My friend told me that she tried a brezel the other day and that she didn't know how tasty they are! Yesterday she gave me some bread (brezels and cheese baguettes and croissants) from Peltier in Akasaka and asked me what I think of them. It was very tasty! Thank you! The bakery is French but they make their brezels with Laugen (Caustic soda solutions), German style. She told me that the large size was sold out - those must be super good.

It was a few months ago, my net friend M mentioned about the diary from Banana Yoshimoto Official Site. And I started to read Banana' books recently, on a train and on my futon before going to sleep (It's been about 10 years since I last read her book Kitchen). I've read three of her books, and I still don't know if I like her style or not. But I noticed that there is definitely something very special about her. And other thing, her stories are quite short, I like that!

I had things to do in Shinjuku today, so I checked the Okinawa event at Isetan Shinjuku department store. I was surprised to see lots of energetic elderly people at a department store in the morning. Anyway, I had Okinawa soba at the little shop. It was OK but I think I have to be in Okinawa to eat this noodle somehow. I have to go back there. By the way, these Okinawan colour chopsticks were too slippery to eat noodle!

Last night, I went to an English pub in Meguro to celebrate my friend's birthday. I was happy to have pints of beer and nice chips which I miss from London days. It was Monday but I came home after midnight.

The other day, I bought an instant Okinawa Soba noodles. I didn't have anything (like roasted pork or fish cakes) I can put in noodle, but I couldn't resist myself. I cooked, sweat loads, and I've just finished eating it. But... it was disappointing. I guess I can't expect an instant noodle to have a genuine flavour, which I experienced in Okinawa. I hope I can eat nice Okinawa Soba at Isetan Shinjuku department store. There will be many little stalls from Okinawa.

A few of my friends who read this blog asked me how the sage is doing. It's getting embarrassing to say I haven't planted it yet, so I finally did it the other day. I like plants but I usually kill them with too much water. Only 6 seeds out of 30 sprouted on Day 10. Isn't that a bit disappointing? I might come to dislike gardening.

I'm not religious, but when I went to Nikko last week, I received (bought) a goshuin 'red ink seal' at Yakushido shrine, where we can hear the roar of a dragon. I always thought these beautiful calligraphies at temples and shrines are fascinating. I didn't know that we can buy different designs of shuin-chou 'seal books' in different temples and shrines. There was a message inside the book saying 'the seals are not commemorative tourism stamps'. I thought that everyone is aware of it! But actually, is it talking to me maybe?!

I bought a bicycle last weekend. I wanted my bicycle to have thin wheels and no logo/brand name on the frame. And I found Tokyobike is the perfect one for me! There is a small company's URL written on the frame, but it is just a sticker. I can peel it off! Great!

It's been a year since I started LDK. I'm surprised that I could continue this long. I've been very busy these days but I tried to make a LDK ice cake in an hour. It looks Horrible?! Anyway, I want to say thanks to all people, who check my blog and leave some comments.

We went to see Maywa Denki at Yakult Hall in Shinbashi. It was the last show for our friend Y (for us) who leaves to London very soon. We had a good time! By the way, the logo of the Yakult Hall is a little bit strange. It seems like parents disagree with something and kid is worried about it.

This weekend, there was a Bon Odori (traditional dance) festival at our local Yutenji temple. There were so many people and I've never seen Yutenji being so lively! I joined the big circles of dancers: men and women of all ages, and I tried to learn dancing by watching other people. My friends saw me dancing very badly, but it didn't matter because we should enjoy dancing! The young drummers on the top of the stage, old ladies with beautiful yukata (informal summer kimono), there were many cool people. I should wear yukata next year.

The owner of the place we stayed told me 'If you don't go for mountain climbing, I will prepare the late breakfast tomorrow'. I was wondering what time that would be, and I was surprised that she meant 7:30 in the morning. I've never had breakfast that early! I enjoyed a proper Japanese breakfast with rice and miso soup etc. I usually don't eat them in the morning.

Last night, we came back from Nikko, which is a great place to escape the summer heat of the city. Even though we were caught in a strong rain shower, this trip was very enjoyable. The slogan for the Nikko Tourist Association is 'NIKKO is NIPPON': Nikko (日光) is the light (光) of Nippon (日本)' I agree with that!

We came back from Nikko, I've checked email and the internet. I was so surprised about the news that Aoyama Book Center (ABC) shut up all seven branch stores today. Actually I'm very shocked. They had a great selection of art books and international magazines (and the Roppongi branch was opened till 5:30am on weekdays!).

Suddenly, C and I have planned a one night trip to Nikko from tomorrow. I want to walk around the Lake Chuzenji area this time. Maybe we go to Mt. Nantai too? then we might need Calorie Mate (balanced nutrition food, an easy source of energy and nutrition) just in case! C was laughing about me but I'm serious! I don't buy this often, but I love the package design. I hope Otsuka Seiyaku won't change the design. See you in 2 days' time!

