I went to the Newport film festival a couple months ago and Zach and I always like to watch the animated shorts. This was one of the most moving ones was by a Taiwanese film student, who did all the artwork!

Some singer took it for his music video for his mediocre song. I can’t find the original so this will have to do.

-EDIT- Here is the original! Yay!

Totally cried in the theatre and so did all the old people in the audience. At the panel after the showing, many people asked the director how he came up with the story how his parents felt… He said his mom asked why there was no mom in the story. hah!

This is similar to the Japanese short, La Maison en Petits Cubes (The House of Small Cubes) which won the Oscar in 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX0Dvtvev1E

I think I like the art of The House of Small Cubes better.

It’s getting pretty hot where I live and I had been craving the nagashi soumen I ate during my honeymoon to Japan in June so I did it!

Yummers

I added the cucumber slices for some color. It’s all about presentation! The noodles are also twirled into circles.

My first time making poached eggs. I love semi firm yolks with viscous yolk inside.

The dipping sauce. I didn’t have green onions so I put in julienne slices of cucumber. Cut by self because I don’t have a julienne slicer. I should probably invest in one.

This is his “eeeeeee” face. Excuse the mess…we’re in the process of moving.

Pick up…

And dip!

It was very refreshing and satisfying. It’s different from what I’ve been normally cooking. This isn’t something you can have everyday, though, because it’s easy to get sick of.

Anyhow, the best soumen I’ve had was in Kibune, Japan. It’s a special, kind, called nagashi soumen which means “flowing noodles.” After researching around, I discovered that I had to go to Kibune for its atmosphere. The area is very cool, even in the summer, and heavily forested with bamboos and trees. It is unique because the river runs through the strip of inns and restaurants which are built over the river and small waterfalls.

The restaurant we went to was called Hirobun

Here is a video that sums it up pretty quickly.

The train ride is about 30 minutes. We were lucky enough to get the new train with wide windows and seats that face outwards.

A a 30 minute walk from the station, we finally arrived to Kibune. There are several restaurants built over the river. Most of them have the expensive set meals.

A nice lady advertising her own restaurant pointed out how much longer we would have to walk to reach Hirobun. We felt bad. Most of the restaurants are split to two floors since the river flows downward with waterfalls.

The bottom floor. The top floor has low tables for the big set meals

Anticipating epicness

We wait for the waitress to set up before being seated there.

The nagashi soumen meal comes with a poached egg. Looooove.

After us, some Taiwanese people came down to eat as well. There are two tracks the noodles go on, and two sets of bamboo. There was also a Japanese woman who sat to the right of us. She took noodles from the top track and we took noodles from the bottom. The chef in the hut sends down the small bundles of soumen one at a time in spurts. For instances “one soumen, second soumen, one soumen in other track, wait…….one soume, second soumen, one soumen in other track, wait……” It gives you time to eat before you ready your chopsticks again.

The last noodle is flavored with ume to make it pink. That way, you know it’s over so you don’t sit there waiting for more noodles, variable interval style.

I totally recommend going to this place if you’re not afraid to get lost. Otherwise, be prepared to stare at train schedules and figure out platforms very carefully! I think it was totally worth it.