Balcony Garden Progress

With some success my balcony garden has progressed.

Strawberries: Moderate success - Healthy foliage, but the berries keep molding before getting ripe.Orchid: Approaching success - A new leaf and two flower stems on the way.Broccoli: Near failure - Green caterpillars turned the leaves into Swiss cheese.Herbs: Success - The basil looks a little bare after being used for pesto. Cilantro is coming soon, the herbs in the grocery store are sold with the roots attached, my Mom managed to get a shoot growing.
Lettuce: Moderate success - After being stunted by the hot weather last summer the lettuce looks pretty but is tough and a little bitter. Attempt two is in progress.Lime: Success - Loaded with sweet smelling flowers giving way to lime babies. I am a little concerned that this small tree has taken on more fruit than it will be able to handle.Peas: Success - The delicious pea pods have already made it into several stir fry dishes and the plants are growing with no end in sight.Hibiscus: Split success - These plants started out the same size, while one has grown large and healthy the other is healthy but has become miniature. The flowers of the plant in the foreground are twice the size of the other.Kiwi: Failure - I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that a miniature fruit tree is a touchy thing to grow. This one doesn't have much time left.

Wash your hands and...

...Gargle. I just inadvertently got the story on the gargling that I witness going on in my office bathrooms everyday. Apparently from a young age children are asked, "did you wash your hands and gargle?" after emerging from the bathroom. It is a common Japanese belief that keeping your throat moist will help keep you healthy.

Driving Difficulties

I'm often asked if it's been hard to adjust to driving on the left side of the road. The hardest part is getting over hitting the windshield whippers instead of the turn signal, having the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle makes staying on the correct side of the road easy (knock on wood). Three of the hardest things about driving in Japan are illustrated below. First it gets dark really early, second motorcycles are always passing on the shoulder or between lanes of traffic, third people don't have a problem parking switching on the emergency flashers and parking any car on any street at any time.

Daily Meeting

Besides vacuuming, the other thing that happens every day after lunch is a team meeting, which in my group is actually a two team meeting. The highest team member present mumbles some things, while his assistant nods in agreement, when the speaker is finished everyone bows and goes back to their work. I have yet to understand what is said in one of these meetings, but still attend every day.

Check Out L's Blog

Check out L of M&L's blog.

http://herbangirl.blogspot.com/

How lucky am I to have M&L, great people and fellow UM grads, living in the same apartment building?

Happy Birthday L!!

Stove Top & Fish Broiler Cooking 9

What to do with the iceberg lettuce that my brother bought when he was visiting? Make lettuce wraps, I used a knock-off PF Changs recipe and replaced the chicken with tofu. I got a tip from L to freeze the tofu before frying it to get a better texture, it worked great.

Japanese Weddidng

Congratulations to A & U who had their Japanese style wedding today.My Japanese card, the expected gift amount from a friend is 30,000 yen (more than $300USD). Tradition is the gift amount must be an odd number of bills so that it isn't divisible between the bride and groomM and I with A in her Wedding Kimono, wig and white painted face, after the Shinto ceremony during which photos were prohibited.Work friends in 'Unmarried Woman's' Kimonos, they were responsible for collecting gifts at the reception.My favorite course of the six course meal, Scallops. Ayumi made me tear up by being so considerate as to substitute, in advance, my beef course with Scallops.So beautiful!