Monday, August 12th “Summer Salad”

There are a lot of summer foods that are delicious.  Some people like to eat cold noodle-like Somen or Hihashichuka.  For dessert, there’s shaved ice, ice cream, and soft serve.  The shaved ice that I like is Shiro-Kuma.  It’s originally from Kumamoto.  I can’t get enough of that. 

One food that I really like to eat in summer is a cold salad.  People don’t particularly think of it as a summer food, but I think it’s good to eat it in summer.   I especially like sticky vegetables like Okra and Yama-imo (Japanese Yam).  I think they are great as summer food.  If you put in Shiso (Japanese Basil) or Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum), it becomes really refreshing.  It will look something like this.

shaved ice – かき氷

soft serve – ソフトクリーム

I can’t get enough – 飽きない

Okra – オクラ

Japanese Yam – 山芋

Japanese basil – しそ 

Pickled plum – 梅干し

refreshing – サッパリ

Wednesday, August 14th.  “Handsome Burger”

The other day I ate Handsome Burger for the first time in a year.  As some of you know, Handsome Burger is my favorite hamburger in Nagoya.  Every time I eat it, it reminds me of hamburger I used to eat in California.  In California, there’s a hamburger store called In-N-Out.  It’s the best hamburger ever.  

For a while, I was not able to eat a hamburger that tasted like In-N-Out but several years ago Handsome Burger opened up in Fushimi.  I was surprised how similar the taste was to In-N-Out.  The owner said he got the idea from a hamburger store in California.  I knew right away he got it from In-N-Out.  Anyway, if you have not tried it yet, you gotta check it out.  

for the first time in a year – 一年ぶり

reminds – 思い出す

I was surprised how similar the taste was – すごく似ている事に驚いた

Sunday, August 18th.  “Kyoto Trip”

My sister lives in Kyoto now.  She’ll be returning to America next year with her family.  I would like to see her as much as I can while they are here.  So I visited Kyoto the other day.   Actually, the last time I visited Kyoto was November of 2017 so it’s been a while.  

This time I visited Fushimi Inari shrine and Nijyojyou.  I had never been to those places so they were interesting.  I visited Nijyojyo at night.  They had a special night event.  They lit up the castle with projection mapping and other illumination.  It was pretty impressive.  

Fushimi Inari shrine was amazing.  Despite the hot weather, there were a lot of tourists there.  I would say half of them were people from abroad.  

I got around Kyoto by bus most of the time.  I realized that the bus is the cheapest and most convenient way to get around in Kyoto.  I’d like to go to Kyoto one more time before my sister goes back to the U.S.  

It’s been a while – 久しぶり

got around – 移動した