Welcome to Hirochan's World

One thing I really enjoy in summer is having a cup of coffee on our back porch. There is nothing exciting, but being surrounded by all green trees and listing to birds' singing gives me a special moment. It is so quiet. I dreamed of those kinds of things when I lived in a tiny apartment in Tokyo. Of course I had no back porch during that time. I appreciate how lucky I am. This weekend is going to be sunny and beautiful. So Ronnie-kun, can we have Mr. Coffee outside?

Today, I confess I have an excellent skill which is eating corn on the cob. I am able to clear every single kernel from the cob as you can see in this photo. The clean one is mine and the messy one next to it is Ronnie's. My father is the master of eating corn. He is even better than me. So I have practiced my skill since I was a little. I used to use my fingers before, but now I am skilled enough to use mostly my mouth. I would love to challenge the master, my father, next time if I have a chance.

Jinbei is usually worn as a form of house wear during the summer in Japan. It is kind of a simplified kimono, but unlike traditional kimono, jinbei is a set which consists of a top and matching shorts. This jinbei set is a gift from my friend Ayako and her husband. When they saw us off at Narita airport, they got one pair of this jinbei for Ayako's husband and one pair for Ronnie. Ronnie likes the jinbei very much. He always wears it at home during summer. I use the sack the jinbei came in as my laptop case. It fits perfectly. I say I am a genius!

---Happy birthday to you--- ---Happy birthday to you--- ---Happy birthday dear -- Ronnie-kun--- ---Happy birthday to you--- July 3rd is Ronnie's birthday. We did not have a special celebration last year because it was a weekday. We had supper at home as usual. I prepared natto soba, grated yam over fresh tuna, and miso soup. This year, we had a barbecue party with Ronnie's brother and friends. It was a perfectly hot day for an outside barbecue. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled onions and mushrooms, corn on the cob, rice balls, persian cucumbers, pickle spears, and grilled eggplant. We also had watermelon and birthday chocolate cake for dessert. Whew, we were filled up! I hope we were good hosts. Ronnie, the birthday boy, worked pretty hard.