pinch me

I just made a quick lunch of sesame chickpeas in tofu pockets (aburaage) and I realized how much I'm going to miss fresh Japanese tofu, in all its glorious forms. The chewy, stinky, processed stuff (or boxed silken type) available back home just canNOT compare.

Why am I thinking of this, barely two years into our four-year posting? Well posting season is almost upon us (July) and that means there're a lot of folks who are preparing to leave and newbies about to arrive. This year's gang is even bigger than the year we arrived (last year saw a tiny turnover). Anyway, I'm already dreading the loss of a couple of really good new friends and a few nice others, so I'm feeling nostalgic.

Speaking of nostalgia, a little blip caused by various food issues occuring here and abroad has hit Tokyo. Butter has become very hard to come by. Yesterday I paid about seven bucks for a pound when I happened upon a stock at a bakery (most grocery stores have holes on the butter shelf). Makes me that much more conscious of how priviliged we are in comparison to those facing the real crisis.

Oh and in case anyone heard and worried about the earthquakes northeast of Tokyo last night, please know that nobody was injured and we were only woken.