I am not the pack leader

All I can say is, "selective hearing."

Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen

Let's roll back time to Spring 2002 when Edwin and I decided to rent a car for a road trip to LA. We spent approximately five days there. We met up with my cousins who introduced us to Shin-Sen-Gumi, a Japanese restaurant. I was told they were known for their Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen, a pork and ginger flavored soup with various toppings you can add. The noodles were freshly made. You could order the noodles hard, medium or soft. We actually saw the noodles being made and cooked which made me even more excited. Once I tasted the soup and asked for a second helping of noodles, I knew my quest for finding it in Houston would begin once we drove back a few days later.

So time now equals a few days ago. Oishii was again busy with a long wait and no parking. So naturally, option II was in effect. As we drove down 59 towards Bellaire I remembered Kubo's Cafe was open. When we walked in, it was surprisingly cute and casual. We stood around like dorks until we saw the "order here" sign at the counter. What do I see on the counter as a new item on the menu? Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen ($6.99). Are you freaking kidding me? I thought, "I should keep my expectations low." You know what happens when someone tells you something is really good? You expect too much and then you get disappointed. And then, you remember it. "Remember when so-and-so told you to try that dish or that restaurant and it was just "eh...ok"? Yeah, let's not rush over there to try it today."

The smell of the soup brought back memories of the many times I visited Shin-Sen-Gumi. The soup was extremely hot but flavorful. The noodles was almost the same but since I haven't had the dish since September 2009 I couldn't really tell there was a big difference. The cha-shu was round and tender with some fat. Fresh was evident and surprisingly delightful. I was quite surprised. Even to the bottom of the bowl, the noodles and soup were worth the wait for the find. Though the soup was a tad on the salty side at the end, I walked away wanting more even though I was stuffed. All these years of looking for Japanese food that didn't include sushi and this is what becomes of my search. AWESOME!

I won't be waiting for Southwest's LA flights to go on sale so I can go visit Shen-Sin-Gumi (and my brother and cousins)... that also doesn't mean I won't stop by if I'm in the area.

*Available at Kubo's in the Rice Village ($8.50) during lunch and after 5pm at Kubo's Cafe ($6.99).

Update: I was really curious if Kubo's in Rice Village would be as good or the same as Kubo's Cafe on Bellaire. Unfortunately it is not. For some reason the broth is not as flavorful. I found that disappointing since I was looking forward to having lunch there sometimes. On a brighter note, Kubo's Cafe does serve it all day during the weekend. Even if the noodles don't seem as fresh as Shin-Sen-Gumi, it's still pretty damn good.















Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen @ Kubo's Rice Village

What's in your head?

• I wish my dogs would stop peeing in their cage.
• Hmm... what else can I throw away in this storage room?
  
• Just one more episode of The Big Bang Theory and I'll head out to work.
  
• Not much traffic today surprisingly with all this rain
• I guess I'll park in my option 2 spot
• Man I'm hungry. Is it lunchtime yet?
• That's weird, my image for HoustonGrows actually loaded last night. It kept giving me an error. Stupid Facebook lag.
• Ugh... it may snow tonight.
  
• Nice article about Google Buzz vs. Facebook vs MySpace vs Twitter
  
• Nice, Nick Anderson kept the door open for me.
• Maggie Ritas is packed. It's weird people are sitting so low to the ground now. I remember when they were looking down on my head.
• What to eat? What's hot? What can I eat with a spoon/fork/chopsticks?
• What's worse? Not knowing what to eat or wondering in the tunnels saying "no, no, no" to places you pass? No wonder I frustrate Edwin.
• Chicken or Beef? ooh... Chicken with shrimp or chicken with beef?
  
• Where's your head at? Basement Jaxx
• What's in your head? in your head? Zombie Zombie Zombie eh eh eh oh oh oh ... Cranberries
• When emerging from an eatery inside the tunnels, it is always wise to slowly walk out while looking left and right for traffic and unaware talkers, phone users and cart pushers.
• Whoa, keep to the right else confuse the heck out of people walking. Tunnel Tips... I should write a blog about it?
• Is anyone walking behind me?
• Oh Rodeo tickets... correction carnival tickets. Concert tickets? Who's playing? Do I want to go? hmm... fried oreos... yeeeeeeeeees
• Alex, where'd you go? ... wait, how come you never want to lunch with me?
• Who's chatty on twitter?
• More how to-s about Google Buzz
• Eww... what is that? fat? no, it's meat ... ok. I don't eat fat.

