by DELIA TOMINO NAKAYAMA

Have you ever read Naomi Hirahara’s mystery novels? Her characters are Japanese American, and she describes our culture in her books. I’ve only read “Gasa-Gasa Girl” so far (my father sent it to me for my birthday, along with two bags of omochi) and it is great! You can visit her website:www.naomihirahara.om for more info...

What is your favorite type of tea? I love Yamamoto Yama hoji-cha and oolong tea, but it is hard to find it here in New Orleans, so a Yonsei friend of mine sends me boxes of it from Oakland...

Unless it is loose, I don’t usually drink green tea. The expensive kind from Japan is preferred, but that’s a rare treat! When I go to Japanese restaurants here in New Orleans, I always ask for “strong green tea” and put my face in its steam when it comes and savor a smell that reminds me of Japan.

My all-time favorite tea is mugi-cha (barley tea), which I haven’t had in ages. I’ve tried it here in the states, but it just didn’t taste the same as in Japan, so I’d rather wait until I get there to drink it again.

I was happy to drink Korean corn tea in Berkeley at the Bear Ramen House on Durant Avenue, however, for it reminded me of mugi-cha...

Speaking of Japanese restaurants, Peter and I often go to Sekisui Samurai Restaurant in the quarter on Decatur Street for seaweed udon and avocado-salmon sushi... I gave one bag of mochi to the sushi chef as there was no way I could eat two bags of it!

I also left two issues of Hokubei at the restaurant; a Japanese/English newspaper is a rare sight in New Orleans!

Peter is so funny when he uses ohashi, his okii hakujin hands just can’t get the hang of it... So I asked the waitress for a fork and she smiled sympathetically... I tell him to gently dip the sushi in oshoyu and wasabi, so the rice doesn’t fall into it... Who knows, maybe he’ll get the chance to play the piano in Japan someday!

We’ll go to Japan Fest at the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park on Sunday... I can’t wait!

My tabby cat Sabona is doing fine, and is relieved I didn’t decide to adopt two kittens named Saffron and Dupre who are looking for a home... Sometimes I think she’d like some feline company, but on the other hand, she wouldn’t want to share her pillows with two rowdy whippersnappers! ;)

I partook in the New Orleans birthday tradition of letting people pin money on one’s lapel for the first time this year... It’s a great tradition because you know when people’s birthdays are! I find it frustrating when people won’t tell you.... Here, you can’t hide it!

I only made eight bucks, but if I’d gone to a bar, I am sure I would have made more! ;) A nice friend at the French Quarter Postal Emporium gave me French lettuce soap upon seeing it was my birthday, as he had just made a trip to “Viva la France” on Royal Street...

And Peter was given free tickets to the Gretna Fest (gretnafest.com) in the West Bank that weekend, so we went to see Amanda Shaw (amandashaw.com) play her fiddle and eat an onion mum.

An onion mum is a delicacy that one only really finds at festivals: it is a whole onion, cut so it splays out like a chrysanthemum, deep fried and served with some sort of yummy Cajun tartar-type sauce.

Peter got in touch with his German roots (he’s mixed with Serbian, Czech and several other nationalities, as many Europeans are) at the German beer garden and enjoyed a full-bodied lager and bratwurst on a stick with lots of mustard!

There was an Italian Village, too, and we hoped to see Louis Prima Jr., but missed him... Fortunately, this past weekend we saw Bobby Lenero at the Italian Festiva in the Central Business District. He brought us back in time with songs by Frank Sinatra and Louis Prima while we ate delectably tender ravioli’s from Andrea’s (www.andreasrestaurant.com)...

We’ve had fun discovering more about the West Bank since playing for the breakfast crowd at Tout de Suite in Algier’s Point on Saturday mornings... A nice break from the French Quarter, we take our bikes on the Algier’s ferry and cross the Mississippi early in the morning and view its winding panorama...

I’ve been singing more standards lately, and “Good Morning Heartache” seems to be a hit as well as “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas.” I am learning the French lyrics to “La Vie en Rose,” which everybody loves.... “Darn that Dream” is another oldie but goody that doesn’t irk the breakfast crowd...

Well, more later and have a happy weekend! :)