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.

Hiyashi-chuka is a popular summer meal in Japan. It is a noodle dish composed of chilled ramen covered with various toppings such as eggs, ham, cucumber, tomato, bean sprout, seaweed, and pickled red ginger. It looks gorgeous when all the toppings are on. Hiyashi-chuka is usually served with a vinegary soy dressing and mustard, or sesame based dressing. When I see a sign saying "Now we serve hiyashi-chuka." in front of a ramen shop, I know summer is coming and I get excited. Here is my advice: You should make noise when you eat hiyashi-chuka or any noodle dish. The louder you are, the more people know that you enjoy it.

I have a sad announcement. Koots has closed. I am not able to have their hojicha any more. Ronnie and I went to the one at Roppongi Hills, Tokyo. But the price of a hojicha latte was more than 500 yen, which is twice as much as Koots in Bellevue. Only thing left for me was their apron and T-shirt. Oh, dear, you will never know how much I miss their hojicha latte :(

When I was in LA, my coworker introduced me to pinkberry . I did not quite understand why people lined up for an hour to get a frozen yogurt. But I was told even though the frozen yogurt had no strong impact, once I tried it, I would want to have it again. Red mango is sort of a Washington version of pinkberry. The taste of plain frozen yogurt reminds me of yakult which is a Japanese probiotic milk-like drink. I think most Japanese are familiar with the taste for this reason. I like having the plain frozen yogurt with a topping of fresh berries. Their newest flavor, tangomonium, is also good ;)