5:45 AM – Early Start to the Day
My morning began at 5:45 AM, as usual, with preparing a bento box. Today’s bento featured sauce tonkatsu as the main dish, paired with rolled omelet, simmered hijiki from last night, stir-fried green peppers for color, and a mini tomato for freshness.
Frozen foods are truly lifesavers! Japan offers an incredible variety of frozen foods tailored for bento boxes. These allow for quick, diverse meals even on busy mornings. Still, making bento every morning is no easy task! These frozen side dishes are perfect when I need just one more item to complete the box.
To keep up with my kids’ growing appetites, I also made two rice balls (onigiri). One was flavored with mentaiko (spicy cod roe) and the other with mixed wakame seaweed. Japan has an amazing array of rice seasonings that make it so easy to change flavors. These seasonings are not only affordable and lightweight but also make great travel souvenirs.
9:00 AM – Tackling Chores
After the kids left for school, I started on the usual household chores—cleaning, laundry, and tidying up. Once that was out of the way, I settled down to focus on Python programming.
Today, I dedicated a big chunk of time to working on this blog. There’s so much I want to share, and creating polished posts takes time. It’s rewarding but also quite draining!
12:00 PM – A Non-Stop Afternoon
No snacks for me today, which is rare! I spent the afternoon completely immersed in blogging tasks and AI learning. Time flew by without me even realizing it.
6:30 PM – Dinner: Omurice for the Kids
With my husband on the night shift tonight, I made omurice (Japanese omelet rice)—a dish my kids absolutely love. It’s quick to prepare, delicious, and never fails to put smiles on their faces.
Exams are coming up for my sons, so I reminded them to focus on their studies. But instead, they spent most of the evening watching anime or browsing YouTube. I want them to do well academically, as Japan is still very much a society that values educational achievements. At the same time, I sometimes wonder if that’s truly the only path to a fulfilling life.
11:00 PM – Wrapping Up the Day
Thanks to a relatively smooth day, I managed to wind down early and get into bed by 11 PM—an accomplishment in itself! Today was busy but productive, and I’m ready for whatever tomorrow brings.
