Goemon 中華そば吾衛門

In search of Ramen: 02 Goemon 中華そば吾衛門 [RDB 87%].  Our grandson 賢太郎大山 told us that his friends father ran a ramen shop, that was near the city library and only about 3 minutes from Nishi-Hachioji station. As luck would have it I wanted to go to the library to do some work; this condo is too small but I soon found out that the library was just as small... but with more people. So M and I decided to check out Goemon which was literally right next to the library.
　On our way to the library there was a line of about 11 people outside on the sidewalk, a good sign especially on a cold day. Now that it was almost 2 pm there were only 2 people waiting. Our wait was no more than 5 minutes. A lady pointed to two seats at the clean, if old, counter of this tiny ten seat ramen shop. Behind me was a menu, but I didn't really have to look.
　"Two ramen." The lady brought two cups of water and in less than 5 minutes, we had two bowls of ramen. (A)

The soup was shoyu (soy sauce) in chicken broth. It was a little fatty, which is fine but perhaps a bit salty. (B/C) The protein was, of course, a slice of chashu that tasted pretty average: Not bad but not great. Interestingly, there was no naruto (fish cake). (B/C) The other toppings were menma (bamboo sprout) and a square sheet of nori. There was also a healthy serving of finely chopped onions. Many places will use green onions/scallions but according to M, Hachioji style ramen uses regular onions. It gave the ramen a different taste. (A/B). The noodles were standard thickness so although they were al dente they were not especially chewy like Aoba's the other day. (B)
　Goemon: 84% B. In general, the experience reminded me of the ramen I often ate when I first came to Japan: Piping hot, shoyu, a bit salty. The onions made it a bit different than the usual fare, but as we left the shop, I could still feel a film of fat coating my tongue. M said she didn't need to apply lip balm on this cold windy day. :-P

Aoba 中華そば青葉

In search of ramen: 01 Aoba 中華そば青葉. This is a place not far from the monthly condo we are staying at. It was recommended by my grandson's girlfriend. I told her that we are looking for "regular" ramen. Not miso soup, not pork broth, but classic "ordinary" ramen--shoyu or salt base broth.
　We arrived at 3:15 and there were two other customers in a 14 seat counter. We ordered by purchasing a meal ticket 食券 from a machine in the corner. Much to M's dismay, they didn't serve beer. But the service was efficient; the counter and restaurant in general was clean. We ordered the regular--Chūka soba (Chinese noodles)--and it came in 6 minutes. (A) I instantly tasted the fish on the first sip of broth--Niboshi 煮干し is dried sardines and often used to make broth. While not over-powering, it was more than I expected. The broth was a bit fatty too, so I'm guessing that the broth is a mixture of the dried fish broth and some of the pork used to make chashu. (B/C)

The bowl came with a single slice of pork chashu and naruto (spiral-designed fish cake); the chashu was fatty and soft and very tasty; that naruto was... just naruto. (B) Non protein toppings were menma (bamboo shoots) and a small sheet of nori. (C) After the first couple of bites, the fish taste seemed to drift into the background. The noodles were of medium thickness--a tad narrower than linguine; they were al dente, chewy and tasted absolutely wonderful. (A) By the last sip of soup, I could barely taste the sardines.
　Aoba: 86% B.　　https://www.nakano-aoba.jp/

You Know You're In Japan 02

We live in this tiny monthly condo and have nothing, I mean nothing. So we have become good customers at Don Quijote. Donki, as it is more familiarly referred to in Japan, is a discount store that is packed with almost anything and everything you might need at a discount price. Coffee, hair drier, extension cord, pillow, fry pan, etc. Some things really are cheap but most are similar to US prices.
　But, omigod, what stands out is the service.
　There is an expression in Japan: The customer is god. お客様は神様. So at Donki, I have M's hair drier in hand and am looking for a cash register. I find it but see that there is no customer there and the cashier was about to leave her station to do some other task. In the US, I'm sure most cashiers would continue on with the new task, whether or not they saw me. But this cashier, as she is about to step out from behind the counter, deliberately looks around to confirm that there are no customers approaching, but when she catches my eyes, she pauses, smiles and says,
　"Are you ready to purchase?"
　I nod happily and make payment satisfied that she took care of the customer before any other task.
　I then go downstairs to the 1st floor to purchase food stuff--coffee, snacks, y'know, the important stuff.
　"That comes to ¥1,037", the young cashier tells me.
　My coin purse is heavy with coins so I want to get rid of some of it and fumble to find 37 yen as I apologize for my slowness. As I juggle a handful of coins, one falls from my palm and lands in the wastebasket (it's mostly for customers to throw away receipts and other bits of trash). "Crap" I think as I manage to sort out the 37 yen. Well, the cashier says, "Oh no!", leans over the counter to quickly rummage through the trash and picks out a 50 yen coin.
　"はい!" (here you go), she smiles and hands it to me.
　I almost lost 50 yen just to lighten my pocket by 37 yen, but thanks to this helpful and customer-oriented cashier, I didn't. I'm not sure if I ever said this but, I love Japan.

Law & Order

The other day, I was in the car with M's son and I see a car make a left turn on a red light. Since the Japanese drive on the left side of the road--like the British--this is similar to making a right turn on a red in the US. But, whereas this is legal in most of the US, in Japan it is not. I was going to ask my son-in-law to confirm this legal point when suddenly I hear a loud whistle and see a police officer run past us at high speed.
　Yes, he was running.
　The police office obviously observed the same thing I did and went after the violator. I turned around to follow him and saw him catch up to the vehicle at the next red light down the block. He knocked on his window to, I presume, write up a citation.
　As our lane began to move and we left the traffic violator in the rear view mirror, I couldn't help but marvel: Only in Japan would a police office even imagine to pursue on foot--let alone catch!--a perpetrator driving a car. They obviously take law and order very seriously here in Japan.

You Know You're In Japan

Two reasons why I know I'm in Japan: Yesterday, on a late overcast afternoon, we moved into our monthly condo in Hachioji, Tokyo. I knew that I was in Japan when I saw how small our one-room condo is. the "hallway" was narrow. It feels like 2" between my shoulders and the wall when I stand right in the middle. The living area must be about 7.5 mats. But with one single-sized bed and a small desk and TV table. I feel like I have to squeeze my way around just to navigate to the toilet, which is interestingly quite roomy for Japan.

　Today, I woke up to a bright sunny morning. I decided to look outside to see what kind kind a view we had from the 6th floor and I saw the other reason why I know I'm in Japan. Between two tall condo buildings, I saw in the distance sparkling white, Mount Fuji.

Kars4Kids

Sis says the family trait is to do things the hard way. It's a path that entails stressful steps but eventually works out in the end. Sometimes it is coincidental, sometimes it is through personality disorders. Case in point: I'm a procrastinator.
　I have an old Maxima that I inherited from my mother after she passed. After 17 years, our move to Japan has compelled me to finally let go of the car and so I decided to donate it to Kars4Kids but I didn't contact them until the last minute--I mean, their radio jingle says they could even pick it up the next day, right? Well, not so at the end of the year. I call Dec. 24, ask for the car to be picked up by the 28th, but they couldn't until the 30th. "I won't be home..." They told me that they often pick up cars without the owner present; leaves title and keys in glove compartment and the door unlocked. So I did just that, but not knowing if they came for the car had me worried for a couple of days. Rats! All I had to do was call them a week earlier, like when I was in the middle of packing and frantically cleaning the house and rushing to grade finals and contacting dozens of companies to close accounts and end services.
　Fortunately I just got an email saying that they picked up the car and appreciated the donation. Whew! Worked out in the end. One load off my mind.