Shinjy's mad

My friend foolishly asked me to feed her cat while she's away. I said. "Sure, that can't be hard." I don't have to take him out for a walk. I was told Shinjy, her cat, was shy. I'm asthmatic so that cuts down too long of a stay. So, I go over one morning so my friend can train me... location of food, water intake and waste procedures. Hello! Easy!

The first night, Wednesday, was as expected. I walk in to look for Shinjy. I say hello and introduce myself and inform Shinjy of my duties. I fill the bowl with food and then see if he will interact with me. He peeked his head out but then quickly hid. Maybe it was my breathe ... it's not. I'll try again the next day I told Shinjy. Have a good night!

So today I'm thinking, "Awesome! Today is Friday." Work was going well and I was heading home soon. Then I looked at the little animal figures that "watch" me as I work. Oh holy crap of kitty cat fur! I forgot about Shinjy yesterday! Cheese! He's going to be so pissed.

Fast forward to Shinjy's kingdom. I walk in and I'm quickly greeted by Shinjy. I say "greeted" but I really mean "SCOLDED." Shinjy was not happy with me. "You irresponsible little girl. I thought you knew your duties. Follow me." He leads me to his bowl. Of course it's empty and I'm totally ashamed and embaressed. Shinjy turns and gives me "the look." I grab his food and start filling the bowl as he waits and all the while I'm apologizing over and over. I'll find out tomorrow if he forgives me.

Easy, I said. Right? Kharma is what it is. Easy if my old ass can remember!

Update: Shinjy was not happy with me. I brought Edwin over to visit Saturday. Shinjy is done with me. So... that's that. Remember, I said it was easy.

Hong Kong ... boots boots part II

Edwin and I were finally on our way to Hong Kong. I can't tell you how excited I was to be visiting the city and even more so seeing my good friend Billy. Billy and I hung out quite a bit while he was living and working in Houston. When he left Houston a year ago I was painfully reminded of when my first childhood friend moved away in elementary school. I find it difficult to really connect with people you can trust and confide in and also have them be honest with you and you with them. When I find these people, I really treasure them. Anyways, finally able to see Billy again was something special that I probably will not get to do often. I have to thank Edwin for agreeing to make this our one big travel trip for the year. He has to put up with me and that's not easy because it's an every day responsiblity.

From Beijing to Hong Kong we flew on Dragon Air. It was the best flight experience I ever had. The flight crew was nice with many smiles for each encounter. The seats were comfortable with enough leg room. The food was better than other flights although I can be biased since the food was Chinese cuisine. I also can't complain that they played "500 Days of Summer." Overall, it was a very pleasant trip.

When we landed in the Hong Kong area, the new airport was roughly an hour away from Kowloon which is where we stayed. Our hotel was a few months old and a few minutes from the old airport. Edwin noticed traffic was different first. First, the bus door is what would be America's driver side. The driver sits on the right which would be the passenger's side. Traffic is opposite from the US. It doesn't affect you much until you're a pedestrian. Thank goodness there were messages on the road directing you where to look. If not for those... well, let's not think about that. Everywhere we went, we saw girls in skirts, tights and boots and of course scarves. Boots were in: knee high, ankle, flats and heels. Hong Kong girls are quite trendy. Reminds me of New York.

We headed out to meet Billy for dinner. Of course when I see him, he's standing on the street corner working. Who knew Hong Kong street walkers were so high tech with laptops. HA! He took us to a noodle shop that had about 5 tables with 2 to 3 seats each. I am all about noodles that cost less than $2 USD and "hole-in-the-wall" type eateries (that describes about half of Hong Kong). I am not complaining. Later we headed to Lady Street where it's just booth after booth of t-shirts, belts, wallets, bags and bartering. I thought I was doing pretty well but Edwin did not agree at all. We did walk in with a strategy: "Don't be committed. Walk away." It's definitely a game. You have to act like you're not committed to buying. Make them committed to selling and you're golden.

