The Lure of the Orient

 Tuesday, March 25, 2025 I'm feeling nearly human and consume the convenience store sandwich that Ginger and Sachiko brought home for me last night.  A big step! Sachiko says that she and her friend, Sachiko go out for coffee every Tuesday morning and would we like to do that?  Yep, you bet! More old broads on the town! And we don't even have to walk! Sachiko II has a car and no one has told her that she's not allowed to drive.  It is a treat to avoid the forced march! This old coffee shop hasn't changed since we were here all those years ago and when I make a kind of sign for iced coffee, the counterman grins and remembers me from last week. A lot of important conversations have happened here, I'll bet!  And there's another one today. And, oh my, there's food.  Toast and red-bean paste and soup and a half of a banana and a salad and a hard boiled egg!  I can get down everything but the HBE;  my tummy just won't stretch that far! On the way home w...

 Monday, March 24, 2025 Sachiko tells us that we won't have breakfast (good news in my book!) because we're going to eat strawberries at 10:30. We fill the car and head off to the Very Berry farm and meet up with Tae's brother Hiroshi and his wife and young son.  Everyone gets a little plastic bag for your berry stems and we enter through a sliding door into a hydroponic farm with lots of different varieties of berries.  It's quite a treat to pick berries at waist height instead of crawling around on the ground.  And they're all clean and ready to eat.  We were given some little plastic cups for sweetened condensed milk and that's a delight, too, but the berries are so very sweet and flavorful and they don't need any embellishment! Home again, home again!  And a nap and some meds are in order for me - Ibuprofen and some wonder capsules that Sachiko produces. She really is such a love!! Later everyone goes out to dinner but that just doesn't sound smart t...

 Sunday, March 23, 2025 This will be a lazy day building to a sparkling crescendo!! Sachiko had made muchi rice cakes wrapped in nori and tells us that they are made from special rice that is pounded and pounded. It's really hard work; but now she can get them at the grocery store.  They are often served at special occasions and as offerings to the Buddha. The kids play a variation of dominoes. Later, when people are all moving about we walk to the local bakery for sandwiches and bread goodies. Andy says the bakery is called Auspicious! Andy thinks this would look good in my yard! Home again, home again The high point of the day, though is the visit to the Korean BBQ!  Such delicious, and never-ending meats that Sachiko cooks on the grill at our table! There is even raw horsemeat with a quail egg. The kids are at another table with Tae. We are so glad we scored a table that we didn't have to kneel at! I don't know how these tiny people can eat so much!  And drink so ...