Going Back--Vicariously

I have been travelling back to Japan over the last few days, not actually going there, but the second best way--I have been reading a good book.

The Teahouse Fire is about a tea house in Japan in the late 1800's. It is a good book, full of colorful images of life in a tea house during the transition from old feudal Japan to the more modern Meiji era.

Since I am coming to its end, it is only fitting to add to the flavor of the read by going to my favorite Japanese restaurant in Salt Lake City for lunch: Kyoto Japanese Restaurant.

Surrounded on three sides by rice paper topped booth dividers, reading menus adorned with Japanese characters beside their English counterparts, my wife and I sat basking in the atmosphere; remembering our meals in Kyoto, Japan together.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the hushed sound of Japanese voices as the waitresses called out orders to each other. Opening them, I could get a glance at the beautiful painting of a Geisha hanging on the wall in the entrance way behind them. The waitresses scurried behind the counter-top bar similar to the ones I would sit at when I dined alone during my stays there.

Wooden chopsticks, house soy sauce served in miniature clay pots, and my lunch time favorite: Oyako Udon. It was everything I expected it to be.

If I can't be there, I guess taking in a good book and a fabulous lunch will have to do.