Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

I need a break... I need a break.

My mind shuttles faster than what I can digest, causing many unwanted bruises and hiccups. Must be careful. But there's no time. I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! Down the rabbit hole again...

After the double-whammy of nutmeg from the cream chicken stew and gingerbread mocha, I burrowed on the plush, red sofa at Pacific Coffee. What was intended to be a literary moment turned into a power nap. Businessmen passed by, with curious expressions on why this girl was passed out unguardedly on the couch like a chipmunk in hibernation.

Lucky for me, Hong Kong is a relatively safe city with little need to hold on to purses and phones - at least in broad daylight in a business district (however, my phone was stolen once - and the thief kindly (?) left behind my SIM card).

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and.

I...

fall... into...

the timewarp back...

...back into... childhood...

My lungs feel heavy, hot and moist air stagnates, and my shirt clings to my body. I am happy. In one swoop, a brilliant breeze grazes my cheek, flapping the sides of the straw-hat in a jubilant pitter-patter. In the distance, I hear the neighborhood kids calling - "come out and play! We're going to the park!" they say.

I possessed many toys, but what fascinated me the most were the infinite treasures outdoors. Most of my time was spent collecting insects and chasing small creatures with my bare hands. Like the lizard that I caught once, and then escaped - later, I had many occasions of observing the stub-tailed lizard scurrying across the cool, mossy stones. I would bring home preying mantis eggs, which would cause my mother to shriek, and then force me to take them back outside. There was nothing more fascinating to me than seeing thousands of green baby mantises fly out in a fuzz at the moment of hatching.

I soon moved on to obssessing about monarch butterflies, which would leave their young on the Sansho or orange leaves. I often pinched the soft green caterpillars, which would cause them to protrude their orange horns that smelled of sansho or orange. I was never fortunate enough to witness metamorphosis from the beautiful translucent chrysalis, for reasons which I cannot recall. Ladybugs, locusts, rolly-pollys dragon flies, crawfish, battling beatles, green frogs - they were all subject to my inquiry at some point.

My parents encouraged and helped me dig up the battling beatle larvae, which I would observe through the plastic casing. The gross but pulsating worm would turn from white to pink, and eventually start to form their keratin coating - then eventually battle to mate and die. Tadpoles were my favorite, as I would scoop them from the creeks and watch the long tube of jelly turn into black swimmers, oddly shaped quarter-notes with legs, and take on a hue of light green. The offsprings would eventually turn into smooth, lime-colored frogs which I cruelly played with until I exhausted them - and let them go so they could discover the outside world.

While most girls shirked away in disgust, I was purely fascinated with life. I would thoroughly enjoy reading biographical accounts of the entymologist, Dr. Fabre and the zoologist Dr. Seaton. The cliche would make people snicker, but I literally ran through rice fields and the fig farm. There was so much nature to be appreciated. My friends found a secret patch of four-leaved clovers. What I know now as a polyploidy mutation was absolute magic to a 7-year old. My friend and I once went on an azalea hunt and foolishly plucked and sucked the nectars until we were sick. Our parents scolded us, but it was a good laugh and the sweet smell of nectar and pollen entices me now and then to try it once more.

My mother was the best teacher of how to play in nature - we would link dandelions togethers to make jump ropes; braid Dutch clovers into elaborate crowns; collect shiny acorns and pinecones to make matchstick cars and funny creatures; pick fragrant yomogi-leaves to make mochi; teach me how to blow on a ground cherry to make a most interesting noise; find the sporing horse-tails to make a tasty appetizer. Speaking of food, one old-time favorite sport in the Fall is raking leaves - because at the end of the hard labor, we get to roast yams in the leaves which seemed better than any snack that you could buy at the store.

We were frightened of the obscure, such as the poisonous snakes, Michael - the straycat with AIDS (yes, this was early 80s), and the Tengu (a mythical Japanese demon with a red face and a long nose). My brother's personal nemesis was the kappa - a green, webbed man with a disc-shaped head and a peculiar liking for cucumbers, sumo-wrestling, and little boys' testicles. Life is strange when you are young.

Spring, Summer, and Fall are the best seasons for outdoor activities, but the Winter can be just as exciting. Our neighbor packed the wet snow in to a mountain and repeatedly splashed water over it to make slides. We even made stairs, which made us even prouder of our creation.
I only lived in Atsugi, Japan for a year - but it is the most vivid part of my childhood. The four seasons of rural Japan are best experienced outside with nature.

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This is what I long for on a day like this. I know that I want my children to experience the same - when you live so close to nature, there is an indescribable calm and appreciation for life that develops within you.