Introduction

Konichiwa! Moshi Moshi! (This means 'Welcome to my blog!' in Japanese!)

Allow me just a moment so that I can set up a mental picture for you. Right now I want you to focus on your lower back and legs. Imagine that these areas of your body are in scorching pain from an entire morning of shopping at your favorite mall. You see an RCC Western store off in the distance, but it's just too much for you to bear to try on another pair of ill-fitting jeans. The only thing your mind can focus on is grabbing a quick lunch at your mall's convenient food court.

This is the setting I want you to find yourself in right now. Imagine you are standing at the threshold of your favorite mall's food court. It could be one of the dozen eateries located in the Mall of America, or it could be a small town mall where everything is closed down outside of a sad, smelly pet store and an exotic foods market. Your senses are overcoming you. First, you notice the mixture of smells -- you've got good ol' American home cookin' at Arby's and McDonald's, fancy Italian dining at the Sbarro's, zesty Mexican over at the Taco Bell, and lastly the pungent aroma of orange chicken at the generic asian eatery. Next, you see all the neon signs, and your sense of sight threatens to cause a brief seizure. Lastly, your sense of sounds picks up the shouts of joy and laughter from all those children spared another lunch of lettuce sandwiches and Goldfish crackers.

First, you think 'Well, I could have McDonald's or Arby's any time I want, especially since there's three restaurants within spitting distance of my house,' so your mind crosses over to Sbarro's. Then you remember what happened the last time you ate there -- so your next option is Taco Bell. 'Shit, will you look at that line?!' you say to yourself, causing a mother and her three children to move away from you. So there you are, left with the quaint little asian place.

In your mental image, you may see a neon sign that reads 'King's Wok' or 'China Palace' or maybe even 'You Want Some, Come Get Dim Sum'. In my mind, I see 'Little Tokyo', a small, unremarkable restaurant located in the Eden Prairie Center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota (famous for being the filming location of Mallrats, for all you mall-trivia junkies out there!).

After a few visits to the Little Tokyo, located in the Eden Prairie Center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, I decided to make it my regular lunching venue every Monday that I worked, for three reasons. Reason one: it's about a two minute drive from my job. Reason two: they have the friendliest staff and tastiest food of any restaurant in the Eden Prairie Center food court, and that's saying something! As an added bonus, every once in a while they'll have amazing deals. Just last November 2009, they had $1-off coupons with the purchase of one entree and a drink! When I saw that, I said 'Are ya' shittin' me?!', much to the chagrin of a mother and her three children standing next to me. And reason three: Every visit is an adventure!

This long-winded introduction has now led me to explain my true purpose for this blog -- to document my weekly trip to the Little Tokyo, located in the Eden Prairie Center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. I've been going for a few months now, and I've got a backlog of stories that I just can't let die in my memory without some sense of remorse. So for a few weeks, I will be posting past adventures, along with any new ones that I might meet along the way.

So close your eyes, take my hand, and picture yourself in the greatest food court in the world. By the time you're done reading this blog, you will see Little Tokyo, located in the Eden Prairie Center in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, in the center of that most glorious of all food courts!!