Karen Bremer Masuda

Translation Writer/Literary Fiction Writer

I have always been a writer of literary fiction, doing translation writing on the side. Now that I have started translation writing for RocketNews24, those two jobs have switched places! I live in Shizuoka city, with my family, and part of my job is to help look after an aging father-in-law. I love taking pictures of Mt. Fuji in all her different moods, and I also love shooting clouds which create such beautiful canvases across the sky. I am KaBooM on Blogspot, a blog that has been archived, but opens up with one of my published short stories. I am ChaChuMas on Twitter and Karen Masuda on Facebook. I regularly post my pictures there.

Posted by Karen Bremer Masuda (Page 4)

The Very Bitter Gourd ‘Goya’ Ripens into a Sweet Treat!

The goya represents summer in Japan in many ways.  This bitter gourd is a staple of Okinawa cuisine with a tropical image, its bitterness is celebrated as one of the healthiest foods around.  If you can stand the bitterness then it is excellent for the skin, a beauty aide for women!

The ever popular ‘green curtain’, which is a vine plant grown on netting over windows to keep out the heat, often consists of goya plants.  The leaves grow thick and can keep direct sunlight out considerably saving on cooling costs!

Goya growers and super markets throw out the over-ripe goya when it yellows, I suppose because it stops being the well-loved summer vegetable we all know.

But wait!  If you let it ripen, it turns into a bright yellow sweet fruit!  WOW!  Where did that bitterness go?
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If you don’t live in Hokkaido, Japanese summers are hot and humid! A good way to stay cool, other than staying in a confined room where air-conditioned air is piped out from a room cooler, is to use a uchiwa. It only takes just a little muscle to keep a constant breeze and recently there are highly functional ones that will help send cool air your way!

Stainless Steel type, put it in the Freezer!

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