Morioka

Over Thanksgiving Amy and I ventured about 2 hours south of Misawa to the capital of the Iwate prefecture, Morioka. About 30 minutes out of town the horizon is dominated by the extinct volcano (at least we hope so) Mt Iwate-san. With three rivers running through town and the volcano in the background, the city was quite picturesque. The city also has the closest GAP and Starbuck's, so that pretty much made Amy a happy camper.
There was also a pretty large temple/shrine district which we roamed through as well. There was a rock that supposedly had a demon's hand prints on it, but we couldn't see them. There was also this Buddhist temple which housed 500 mini-Buddha's (about 2 1/2 feet tall) all with different facial expressions and poses.
The highlight of this trip, however, was our wanko soba dining experience at the Azumaya Soba Shop. Soba is a wheat based noodle and "wanko" simply means "wooden cup." So in case you have addition problems it translates into a wooden cup of noodles. Now that you know what it is, here's how you eat it.

First, you are seated at a Japanese style table and given an apron to put on. Next, a group of side dishes is brought out (sashimi, chicken, spices, etc.) along with your bowl (with lid) and a wooden bucket. The waitress then comes out with a tray full of wanko soba (the orange cups in the picture). At this point, the game is on.

The waitress begins by pouring a cup (wanko soba) into your bowl. After you finish your soba (which you can adorn with the side dishes), you can then pour the soup portion into the wooden bucket. The waitress immediately pours you another cup when the soba is gone from your bowl. Keep in mind we're doing this with chop sticks and a Japanese waitress looking over our shoulders. When you have had enough, you simply slip the lid on top of your bowl...did I say "simply?"....because that is far from the truth. As soon as the last soba has slipped through your lips another cup is being poured in your bowl (supposedly this goes back to way back when you used to eat more, even though you're full, so not to make the cook think it's not good). If you put your lid on and there is still soba in it (even a piece 1/8 inch in length) the waitress will swiftly remove the lid, politely point it out to you, and pour you another cup.

Even though we were ready to stop in the 30's (15 wanko soba = 1 cup) we just weren't quick enough. Amy ended up eating 43, and Heath 71. Although this seems like a lot, the record is 345. Needless to say, we won't be eating any wanko soba anytime soon.