Sakura Ebi

Two days(or I think) before my departure from Japan, I went to 'Book Off' to see if I can/wanted to buy any more Manga(in Japanese). It was a long walk from my place and I did not even know if the store would be open by the time I get there. Luckily it was open and I did spend some time there and found 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' dvd. After asking the guys at store if it had English subtitles and them playing the dvd on a machine there to figure that out and discovering that it did not had any, I went back empty handed. Anyway, I digress.
There was this small ramen shop which I noticed on my way to Book Off. Wanted to try it but hesitated to go in there coz it said Sakura Ebi (Cherry Blossom Shrimp - I don't eat shrimp that much) and coz it was a new territory. Anyway on my way back when I passed it I thought 'what the heck' and decided to go eat there, cause I might not get the chance later. Anyway, as I entered I saw an old guy having some noodles and then discovered that the place was run by an old-couple, may be in their late sixties or early seventies. I sat down and was looking at the menu when the old lady aptly recognised that I needed help with it(it was in Kanji and also my Katakana reading skills are bad). So I spoke to her, told her I don't eat beef, found out what was spicy and decided on Kare-Soba(curry soba noodles) with Sakura Ebi. The other customer left and it was just me in the shop. The old man put a batch of noodles in the boiling water and after just a few minutes I was presented with hot curry noodles with Sakura ebi tempura on it. I said 'Itadakimasu' out loud and got a reply from them(which is a common reply to it but can't remember now what it is). I started eating and it was so damn delicious. I asked them when they closed as it was past 10pm then already. The lady said they are open till 11pm and assured me to take my time eating it. The old couple and I picked up a conversation as I had my noodles. They asked me why I had come to Japan and where I had come from. I said I came there to have fun and learn Japanese they were kinda impressed. I mean I think they liked a foreigner coming to their country to learn their language and see the place I guess. They asked me how old I was and when I said 24 the old clapped(celebrating my youth?). I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction. They were saying that I was very young and my life has yet to begin. I got complimented on my Japanese too :). As I was eating the lady came up to me with a radish in some kind of soup and asked me to try it saying that it's delicious. I said yes and ate that too. It really was delicious. But anyway, the sakura ebi tempura was even better. Once I completed my meal I asked them how much it was for the meal. They took the money for the soba but not the radish. When I asked them to bill me for that, they insisted that it was their treat. I thanked them for the awesome meal and even awesomer hospitality and walked back home with a great and silent joy and smile on my face. I was sad about my vacation coming to an end. But the whole incident brought lots of happiness. Just that incident added a lot of satisfaction and joy to the trip. It made me so glad that I did it(going to Japan).

Anyway, I digress again. What I wanted to say is, sometimes you just need a different pair of eyes to see the bright-side of life!