Kyoto Ramen Linya

We discovered this place while out for a dog walk one evening....

Of course, since Truman was with us, we couldn't go in that night. But, when the owner saw us looking at the menu on the porch, he stepped out and gave us some coupons!

So, a few nights later, we strolled over for dinner!

When you walk in the door you get a good view of their drink options!

Then, you make your choice for seating--

sit at the bar or kick your shoes off and slide into a traditional Japanese table.

Notice there are even slippers available so when you need to go refill your drink, you don't have to put your shoes on and off again!

When we sat down at the bar, I was looking around for where to put my purse. I didn't really want to sit it on the floor and don't have one of those fancy bag hangers. Next thing I know, one of the sweet workers places this basket on the floor beside me, motions to my purse and points into the basket. How sweet!!

Then came time to make our food choices!!

Evidently, they have "Yummy Chicken"!!

And many ramen "set" choices!

Rodney used one of our coupons for gyoza (dumplings) to go with his curry ramen.

I chose the "Ladies Set" which turned out to be about half the size of a regular bowl of ramen. I used an "extra pork" coupon and it turned out to be more than plenty!! 

Choices made, its time to pick up those chopsticks and start slurping up those noodles!!

YUM!!!

Jyaken

I thought some of you might find it interesting to see inside some of the Japanese food places we've tried.
So, I'm going to start with...
"Jyaken Hiroshima Style Super Hot Noodle"

Typical small store front...the wooden front tends to be a typical front on the little food places.

 

What makes this place unique is the noodles, meat, and vegetables are served separately from the sauce.

Per the directions:
Step 1~ wear a bib! The sauce can stain if you (like me) are a sloppy slurper!
Step 2~ dip the meat, noodles, and vegetables into the sauce.

Step 3~ if it's not spicy enough, add more spice available on the table. If it's too spicy, you can add vinegar to mellow the taste.
Step 4~ when the noodles, meat, and vegetables are gone, "why not drink up the dipping sauce...? Unexpectedly it is not so hot!"

There are basically two choices to make:
Hot plate or cold plate?
How spicy? Even if you can't read the Japanese to understand the spice levels, the pictures say it all!!!

On our first visit, Rodney chose the hot plate. Being it was hot day, I chose the cold, so my vegetables were raw and the meat and sauce chilled.

 

cold plate

hot plate

The gyoza was hand-made behind the counter and quite tasty!

Rodney was a bit braver on our second visit and tried a bit spicier level....can you figure out how spicy it was??
(Hint: check the spice level poster above! ;)

Mechanic

One of the issues of living overseas on a little island is the cost and availability of some things. When the starter began going out on Rodney's little X90, he researched his options. Turned out getting it fixed on base was going to cost anywhere from $350-$1000 depending on new (from mainland Japan) or used parts!!!! Rodney got on ebay and found the brand new starter needed and had it shipped over. It was here in about one and a half weeks, all for $75!!!

So, he played mechanic in our parking lot and its been running fine ever since :)

ECO Japan Two-Day

This school group was large enough that on the first day half the group participated in ECO Japan Cultural Relations Program while the other half visited a tourist spot. On the second day, the two groups switched.

DAY ONE

In any culture, it seems every "road trip" requires a potty stop!!

After that we headed to Katsuren Castle.
This is my group and my friend Diane's group (and her two kids :).

My girls...

Climbing the stairs....

Take a picture break on the way back down!!

We provide lunch for them as part of the program, so we get to teach them how to make a ham and cheese sandwich! And they LOVE Fruit Rollups!!!!
Sadly, during lunch, we got a call that the incoming typhoon had raised the weather condition to a level requiring us to come back early.

So, we snapped our last group pics and parted ways....
Each group had made a sign with their host's name :)

DAY TWO

We were getting more rain this day after the typhoon had passed, so doing much outdoors was out of the question. So, we went shopping first!!

Mihama Carnival Park at American Village

I got to have my first experience with the photo booths!!
We all huddled inside the booth for eight shots.

Then, out to the screens to choose how many pictures you want on the sheet and decorate the poses you want to keep.

When they've printed out, you cut them apart to share with your group. The big surprise to me was---they're stickers!! So, they helped me put one on the back of my phone :)

At that point, it was time for lunch....but where do you have a picnic when it's raining harder as the day goes by?!?!?

The large gazebo by the beach, that's where!!
By the time we finished eating, the rain was blowing in sideways and the girls were simply DONE being out in the yucky weather. Now, part of the regulations of the exchange program is they are not allowed on base. BUT, since I don't live on base.....

We went back to my house for some UNO...
(And let me tell you, some of them are "VICIOUS" UNO players!! ;o)

...and Wii 'Just Dance'!!!

It was a much fun way to spend a couple hours out of the rain and wind and thunder!

So, we had to do our group shots in my living room :)
But, it worked well to put the cameras on the table and set the timers!! We just had to make sure they were all finished flashing before we moved!

My girls...

At that point, it was time to head to the busses....in the POURING rain!!
My sweet girl seemed to have a good day :)

Lunch at TomiTon Center

Before seeing the Lego exhibit, we ate lunch at the food court. Each of the little store fronts is a different food place.

Rodney and I decided the cast iron bowl place looked promising...

He chose curry.

I chose Taco Rice.

After scooping out some into the bowl and topping it with a bit of taco sauce, I determined-- I chose wisely!!! It was very tasty...especially the parts where the cheese and rice had kind of fried against the bowl :)

On our way out, we got quite the chuckle--- can you spy the two sleeping daddies holding the sleeping babies?!!? ;)

And what better to end an outing than ice cream??

 

 

 

Any of my Missouri friends remember 'foremost'??

YUM!!!