日報

I think I've always drunk a lot of water.
Whether I'm at my computer or driving,
I always have a drink with me and I gulp it down.

I saw on a health show that
you should drink more than 2 liters of water a day,
and I thought, "Huh? I feel like I've already drunk 2 liters by lunchtime. Does that mean I'm healthy?"
I probably drink so much that I even wonder if it's possible to drink too much and become unhealthy.

As a result of drinking a lot of water, there's a place I frequently visit.
Many people have told me that I go there all the time,
but I don't want to go there!
I'm just good friends with water.
I've been saying that while feeling offended and annoyed,
but it hasn't really worked,
and I'm just seen as someone who has to pee a lot. It's frustrating.

Even as I'm writing this,
I'm drinking water, but
I have something to do, so I'll finish up early for today.
See you later!

I was a grandma's boy.
I lived with my paternal grandmother, and my family called her "Baba," so I feel it's more fitting to say I was "Baba's boy."

When I was in elementary school, we still had school on Saturdays.
Saturdays were only half days, so I'd go home and eat lunch.
Since both my parents worked, Baba was the one who made me lunch.

She must have made all sorts of lunches, but I only remember a few types.
Among them, my absolute favorite was "Clam Pasta."

I loved "Clam Pasta" so much that I think I only looked forward to that.
Now, when I make pasta often, I sometimes wonder if this was its origin.

Later, when the "Clam Pasta" stopped appearing, I asked about it and was told that the supermarket that sold the ingredients had closed down.
She said she would buy it again if she found it, but it never appeared again.

After I became an adult, I learned that "Clam Pasta" was a type of "Vongole."
I've tried various recipes and feel like I can make something very similar, but
I also feel like it's somehow different.

Baba's Vongole, made by toothless Baba, was incredibly soft with absolutely no resistance.
I wish I could eat it just one more time.

I've always struggled to make fluffy fried rice. I would search for tips on how to achieve that fluffy texture, try them out, and then move on to the next tip, never really settling on one method.

I've tried various things, like mixing rice with beaten eggs before frying, or using two spatulas to chop and stir. After all that experimentation, I've narrowed it down to two key tips.

Use plenty of oil. Use cold rice.

For the oil, it's exactly as it sounds: just use about twice as much as you'd normally think.

Regarding cold rice, I actually use freshly cooked rice even for fried rice. I cook it normally, without adjusting the water content or anything. I don't trust my memory, so if I add more steps, I'll forget them, and if the elements get too complicated, the chances of failure increase. So, for now, I just cook it normally without overthinking. Then, after it's cooked, I open the lid and let it cool.

I believe that cooling it down helps to evaporate moisture, and starting with cold rice allows for a longer frying time. This longer frying time helps the moisture evaporate and allows for slower cooking, making it easier to achieve that fluffy texture.

I've realized that as long as the fried rice is fluffy, any seasoning will taste delicious, so I'm completely focused on making it fluffy.

Oh, just one more thing! I try to chop the ingredients for the fried rice as finely as possible. The star of fried rice is the fluffy rice, so everyone else should quietly remain in the background, not drawing too much attention.

Following yesterday, I went to another exhibition. It was an extremely large exhibition called "Tokyo International Gift Show," with 3,000 exhibitors. 3,000 companies, seriously? It's such an overwhelming number that it makes me wonder if there are even 3,000 companies in Japan. By the way, I searched for the number of corporations in Japan, and apparently there are 4.39 million.

The venue was Big Sight. It seemed to be an event held throughout the entire Big Sight complex. Without thinking, I parked at the far end of the East Hall parking lot, but my target booth was in the West Hall. It was such a vast and enormous event that just getting to my destination left me a bit tired.

I achieved my goal and had some fruitful outcomes, but separate from that, something I thought about while walking was:

"It's amazing how everyone is working, everyone is getting paid, and everyone is living their lives."

In a place where people from similar industries gather, everyone is seeking the same goal of "new encounters." It felt amazing that both the exhibitors and the attendees, each working, were able to make a living and support themselves.

Because, 3,000 companies were waiting, and even if you consider the absolute minimum, if one company was meeting with just one other company, that means at least 6,000 companies were there, right?! Feeling that it's something amazing that all of them exist as companies, and everyone is working and earning money, I got tired from walking and just wanted to go home quickly.

I went to a product exhibition.
These exhibitions are a place where sellers like Kikkake, what we call "retailers," meet "manufacturers" who produce goods.

It's a vibrant and wonderful place, with manufacturers enthusiastically explaining products they've passionately created, and retailers seeking new opportunities. However, every time I go, I feel a bit uncomfortable.

No, I'm really sorry.
I just get nervous.
If I had to compare it to something, maybe it's like the club recruitment drives when I first entered university.
Well, it's not quite as intense as that.

When I go to a place where people are looking for new connections and there's a lot of mutual energy, I feel kind of overwhelmed by that force.
I try to tell myself to act like an adult and listen to the manufacturers, but the fact that I'm even thinking "act like an adult" means something's off.

I often discover great products there, and some items I've sold came from those connections, so I always feel it was good to go. But before going, I get nervous, and afterward, I'm completely drained.

I truly admire the manufacturers who spend days explaining their products; it's incredible.

I'm planning to go again tomorrow. Grow up, me!

Since starting kikkake, I've noticed that my cooking has become much more refined as a result of being filmed and photographed while cooking.

It's often said that focusing on something brings about change, like how your legs get slimmer if you start focusing on exercising them, or how you lose weight when you start regularly checking the scale. I think this is the same phenomenon.

Being meticulous during filming is probably just part of the job, but I've noticed I'm also cutting ingredients more neatly even when I'm just cooking for myself. Is it like constant training? I'm happy because I feel like I'm getting stronger at it.

Also, I feel like my cooking is getting more delicious. Since I'm expressing myself through video, I'm definitely paying the most attention to presentation, but if I'm going to cook, I want to make it taste good too. And since I'm cooking what I want to cook, I think I'm gradually getting better at making delicious food.

It's fun and gratifying that kikkake has also inspired me to enjoy cooking more, make more delicious food, and become more interested in cooking, dishes, cooking utensils, and general household items.