b.p.w.

I'm always excited to make a new friend, so when I saw this great event posted on Ivonne's Cream Puffs in Venice blog, I knew I just had to participate. The event is being hosted by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey?, and is called Blogger Postcards of the World or B.P.W. It is a nice way to send a little smile to a fellow blogger overseas--plus, everyone loves to receive a letter or postcard in their mailbox, right?

The rules are that we have to take a photo of the postcard that we are sending out. We also have to post about the card that we receive.

Here's my postcard: a cool dish of somen with condiments. Somen is like angel hair pasta (cappellini) and is usually eaten cold during the hot and humid summers in Japan. The basket to the far upper-left has some fresh wasabi (mountain horseradish) and sudachi (limes). There is also tsuyu (a dipping sauce made of fish stock and shoyu(soy sauce)) in the little container between the basket and the somen. The little container to the left of the somen has yakumi (condiments) in it. Usually for somen the yakumi is negi (green onion) and shoga (ginger). This basket has negi and hanaho (shiso (beefsteak, perilla) flowers).

Also in summer, there is a "dish" called nagashi somen, in which a L-O-N-G piece of bamboo is hulled to form a "waterway" for the somen to travel, the somen flows down the bamboo chute in ice cold water, the "eaters" stand-by with chopsticks in one hand and the dipping sauce in another hand and catch the running somen in their chopsticks, dip it in the sauce and enjoy! WARNING: Be sure not to position yourself towards the end of the chute or you'll probably not be eating anything...either that, or position all the "eaters" that can't use chopsticks at the head of the chute--then you can eat everything that swishes past them :)

I chose this card because it has been so hot and humid here in Osaka. And I think that my blogger postcard buddy is probably experiencing the same type of summer (or maybe hotter?). Oh, and I wrote my message with blue ink. In Japan, especially during the summer, it is customary when writing letters or cards to use blue ink to give a "cool" feeling.

Hope I made your day and my blogger postcard buddy's day a little brighter (and cooler)!

Can't wait to see the postcard that I will receive!

What a nice way to start August! Thanks Meeta!

p.s. Today is my 2nd cousin, Kellen's 3rd birthday, Happy Birthday!