The Ultimate in Fast Food (Nicki)

Thought I would type in a quick post to let you know how we spent our weekend as a follow up to Wednesday at Disney - by the way, Mike wanted me to let you know that the remainder of our Disney pictures are up in the Gallery, dated 12/14/2005. We took it easy this Saturday but we thought that we would take a short trip up to Yokohama (well, close to Yokohama), to Kamiooka station on the Keikyu Line, to check out an electronics store that Jeff told us about. I wanted to get a couple of frames for some pictures that my Grandparents sent me a couple weeks back and Mike just wanted to check out all the "toys". This place was definitely electronics overload. It was awesome but at the same time overwhelming. Great entertainment for Joshua and it was fun to see all the gadgets that we don't have yet in the States. I'm sure that this store was nothing compared to Akihabara in Tokyo, which is one of the spots on our "must see" list before we leave Japan. I found a couple of 8x10 frames at the store but couldn't really find a collage frame to my liking, so I'll just have to keep shopping. If you're interested and/or you are located in the Yokohama area and would like to check it out, the store is called Yodobashi and it's located on the 9th floor at the mall around Komiooka station.

On our way up to Kamiooka, as we were walking to the train station, we bickered about where we were going to eat lunch. We had gotten a late start - it was already 11:00AM - and Josh's official lunch time. I was cranky and hungry because all I had was a cup of coffee for breakfast. We thought about hunting down a Sushi place, but we didn't know where there were any child-friendly places. Josh doesn't eat raw fish yet. (I'm not sure what the safe age for this is. He's 2 years) We have faced this predicament in the past. Typically, we hunt for for a new Sushi Restaurant to try (that is child-friendly). During our search, we proceed to get hungrier and more frustrated. We find nothing to agree upon and end up settling for McDonalds. So today, we decided to skip the search and stop by the train station's McDonalds and grab a bite. However, as fate would have it, the line at McDonald's was out the door. Seeing this as some sort of a sign, we headed for Yokosuka-Chuo train station to try our luck at hunting down a good sushi spot. We didn't have to hunt for long. More's is a mall located at Yokosuka-Chuo train station. Taking the elevator to the 8th floor lead us to the food garden (I think that's what they called it) and "Ding" we found something. It was a little Sushi Bar with a coveyer belt full of plates. Just what we were looking for. We scoped out the place and it was pretty quiet inside, which meant, Horray!, not too many folks would give us the evil eye if we brought a 2 year old into the place. They had just what we were looking for. As I sat there, I pondered....'this is the ultimate in fast food! You don't even have to order. It's just there already.' If you've never been in a sushi bar such as this you're missing out. For family members back at home, I'll describe. When you walk in, there is a bar set up with a Sushi Chief behind the counter.

On the counter, there is a small conveyer belt with little plates of sushi delights. Each plate is color-coded. Each color stands for a certain price that is usually posted on a menu or on the wall. For example, blue plates cost 100 Yen, yellow plates are 200 Yen, and so on. When you're done eating, the amount of plates you finish off are added up and that's your bill. Usually, there is complimentary instant green tea or tea bags placed on the counter along with a hot water dispenser and mug. Being that this was Yokosuka-Chuo Station (and extremely close to the Navy Base), much of the sushi being served was of the America-jin variety. Salmon, Tuna, Squid, Shrimp, and different sushi rolls. I'm not a big fan of the sushi rolls at all. The seaweed is just to fishy for my taste and in a lot of the rolls, there is an excess of mayonaise or some sort of creamy stuff that I just can't hack, along with fish eggs. However, I can eat the raw stuff all day! For those of you back home who have never tried actual Sashimi, I urge you to try. There is absolutely NO fishy taste. The texture is like a really rare steak - it melts in your mouth. Mixed with sticky rice, wasabi, and soy it is fantastic. If you're apprehensive, drink some sake (Japanese rice-wine) first and then give it a try! Or try some seared tuna at a restaurant and you're halfway there. Josh was content with some rice, fried chicken and french fries. That meal definitely made our day.