Name That Tune, Mochi, English Please

1. Intently pounding on the arcade version of Taiko Drummer with surprising accuracy amidst the loud cacophony of UFO catchers singing and beeping behind us. The 100 seconds allowed at the beginning of the round to choose a song is spent with gleeful utterances elicited by the recognition of a large number of the latest J-pop songs.

2. I must confess that I’m not normally a fan of mochi in any form. A mother’s touch often produces an exception, which is the case when observing my weakness for her delectable “rice cake soup”, but Japan has so far been unable to offer anything remotely equal. While this remains the case in the area of soup, and I am unmoved in my stance regarding its popular status as a dessert when combined with the grainy, overpowering sweetness of anko, today a friend served a dish combining crispy mochi, soy sauce, and nori that made me vow to reconsider my disdain for the glutinous rice mixture.

3. Accessing Blogger after clearing my cookie catch shows me that all the links and options are now written in Japanese. After scanning the page to see if I can comprehend more than before, it only takes a few seconds to navigate to the bottom of the page, recognize the kanji for “language”, and restore my settings to English. It’s always nice to experience a moment where studies become functional.