Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Japan 2023 Part 6

 


On Saturday, one of the guys who had invented a tea processing unit invited us to come to his home on Sunday for me to drive a tea harvesting machine. So, at 0930 in the AM, we trekked just under a half mile to his home. After a warm welcome and some iced coffee, he let both Davey and me drive the harvester down a row. It was interesting and extremely sensitive in the steering. Afterwards we picked some of the tender tea shoots—it is harvested 4 times per year. The friend’s wife fried up the tea leaves in tempura and served them along with cookies made of green tea. The tea processor has several acres of tea bushes—that last about 100 years. He also grows rice and strawberries. The wife served us up a sweet dessert composed of shredded frozen strawberries mixed with a little sugared milk. The farmer had eaten so many strawberries as a boy that he no longer eats them. He also showed me the very elaborate shrine to his ancestors inside his home.

For Sunday lunch we went to Jolly Pasta, a very popular local Italian restaurant. It is Nene’s choice for her birthday celebration. The cheese fondue with little toasted pieces of bread was very good. For dessert I ordered us a banana pizza with chocolate sauce and a small scoop of ice cream. It was good, but not quite as good as it sounded.

For 4 adults (Bre and I shared a meal) and 2 kids the bill was 8360 Y= just over $60! When I checked the median household income to be a bit over $39k, it shocks me what food costs.




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