The next day we headed to the East Asian Olympic Games to watch a couple volleyball matches. We watched Macau get destroyed by Japan. Honestly, watching a dominating team demolish another team is not fun. The second game we watched was China vs Hong Kong. Billy's friends were on the Hong Kong team. They put up a good fight against the real Chinese Olympic volleyball team. It looked like men (China) playing against college kids (Hong Kong). It was more exciting. The Chinese team is ridiculously tall. I wonder where they grew up. I can arrange a marriage for my future daughter, can't I?

We hung out in Times Square for dinner. Dinner was delightful. The waitstaff was entertained by me taking so many photos of food (at least they were nice). For dessert we headed to Lucky Dessert. All I can say is, fried crepes with mango and lady fingers is YUM! We actually went twice during our stay. We also went to Lan Kwai Fong. It's like 6th street on a hill. I take that back. It's like the Warehouse District in Austin, TX but on a hill. It's there that we saw the most diversity. Coming from the US and Texas it's odd not to see a diverse community.

The next day we had dim sum with Billy's friends and family. I sat next to a very adorable girl and spent most of my time getting her to warm up to me. She was so well behaved and sweet it made me want to have a child soon but that's still not likely. Billy took us up to his home where he has an amazing water view from every window. I've never seen a view like this from any home. It's absolutely beautiful. That view was ended quickly when Billy rushed us out to go visit the Peak. Of course the night wouldn't come to an end without dinner. Did someone say SUSHI? I don't know about you but there's no sushi restaurant in Houston where three people could eat, be full, spend about $50USD and still have left overs.

Our last full day in Hong Kong would be the last day I would see Billy for a while. I'm so glad he met us for lunch at Shark Fin City in Times Square. I absolutely love shark fin soup. I know it's terrible to kill sharks and I shouldn't eat it. I know! It's so delicious though. After lunch, I said good bye to Billy. I'll be honest, there were tears. They were all from me. Thanks to my love, Edwin, he cheered me up. We found a bakery and we found Lucky Dessert and he helped me flood my sorrows of sadness in food. Then, my love took me shopping. Shopping in Hong Kong is fabulous. If I could go shopping in Hong Kong when ever I had the urge I would be in love (minus the space travel). Lucky for me, most of everything was "one size fits all". You can't try anything on mainly because there is no space for fitting rooms. I did find this amazing mall with a lot of boutiques that were screaming for me. Thank goodness for being small.

Hong Kong is like New York City except with all Chinese people, better food and better shopping at a lower cost. Travel to Hong Kong is not cheap so I guess it evens out if compared to New York. If Hong Kong was closer, I would definitely go back often. Although since Billy moved to Beijing I guess it means I have to go back to Beijing one day. There's a lot of British influence in terms of traffic, architecture, public transportation, etc. I can't imagine it any other way. It makes me wonder where China would be if not for isolationism. Not that I wanted China to be ruled by the British but again, China probably would be farther along (in my optimistic mind).

Now to answer my curious brain:

• How much do I stand out from other Asians? Not much or at all
  
• Am I really that much smaller than other people? Is Edwin that much taller than other Asians? I am pretty small period. I would consider Edwin tall in Hong Kong.
  
• How American are we really? We're pretty American but not so much that Hong Kong realizes it. Compared to China, we're very American.
  
• Is the food better in the "mother" country? I couldn't tell if Beijing had good food since we ate at all the tourist places. Peking duck in Beijing is pretty darn tasty. Hong Kong for sure had good food. Edwin and I think that Houston has great food too and just as affordable. There is more Asian variety but Houston is getting there.
  
• Will we get a cultural shock that some people talk about? Not as much since we are Chinese but a tad... not enough to be like... "WHOA!"
  
• Will we be able to get around with the amount of Chinese we know? Not too shabby. Edwin knew enough Mandarin to get around Beijing. Our English helped us through Hong Kong. Note: When ordering bubble tea in Asia, it's better to ask for "zhing zhu" instead of "boba". Just a bit of funny "haha-ness" for my Mandarin speaking peeps. ~_^

If my words were too much, here's some photos of Hong Kong.

Miss you Billy! Thanks for taking us around Hong Kong. I hope this won't be the last time I see you (minus gchat).