I dream of lychee and lime. I dream of a floral sweet accentuated by a tangy sour.

Last week I biked to Japantown in search of lychees, leaving with only a consolation of lychee-flavored soda. Determined, I called a fruit store in the Mission, and to my joy, they had stocked lychees just the day before.

Lightly heaving from biking a few miles, I bought 24 little red gems. 12 I submerged in neutral vodka to make extract, and the other 12 in water and sugar to make syrup.

To my disappointment, the extract will take weeks to extract, and the syrup tasted only of the sugar. Mixed with lime, I have a plain old limeade, boo.

Quantity toward quality, though, as a writer or instrumentalist will tell you. Today I biked to Chinatown and bought more than 5 pounds of lychees. Until I achieve it, I still dream of lychees and limes.