I told my family I wanted to take a trip for Christmas instead of doing all of the family Christmas things. No horse carriage ride in the park freezing to death. No extended family opening gifts no one wanted or asked for. Last year my aunt gave me gardening gloves. I don’t garden. Last year my siblings were angry because my brother messed up Secret Santa causing Grace not to get a gift. Last year my brother burned his hand trying to light the fire. He screamed the f word for an hour before someone finally took him to the hospital. Last year my dad cried.
This Christmas Eve, I was in a tiny noodle shop in Tokyo with the love of my life. We didn’t exchange any gifts, we didn’t have to wear itchy sweaters and pretend to like people we do not like. We just ate big bowls of noodles and drank Asahi alone in a corner of a quiet and overly heated shop on a small side street in Tokyo. It was a magical Christmas Eve. We slept in the next morning. Sleeping in on Christmas Day is something I had never done in my life. We got up at around ten and walked leisurely around the city stopping in for more noodles.
INSTANT NOODLES 