May 20, 2024

My dearest,

We are a week into our 18-day vacation in Japan. It feels as though it’s been a lifetime since our last holiday. This break is necessary, a reset.

But sleep has proven elusive last night. Shinjuku West is simply too quiet an area; every bump of a neighbouring room or the siren of ambulances in the streets can be heard.

Which is why we are in Shibuya today, for coffee and doughnuts. A salve after a poor night’s rest.

There isn’t a queue (though that will change later). Light, airy and cooked to order doughnuts, plus drip coffee: exactly what I needed.

That and your look of delight as you bite into your doughnut, dusted with kinako powder. The taste of roasted soybean flour is a revelation, as is the vision of you savouring your freshly fried pastry.

Carbohydrates, caffeine and me still crazy about you, after all these years. Who needs sleep?

Yours, ever and always.