Wanko Soba

As the Thang Tang countdown ticks its way below 50 days, and people become increasingly impatient to learn what it is (we aren't telling you though!), my New Years Resolution is becoming increasingly more possible. But then, is it even possible for me to top 2008, the year I left home and started a whole new life?

By the time Thang Tang rolls around, we should know.

Anyway, I spent the weekend before my birthday up at Michael's. We went into Morioka on Sunday for wanko soba, a Japanese tradition where you basically eat as many soba noodles as you can. Each table gets their own waitress, who continually fills up your bowl with small servings of soba, until you give up and put the lid on.

We walked in there and at once saw towers of bowls stacked up on the tables. I wasn’t excited till then. We sat down, put our aprons on, and the wanko soba began.

Photos be here!

For me, wanko soba was all about winning. I had to beat Michael, and together we had to beat everyone else on all the other tables. The problem was, we accidentally ordered a bunch of side dishes as well (as if we didn't already have enough food to consume (not that we were complaining!)).

I don’t remember much after that. I recall eating until my head felt giddy, and after a long time I put the lid on my bowl. I couldn’t eat another thing. A few minutes later I took the lid off and had another 15 bowls of soba. Then I put the lid on again. Yup, definitely finished this time.

The overall tally was pretty close. Between us we ate 221 bowls of soba. Unfortunately, Michael beat me by 7 bowls, but I think we beat most of the other tables around us, so I was happy about that. By the time I left, I think about 20% of my body was made of soba.

Next time I’m trying for 200 bowls.



Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!! I had a great birthday - when my kids heard about it we mucked around and had heaps of fun! Then after work I went out with a group of 12 people for an awesome feast, and had a really enjoyable night. 22 years down, 49 days to go!!!