There's a friend I've kept up with since junior high school —
Someone who is at once my closest companion and what you might call an inseparable old tie.
Through the good and the bad, we get along effortlessly,
And that much has never changed.

Time passed, and we both grew up.

I moved a little further away,
And with work and family to think about,
It's not as easy to meet up casually as it used to be.

But instead, we've made a decision:
We go out together for a proper meal
At somewhere special
That neither of us would usually go, on a regular basis.

A wood-fired restaurant recommended by a food connoisseur.
A brilliant Italian place I stumbled upon social media.
We've even been to a hidden gem
That opens just once a week and takes only two tables.

Every restaurant I want to try goes into my NOTE-A-NOTE —
All listed and gathered in one place.

One page per restaurant.
I note down the date, the name of the place, the menu and ingredients,
And the cooking methods the chef shared with us.
Shop cards go into the expanding pocket.
And in the margins of the pages, I jot down the silly,
Meandering conversations we had along the way.

Our own little collection of delicious memories and good times,
Growing with every visit.