##Home & Away Episode 2 Synopsis I watched the second episode of Home & Away tonight. Kaede had set sail to Tokyo on a boat, but at the beginning of this episode she lands shipwrecked on a desert island. She crosses through the island, only to discover that it is truly deserted. Carving out a big SOS on the sand, she can do nothing but settle down to sleep for the night. She is awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a motorboat, and discovers a group of five girls sneaking into Japan illegaly with the help of a smuggler. She is wearing her Chinese souvenir clothes because her real clothes got wet, so she tries to pass as one of the girls. This is her plan to get off the island. But at that moment, a police-boat comes by, catches them and takes them all to jail! After arguing with the policemen (who think she is Chinese) for hours, Kaede remembers that her passport was in her bag, so she shows it to the policemen and they go off to check it. She goes and sulks in the cell with the other girls. The policemen come back and apologize. She is let go, and finds out that she is in somplace far away from Tokyo. At the bus station she buys a ticket, but her bus is postponed/lost/delayed(?) until the morning. Looking for a place to pass the night, she finds an empty traditional Japanese bar tended by a cold-hearted man in a yukata. As she eats and drinks some warm sake, a drunk young man enters the bar and begins to bother her. She pushes him away, and he exits in a huff. Suddenly, the bartender takes off (oh, if only I could understand Japanese!) for some unknown reason, but she has his permission to stay at his place that night. After he has left, a friend of the bartender comes by and has a heartfelt talk with Kaede. He leaves. Upstairs, she finds a little boy asleep. She falls asleep sitting next to his bed, and he wakes her up in the morning. As she runs out the door to catch her bus, the kid demands breakfast. In a change of heart, she stays to fix him some vittles and see him off to school. By this time, she has missed the bus. So she wanders around town, stops by the police station, but they will/can(?) do nothing for her. At a local park, she finds the little boy, who is not in school! He says he has problems with bullies, so she marches to the schoolyard with him in tow to confront the bullies. She pretends to be his mom, reluctantly, but settles the conflict. That night, businessmen come to the bar to have dinner. Kaede tries to shoo them away, but they insist that she make them dinner. All of the sudden, the young man who bothered her the night before shows up with his father. The father is very angry, maybe the young man told him a made-up story. Kaede sticks up for herself, speaking some strong words. As part of her speech, she says that she is the mistress of the bar. The father of the young man, realizing what happened, apologizes and drags his son off. The businessmen, pointing out that Kaede had said she was the bar-mistress, again playfully demand dinner. So she goes into the back and put on a kimono, and makes some fantastic dishes, wowing the customers. The next morning, she scolds the boy for not being ready for school. He reminds Kaede that today is Saturday. Embarassed, she tells him to eat breakfast and they will go to the fish market. At the fish market, the boy leads her around the tells her what fish to buy. Kaede is slightly annoyed that people think she is his mother, but gets used to it. Kaede sees some delicious looking mollusks and intends to buy them, but the boy says they are expensive and takes her down to the pier where he dives into the water and catches his own mollusk. They sit together to watch the sunset and the young kid scoots closer to her. Kaede is like his mother, and she is happy with that. My memory is getting fuzzy about what happens next, but the father (bartender) shows up and is nicer to his son. The boy cries and chases after the truck when the father's friend takes Kaede aboard his truck to head to Tokyo. She falls fast asleep, and wakes up thinking she has met another disaster. But she is still in the truck and they are in Osaka! --I also watched the first episode of Are You In Love?. [ Link ] --Also amusing is the Eye Spy LA show, starring either Joe or Alex, depending on the week. This week Joe went to visit Kid's Auto Mechanic. I think Alex is funnier. ##Philipino Fast Food: Jollibee This entry is to remind myself to eat at a Southern California Jollibee someday. There are two locations nearby, one in Long Beach and one in Cerritos. Not only Jollibees, I've also got a mind to find a California Chowking. Also for future reference, there is one Chowking at 8955 Mira Mesa Blvd and another at 2220 E. Plaza Blvd, both in San Diego. [ Link ] Further research turns up "Chowking outlets at Carson and West Covina", having telephone numbers (310) 835-7100 and (626) 810-4511 respectively. The plot thickens. It turns out that the Jollibee family extends to "Chinese fastfood chain Chowking, pizza and pasta chain Greenwich and deli/ sandwiches chain Delifrance." Delifrance! [ Link ] For the folks who have no idea what this is about, Jollibee is a native Philipino fast food chain. We ate there exactly zero times while we were in Manila. Well, we did get drinks the day we went to visit the volcano. But we carried them out. Anyhow, it's exciting to me that a non-US fast food chain is acheiving global success. --For my birthday, I had requested to go miniature golfing at Camelot and to eat at the Hong Kong Buffet down in Fullerton at Chapman and Raymond. Plans may change. --And as a random link, check out Jews in Asia.