cute gift from my friend

Today I went to lunch with my friend.
We talked about a lot of things for 5 hours!
Actually, she is not same generation with me, but she looks young
than her age, likes to try new things, and has positive thinking,
so I always enjoy talking with her.

She gave me a cute gift because I got a new job.
In Japan, many people put items to cell phone, and
this cute bear is also one ofitems to put to cell phone.
I ordered i-phone, and maybe get it a month later.
So I will put it to my new cell phone!

good deal

My husband and I went to "IKEA" to get kitchen utensils in last weekend.
I really really love to collect dishes or cups, and there are
a lot of dinnerwarein my cupboard, so I stopped to look dishes at IKEA.

I was able to find neat item to put naps instead of dishes.
This item was just about $5.00.
It was a good deal.

they became big

I grow "Shiso (like Japanese basil)" and "Basil" at my home.
They didn't become big during rainy season, because
they were not able to receive energy from the sun (maybe...)

After the rainy season was over, almost everyday was clear and sunny,
so they started to become big quickly.

I look forward to making Shiso tempura and basil paste for pasta or
marinade of octopus.

my bro

The rainy season finished it, so every day is sunny and hot day.
Especially, the temperature is almost 100F in recent days...
I spent the summer season in SB for 2 years, so I forgot the heat of
summer in Japan.

I need to protect skin from sun when I go to supermarket or
another stores near my apartment by walk.
I always put on hat during walking outside.
Those hats are my bro to protect me from sun.
Originally, I love to get awesome hats, so I would buy many kinds of
hats in this summer.

Souvenir

I met a friend of mine who had lived next door in SB, and
we went to one cafe and enjoyed talking while eating healthy lunch.

She gave me a neat gift which was a souvenir from Hungary.
Her husband is also my friend, and he seemed to go to Hungary
for a business trip.

Those 3 colors of bags are the national flag color of Hungary.

This souvenir is Paprika Powder, so I should use for cooking.
But it's very cute, so a little hard to use immediately.
I want to decorate in the kitchen.

What is this dish?

What do you all think this dish is?

This is grilled eel bowl, the taste is like teriyaki but not totally same.

My hometown is famous for the eels, so there are some restaurants that
serve the eel dishes (almost grilled eel bowl).

Today, my parents visited my house, and we enjoyed grilled eel bowl
at one of famous restaurants in my hometown.

This dish is a little expensive, so I almost go to those style restaurants
with my parents.

It was first time to eat this bowl after returning Japan.

Hmmm, so yum!!

When it's hot day...

It's rainy season in Japan right now, so almost cloudy, shower, or rainy day.
But, today was sunny day, and temperature was about 90F, really hot day...

When it's hot day, I always want to eat the cold noodle.

I cooked the cold noodle taste like a Chinese and Japanese style.

Probably, I make the noodle dishes many times in this summer.

small garden

If I had the garden in my home, I would make many kinds of
vegetables and fruits.
But I'm living in the apartment, and there is no garden , so
it's a little hard to do that.

When I can't take much time for making dinner, I usually prepare
"Pasta", Japanese or Italian taste.
At that time, "Basil" and "Shiso - like a Japanese Basil" are important
ingredients for my pasta dishes.
So, I tried to plant the seeds of Basil and Shiso using small cup, and
put those in my room from last Thursday.

I was able to see the sprout of Basil last Sunday, and Shiso appeared yesterday.

I will report the growing of those two.