Sushi Go-Round

Thursdays with Bei Bei have been a hit. When I asked her Wednesday what she thought we should do this week she enthusiastically replied, without missing a beat, "Sushi!!" Never mind that she doesn't like sushi. That she hasn't really tried it beyond dipping her chopsticks in a dish of soy, or asking me politely to remove the salmon so she can eat my rice balls.

The draw for her was the conveyor belt. It's like going to the airport, but instead of luggage, little plates of Asian delicacies cruise past. You simply grab what you want.

Thursday when we arrived she told me she really didn't want and sushi, but she wanted cold noodles (something else she's never ordered.) I talked her into some hot udon noodles with vegetables.

But... shortly after this pic was snapped, she began to pout. She didn't like these "chubby noodles," and could I please remove the wasabi from her dish of soy. She poured up more soy. She dipped her chopsticks. She ate my rice balls. She dropped her flip flop from her perch on the stool. She belabored the point that she really doesn't like the chubby noodles. Her tea was too hot. The milk we brought in was gone.

I was getting a little frustrated. Finally out of desperation I offered her the soup broth they brought out with fat udon. And... she loved it!

"This is just like the soup I used to eat at my little Chinese school!" she chirped happily.

I noted the visible bouillon and the meaty piece of seed weed in the otherwise meatless cup of broth. Probably loads of MSG. A great companion to her starter of straight-up-soy!

So she doesn't like sushi. So she can't sit still. She has a problem with Japanese noodles. But my four-year-old who has celebrated all her birthdays in China and has a penchant for sodium possesses the willingness to try, of all things, seaweed soup.

We paid or bill. We found the flip flop. We probably won't make a repeat appearance.

Next Thursday we'll be in Thailand. I can hardly wait!!