy season. There already was a giant mudslide in Atami, Kanto region, a couple of days ago and a big rain is forecasted for the next couple of days here too.
Humidity has always been above 60 percent and washings never dreed perfectly. It is by no means a pleasant season in this country (sorry for the Olympians who are forced to wear a mask in this condition) .
However, in terms of food, there is some solace to me, one of which is the arrival of new sweet potatoes.
We have some pieces of baked sweet potato every single morning. Sometimes we have no other starches for breakfast.
Last season we had to struggle a lot to find sweet potatoes of our kind, which should be fluffy, rather than pasty, and not so sweet. But the sweet potato market has been dominated by soggy and overly sweet varieties for the past several years.
To make things worse, it seemed more people wanted to eat sweet potatoes last season. So shelves for sweet potatoes of any kind became empty quite often and the prices were beyond my sense of acceptable prices for sweet potatoes (I don't believe Japan became a "cheap" country as mentioned quite often recently).
In desperation to get acceptable ones, my husband has even tried Furusato Nozei (basically, a publicly organized donation scheme in which you donate some money to a local government and receive local delicacies or something representing the area in exchange for the donation) as well as JA (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives)'s B2C site-- with no success (I personally feel the quality of things we can get through this kind of businesses have been deteriorating year by year).
Then, here finally come the new potatoes!
When it comes to the sweet potato, I think new potatoes are generally flakier and less sweet than one that have been stored for a long time.
I hope our struggle cease for a while, hopefully until next season.
Peach Parfait 2021 ― 2021/07/05
Some slices of peach served with (lower-priced) vanilla ice cream (I prefer MOW), disassembled cream puff (with this, you don't need to buy whipping cream) and microwave blueberry jam.
A Find of Late Early Summer ― 2021/07/06
498 yen at a local Marukyo
I came to know Juicy Orange, also known as Kawachi Bankan, Juicy Fruit and many other names, is a perfect breakfast fruit in late early summer, when it is too early for peaches and watermelons and melons are too expensive as an everyday fruit.
It is just like grapefruits, characterized with thicker inner skin and juicy flesh, but without bitterness. Although citrus fruits tend to be dry and flaky as citrus season is approaching to its end, I think they can remain juicy and tender for longer period of time.
Taken Aback in Many Ways ― 2021/07/06
While reading a Sawako Ariyoshi's work,
I came across the drama based of this very novel.
Although the story itself was claimed to be entirely fiction, the actors play their rolls so vividly that I drew into the world of the imperial court in the end of the Edo era (the mid 19th century).
Watching the small screen, I found it packed with things we no longer see on any TV programs nowadays: directly pointing at others' handicaps or mental disorders; unpleasant anecdotes about members of the imperial family and women as a commodity.
(a screenshot)
The story was amusing, but the description was too raw and vivid to my menopause-affected nerve. This experience will give me a bad dream tonight, I am quite sure
I can't believe it was only 40 years ago this drama was produced. Did we really see this without being affected at all?
I Know What You Mean, but... ― 2021/07/07
Since I found this advertisement on Nikkei in the middle of May, I have been feeling inexplainable awkwardness and discomfort.
This reads:
No vaccine. No Medicine.
Are we forced to fight with bamboo spears?
We are going to be killed by politics.
We are deceived.
What on earth was the past year meant to us?
When is our "self-restriction" over?
Test of out patience should end right away.
No more excuse, No more ifs and buts.
Just forcing us to do the impossible has made no difference at all,
Now is really the high time to make an angry noise.
(Translated by me)
I wonder why this sounds so sickening. But haven't found the answer.
Yes, I have actually thought and said that our fight against COVID 19 is like trying to fight against B-29 with bamboo spears just like our grandparents did in the WW II. But I can't happily agree with this opinion advertisement or this way of expressing one's anger.
A Comfort Read ― 2021/07/28
After watching the depressing, vicious and hopeless drama, how about these heart-warming comics?
I happened to come across the manga titled "差配さん”（Sahai-san, roughly means：Mr. Manager) (picture right) while browsing an online comic store and fell in love with it at once.
The books is a series of short stories set in the Edo-era, featuring a big boss cat and his surroundings-- sounds irresistible, isn't it?
As well as the refreshing and uplifting storylines, the clean and well-thought-out visual is I found really charming.
I guess each characters were designed based on tremendous researches into the period costumes and gestures.
Each book cost me 830 yen, 1660 in total, around as much as my Mr. Donuts visit*4.5. Very much worth the cost!
Finally ― 2021/07/31
My turn to get vaccinated is finally coming..at the end of August.
And when (or whether) I can get the second shot hasn't been determined. Meanwhile the number of newly confirmed cases is skyrocketing.
Now it is the matter of which comes first, I get infected or protected.
Summer Washing ― 2021/07/31
With no plan to go out and hot and sunny weather, it's perfect to wash everything.
This week I have washed almost everything I could think of, regardless whether they are ”officially” washable:
("WA" means "the manufacturer claims it is washable".)
Curtains (WA), for the fist time in three years;
Vertical blinds (WA), several years;
Vacuum cleaner parts (WA), one year;
Geriatric shoes, a half year;
Slippers (WA), a week
and
Eco bags, for the very first time ～a month.
My 14-year-old washing machine has never worked so hard!
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