Dao Xiao Mian

One of our favorite places to go on a lazy weekend day is Chinatown in Yokohama. I guess because it's not too far from Yokosuka, about a 30 minute train ride away. I've been there enough times to know what the different shops have to sell, (pretty much the same things), and since it's a small neighborhood, its easy to walk around. It is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world and one of the few spots in Japan where you can eat your food in public.

Yes, we do have a favorite restaurant. It's not on the main strip so how we came to find it is still a mystery to me. Several years ago, while walking about the streets and alley's of Chinatown, hungry and with an even hungrier toddler crying on us, we came upon a restaurant with a red facade. The display of food in their window showed several different noodle dishes which seemed unusual since most of the other restaurants did not display noodles or if they did, they were typically ramen type noodles. So we went inside, and were seated immediately. We were offered a menu written in engrish, (robster??), thank goodness and ordered our meal.

Why should I tell you about all of this? Because of their noodles, those wonderfully chewy, yet light noodles, resting in a rich, sweet and spicy beef broth, topped with chunks of tender beef and leafy green vegetables. Oh Heaven! Dao Xiao Mian! That is what the noodles are called. They are one of the delicacies originating from Shanxi provence including black vinegar which is drunk as well as used as a cooking ingredient. Why should I mention the black vinegar? Because that is how I find the restaurant. I walk along the main strip of Chinatown and make a left at the place where they sell the black vinegar and coconuts. I can also keep walking until I get to the toy panda bears and make a left there too.

Here a few links I've found that might be interesting to you noodle fans. One is about a noodle master in Boston and another is an indietrekker video blog on Beijing Noodles. Should you come to visit us in Japan, we would certainly take you to Chinatown and of course our favorite restaurant, Kyokarou Honkan.

Now let me show you some of my favorite photos of Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

What is art? Is it just something to be observed? Or something to be created? Or how about eaten? I encountered this little exhibit at one of the local department stores off base. I was in the basement of the store and part of the sausage vendor's booth was this zoo scene. Now Mom's, if you have any reason to believe that food cannot be fun, well take a look at these pics!

See the little hippo talking to the squirrels? I think they're squirrels. Their ears are small enough but I can't see the tail. But their little hands are held up just right. I think they're squirrels.

Some Yokosuka Friends

I've been meaning to put this pictures up and now I found this neat little slide tool thanks to such a technology advanced friend, Diane.

The photos are from a bittersweet day in late May. Our first friends in Yokosuka, Michael and Kristin Johnston and their two little girls were leaving for Portsmouth the next day. We've been through a lot together and had a lot of fun while we were at it. Remember Nikko? I don't!

Homes and the rainy afternoon

If you can't tell now, I have some time on my hands. Actually what I'm trying to do is procrastinate which I'm doing very well by slamming out blog posts. I have these photos I took one rainy afternoon, part of my "day in the life" series. These photos were taken sometime in June, well into rainy season. Rainy season this year was really wet. Our spring was mild and the first few months of summer including most of July was exceptional! I was really hoping that the hot, humid days of Yokosuka were going to elude us this year. Unfortunately that would not be the case and instead, Tokyo had seen some of the highest temperatures since recorded weather keeping.

Well, I had Zelig with me that afternoon so we went out in the downpour and headed to Homes. Homes is a department store, something like Target, perhaps a little more rough around the edges. Upstairs is the furniture department and now a Uniqlo. The furniture store at Homes is really the only option to get "quality" furniture in Yokosuka so of course the prices are steep for a lot of the items. Yes, we've bought a few furniture items from Homes and I just hope they last longer than our IKEA pieces!

One of the reasons why we like going to Homes is to see the pets. It's such a cheap thrill for Zelig and for me too. It's like going to the zoo or aquarium or better because we don't have to drive as far or pay as much. So of course, while we are there and with my camera tucked away in my purse, I headed to the toilets and took some photos to share with you. Why would you want to see a Japanese toilet? To see how clean the facilities are and to see some of the amenities that are included in some of the stalls.

This is the toilet cleaner. You take a few pieces of toilet tissue, spray cleaner on the tissue and wipe down the toilet.

This is the sound effects machine. This is a sensor so when you enter the stall, the sound of running water will start and finish when you leave the stall. It's to mask those embarrasing noises.

This is the actual commode. There is a control panel off to the side of the seat to allow you to adjust the bidet option. You can direct the stream, which by the way the water is heated as are the seats, alter the pattern of the stream such as a soft or hard spray and a few other things that I'm not privy to since I don't read kanji or hiragana.

After the washing of the hands, you'll need to dry off of course. These are automatic. Just place your wet hands inside and jets of forced air will blow the water off your skin as well as a few skin cells and some hairs too!