I bought fresh mekabu (wakame root) the other day. I'm so happy that the mekabu season arrived! When I wrote about mekabu last year I didn't know that I should chop mekabu first, then soak in boiling water (not vice versa!) so I don't have to struggle with the sliminess, and also I can enjoy hot steaming mekabu with pleasant fresh sea smell! It's very tasty to eat it on rice with some soy sauce, my friend named this dish 'super golden special delicious bowl'. A piece of mekabu is just for one to two portions, not enough for me. I have to get more next time. The season continues until April, I'm going to enjoy it for a while.

The other day I went to Hokkaido with C. The day after we arrived, I got a high fever and lost my voice. I was sick in bed for five days, so I had to give up going to the Asahiyama Zoo (although we managed to see the Sapporo Snow Festival on the last day). On our way back to our home from Haneda airport, my bad luck continued: I forgot a shopping bag full of Hokkaido sweets and seafood on the train. What a mess!

It's been a while since I last updated, because I was away from Tokyo, I'm going to write about my trip in the next entry! Yesterday was Valentine's day. As I wrote last year, this "buying chocolate" event is really big in Japan. The basement floor of any department stores (Depa-Chika) turn to chaos, it seems bit too much to me, maybe I'm getting old... Buying luxury chocolate for herself is a new trend (it is called my choco) but I don't. I buy nice chocolate as a present for C, and I eat it together anyway! We had Mille feuille Carrément chocolat and Cheesecake Carrément Chocolat from Pierre Hermée. I also bought 75 Champs Éelyséees from Ladurée, I haven't tried this yet but I know it will be so tasty.