Great India Restaurant Brooklyn Center, MN

Today - Diana and I tried to be spontaneous - we picked a restaurant to go to right after our pilates class. (Diana's first one...yeh!!) Diana chose Great India because she had read a review about it in the City Pages.

So we drove to Brooklyn Center...and guessed which exit to take...then called the restauarant to ask for more specific directions. I felt a bit adventurous not having solid dinner reservations nor "to" and "reverse" directions from mapquest.

When we entered the dimly lit restaurant...we noticed we were the only ones there...how very romantic :) A nice quiet dinner with Diana...and it was good because I learned more about her and she gave me a brief synopsis of her family's story and how we ended up sitting in Brooklyn Center...talking about life over a glass of mango lassi.

I am a bit fascinated with writing and stories lately. Especially other people's stories and their points of view. I like saying something...making a statement...and being able to ask the person sitting in front of me exactly how my statement made them feel...what other stories my statements instigated in their minds...and most importantly, will they share them with me? Tell me...tell me...

I wonder what this new hunger is?

We ordered the Vegetable Dumpakht (Dumpakht is a method of cooking by which the cooking vessel is sealed with pastry) and the Baygoon Ka Goon (classic vegetarian dish in which whole eggplant is roasted and peeled, then pureed with fresh tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices). We didn't end up eating much of it because we were too entrenched in our conversations.

It's always so fun when you find new girlfriends and you click. Because...there are so many things you want to find out about each other....so many new giggles to old memories that are shared.

Who said that it's hard to find friends when you leave college again? That's not always true.

Sushi of Tokyo Restaurant Plymouth, MN

On Sunday evening, after taking my dad to the gym with me, our family ventured to Plymouth to try the Sushi of Tokyo Restaurant. I had seen a couple ads for the restaurant and I'm always curious about mom and pops types of Asian restaurants. Reason being (for those of you who don't already know) my parents had moved to Eau Claire, WI in 1991 from Monterey Park, California to own a Chinese Restaurant. I'd put up a link to our restaurant, Fortune Cookie, but we don't have a website yet! I've been meaning to make one for years. Maybe I can talk Nicole into it once I put all the content together :)

A couple of years ago, I went to Wing Young Huie's art exhibit in St. Paul. He took pictures of Asians across America...and after seeing his pictures, I remember being inspired to want to learn and record the stories of Asians who wandered into small towns and opened restaurants in order to make a living and live. I'm so in awe of hard working people and I want to hear their stories and ask questions, but I'm weird shy in certain situations. This happens to be one of them.

Last year when our family went to White Rock, Canada, I saw a small Chinese restaurant at the corner of where our hotel was located. I ran by it a couple mornings and did not have the courage to go in and ask them how they happened upon White Rock. Later, Eric and I ended up taking a picture of another small Chinese restaurant we found in Vancouver (that doesn't quite count!) but that was the closest I came to finding out more about Asians and restaurants on that trip.

So this past weekend at Rich's house...when I was talking to Wing (so strange that they are friends and I got to meet Wing)...I told him how he had inspired me, but I haven't quite gave my idea life yet. It's still swirling in my head...and he simply said, that sounds like a great idea, you should do it. I remember feeling a bit puzzled. That's it? It's like a Nike slogan? Just do it?

So...Eric, my dad and I sat down on the corner table by the window at the Sushi of Tokyo Restaurant and was contemplating whether to choose the All You Can Eat dinner option or just ordering off the menu, when we heard the owners speak in Cantonese. We all instantly perked up and looked at each other...whoa...Chinese people own this place? And they speak Cantonese...how great! The lady came over, greeted us in English and then walked away to get us plates...when she came back with the menu and was trying to explain their specials to us...I worked up the nerve to say to her in Cantonese...,"Hey, you can talk to us in Cantonese...we speak your language!" She widened her eyes...and complimented me on how well I could speak Cantonese. She thought I was from Hong Kong! Well...actually the best part was when she asked me if I was 20 yet! :)

And because I can speak Cantonese...I found out all these neat little things. The sushi chef, her brother (or in-law), learned how to make sushi in Japan. He had an apprenticeship of some type and then had worked at Benihana's in Golden Valley for a number of years...then three years ago, he decided to venture off on his own and open this sushi restaurant. She says it's all in the rice...and it's true...our meal was very good - the sushi rice was soft, warm and mmmm....good! She said she's just helping out until they hire someone...she had owned two Chinese restaurants in St. Paul years ago. She's actually lived in Roseville for over 30 years. And the last time she went to Hong Kong was in 1974! I was so shocked...how can she be away for so long? But she said when she went back...all her friends had emigrated...so she no longer felt a connection to the place. I know exactly what she means.

I think my dad was surprised I started up a conversation with her. All this, it seems, because of going to that art exhibit two years ago and the BBQ at Rich's this weekend. Otherwise I might have said nothing and we might have just had dinner and left.

Next time, we're going to go back and try the Udon.

I'm excited.

Life seems fresh and new again.

Lyrics for the Soul

I love Tracy Chapman's lyrics to The Promise. I always google it once in a while and reread the words. I hope one day I meet the person that makes me feel this way.

Some of the lines that I like more than others are:

Although I’ve traveled far
I always hold a place for you in my heart

and

It would feel so good to be
In your arms
Where all my journeys end

I don't know why...but I love the imagery of traveling solo, falling in love, traveling together.

Everytime I think of this song, Joni Mitchell's All I Want also fades in and out of my head. Kind of like I'm doing my own remix of the two songs. I feel like I have my own podcast in my head sometimes.

I like how Joni's song begins...

I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something, what can it be

Which brings me to my new love song of the season...Tori Amos' You Belong To Me.

I like how this song begins...

See the pyramids along the nile
Watch the sunrise on a tropic isle
Just remember, darling, all the while
You belong to me

For some reason this song feels like its set in Shanghai in the 1930's. Vintage Shanghai. I love that era. A Chinese woman...standing at the train station, her hair is short and wavy...like those women in Charlie Chaplin films...and her lover is going on a trip around the world. He has one of those old, but classic, suitcases. He's in a brown wool suit...westernized...and she's not crying that he's going to be gone...because she's a modern woman...and she has a lot going on with high society. She waves...and she has a tight, conservative but sweet smile. He waves, turns around, puts his hat back on and gets on the train.

Anyways...the lyrics...I also like this part:

Fly the ocean in a silver plane
See the jungle when it's wet with rain
Just remember 'til you're home again
You belong to me

I can almost smell and feel the jungle.

Ahh...that should be my next adventure...an African safari.

I want to go running with the zebras.