When I went to London a few months ago, my friend K let me stay at her place (thanks!). And I tried the English sea salt from Maldon in Essex for the first time. It is salty of course, but no bitterness, quite mild. The small white crystalline flakes (hollow pyramids shapes if you are lucky) that crush very easily between fingers. I don't need a salt mill. It works best on the simple food, grilled meat/fish, baked potato and also salad. Apparently, many well known British chefs, like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson (She married Charles Saatchi in 2003!) chose this Maldon salt, and it seems popular everywhere in the world, not only in Britain. You can buy this salt at DHC (skincare, makeup and healthcare products mail order company in Japan).

I went to MUJI in Shibuya Parco last weekend, and they had a sale because they are going to refurbish the store. I was walking around to find something good and I found some polypropylene boxes. I thought they were discontinued. I have a few at home but I wanted one more. Nice one! They are available from MUJI net store but I didn't want to pay ¥525 postage charge for ¥210 product. I'm using these to keep rice (just a little bit too small for 5kg of rice) or dry seaweeds/foods etc. The big size boxes are in the bathroom to store soap, toilet paper etc. I like the colour, it is a little bit grayish beige. I also like the explanation: 'infection control boxes which are used in places like hospitals'. It sounds kind of cool.

After a bit of swimming, I went to the upper house election at the local elementary school. I'm glad that I don't need to hear that annoying noise pollution of the election campaigning car anymore. Apparently, during the campaign, regulation is quite tight because of the 'Public Officers Election Act' law. They are not allowed to call the candidate's name repeatedly. But once they have registered their car (or ship!), they can repeat the name. That's why they are madly shouting the names repeatedlyf. They are very annoying! And I also hate the traders who drive around the neighbourhood to collect waste materials. They are so noisy in the weekend. But I don't mind the roasted sweet potato seller vans, even though they play their song in the streets!

I use cellulose sponge cloths for my kitchen. They are superabsorbent and very quick to dry, and I like them. They are available from Tokyu Hands, ¥400 for 3 cloths. The one I bought from London was £1.15 (¥228) for 3, and €1.19 (¥159) for 5 in Germany. They are produced in Germany. The quality of the cloths from Tokyu Hands and Sainsbury's (supermarket in London) were almost the same, but the ones from Germany are the best, they are 1.5 times thicker than the others! A perfect souvenir from Germany for your Japanese friends (maybe not?). There are also illustrated cloths but they seem too thin to me.

When I turned on the TV yesterday, I saw the natural food store where I always buy some carrots for my salad. At the shop, the TV presenter was very happy to drink Marusan's Mineral Doujan 180ml ¥80. It is a soy protein drink, contains some malt extract too.

The driver of Toden Arakawa line (old tram in Tokyo) has been suspended from his duties for six months for speeding. He drove on a tight curve with 20km/h speed instead of 5km/h. It sounds quite crazy. Come to think of speeding, did anyone go to see the London F1 Grand Prix: Regent Street demo on 6th July? When I first heard of this story, I couldn't believe it. It's a shame that we are not living in London anymore! But I hope it happens!!

It's so hot! Today's temperature has reached to 34.8°C in Tokyo. Tomorrow will be even hotter! What happened to the rain?! I bought rain boots for this rainy season but I haven't got a chance to wear them yet. But it is good that it didn't rain today, otherwise the Milky Way (River in the Heaven) was flooded and Orihime and Hikoboshi couldn't see each other.

22:45pm Watch the Wimbledon gentlemen's singles finals on TV.
23:50pm Stop watching and videotape tennis, watch F1 on TV.
01:35am After F1, watch the videotaped tennis.
03:30am Watch the Euro 2004 final? or sleep?

We went to the Arakawa River with friends and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon. On the way to the river from the Kita-senju station, I found an old dango (a soft round rice cake) shop. Their dango were very good! Some very old houses are still seen in this shopping street. The embankment of the Arakawa River is quite well known because of the Japanese TV drama (1979-) Kinpachi sensei (teacher Kinpachi). He was always walking/running here.

I bought large orange tomatoes at our local supermarket. I've seen small yellow tomato but never in orange. They looked like Kaki 'Japanese persimmon' from the back (by the way, I didn't know that Kaki is called Kaki in Germany too). The tomato was not jucy enough, maybe because it didn't have much seeds? It might be good for cooking but I didn't like it personally. My favorite tomato is mini (but large-ish) tomato. They are good for eating and also making tomato sauce.

Today, I received two kitsuné mugs I ordered online the other day. They were much smaller than I thought! I didn't check the size and believed they are quite big. Oh well, it doesn't matter! C and I are very tiny but we are on a mug!

I like Kikkoman soy sauce table bottle designed by industrial product designer Kenji Ekuan. I 'm using this soy sauce bottle, and another one from London as a vinegar bottle. If I compare them, I can see they have a slightly different shape. The Japanese one has a narrower neck. I prefer the typography on the Japanese bottle, which is almost the same as 43 years ago when it came out. It had a hexagonal logo and just 'しょうゆ' (soy sauce). Nice and simple.