Something sweet for today? 今日なんか甘～～いものを食べたい気分

Vocabulary: today-kyou, きょう：今日,ngayon; something-nanika,nanka-なんか:何かmay　bagay,
　　　　　　sweet-amai,あまい：甘い,matamis; like to eat, tabetai,たべたい：食べたい



2012214  lan

    Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries.  Ladies receive red, pink or white roses from their beloved partners or special friends.  This is seldom or uncommon in Japan. Instead, men receive chocolates from women friends, girlfriends or wives.  Even in the workplace, many female employees give their male colleagues chocolates although some do not go with the flow. However, it is always safe to give, no matter what one's motive is.  Usually, this is the chance for young girls or single ladies to imply affection to someone they like.  A man may reciprocate by giving something special a month after, i.e., on March 14.  For a foreigner like me,  these are interesting events.  I had experienced working in a Japanese institution.  What we women did was to pool our money and then we just bought a big box of chocolates for all male colleagues to share.  I think that no matter what the civil statuses of the men are and even if the ladies do give as an obligation, the men are still delighted to have a chocolate gift on Valentine's Day.  When I was a student (and still single) at a Japanese university many years ago,  I prepared home-made chocolates for all the male students in my laboratory.  Chocolate gifts are expensive and I could not afford to buy for everyone (but I did not want to be misunderstood if I  gave for a few students and teachers) so I just made them myself so that all could eat.  Home-made chocolates are not as costly as when bought ready-made in a shop. 

   Here, I would like to show you what I have prepared today for my family just to have something "chocolatey";  I guess they are going to make us all happy.  I have enjoyed the preparation.  It was also a stress-reliever.  Here, I just decorated a chiffon cake given to my husband by a lady friend and her missionary husband. I am not a professional cake decorator so you might find it imperfect.  What I did was to put chocolate icing on the cake and afterwards sprinkled the top with "macha" or green tea powder.  Then, the cake was topped with strawberries and potato chips that I dipped in the same chocolate icing.  Afterwards, the cake was surrounded with slices of orange.  Another good Japanese friend gave a bag of chocolates for my son so I included it in the photo.  I made additional two bags.   

   Thanking God for His mercies and love.  He is the source of love.




2012214    lan

 


2012214  lan