Fourteen Days in Japan · Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Day 4: Haru's Flowers
It was raining when we arrived at Yasuko's grandmother's house. During our trip, we visited grandma Haru's house a few times with Yasuko and the rest of the family. I couldn't talk with her, since I don't speak any Japanese, but I remember her as a very sweet lady who loved gardening and art more than anyone else I have ever met.
She had an amazing greenhouse as big as her own house, if not bigger, filled with hundreds of beautiful orchids and many other kinds of flowers.
Even though she was already in her nineties, she was a very strong and healthy businesswoman until just a few days before she passed away, in the summer of 2009.
I will always remember her smile, her beautiful house and her amazing flowers.
We spent most of the day there and had lunch together at her house.
For dinner, the plan was to meet Yumi, one of Yasuko's best friends, and go out to eat a typical Nagoya dish, miso-nikomi udon, at 山本屋 (Yamamotoya).
Miso-nikomi is a delicious udon dish, perfect to warm you up on a cold winter night, with udon noodles simmered in red miso soup.
The soup contains chicken, a raw egg cracked on top, vegetables and tubers.
After dinner, we drove to a patisserie, where we enjoyed a slice of cake and a cappuccino while Yumi and Yasuko took some time to catch up.