Spring has Sprung

We are enjoying a lovely start to the spring season.  It is now dry and sunny with some very strong winds that are drying out the last of the late snow we received on Monday.  Since the weather was so bad I didn't feel like going to the store on Monday - driving sleet/snow and lousy roads - so I looked around the fridge for something I could make for dinner.  I found a few things and gave it some thought and then created a meal which turned out to be very good.  At the end of dinner I was talking to Cindy about how I created it and she said that we could video my recipe and send it to Colin since we had had so much fun talking about and eating his meals in New Zealand.  This link will tell you all you need to know about the dish.  

Tofu Delight hot out of the oven

 

The Tofu Delight Plated

Japanese Customs – a note from Cindy, aka Cinzia

In this day and age it seems that the world is getting more homogenous … witness gift shops the world over that carry too many of the same goods.  Fortunately, this is not so with some customs!

There are two Japanese customs related to air travel that I find very civil and extremely endearing.  The first is in the terminal when waiting to board.  At the appointed hour for boarding the plane - usually to the minute of the time printed on the boarding pass – all of the personnel responsible for getting everyone onto the plane gets into a horizontal row behind the counter and BOWS to all of the passengers!  Can you imagine? It is wonderful.

Then as the plane is backed out of the parking space and turned to make its own way toward the runway, all of the ground personnel get into a row and wave goodbye.  I don’t mean a quick wave of the hand, I mean they stand there with one arm extended and they wave and wave and wave until the plane rolls out of their line of sight.  This last time in Tokyo there was a ferocious dust storm happening and they all wore masks, but that did not curtail their habit of waving goodbye for several minutes.  I always wave from my window but I’ll never know if they see me or if they’re just looking toward the pilots.  In any case, I appreciate this practice very much and I hope they never stop doing it. Click here to see more - this is very short version of what I saw.

We hope that you all have a most enjoyable and weather friendly start to spring.  With best wishes,  Cinzia and Wm