Taste of Little Tokyo
Were you at the Taste of Little Tokyo event? Chances are you didn't know about it, but I'll explain more about it later...
I was on hand to support the Taste of Little Tokyo event a few weeks ago in Downtown Los Angeles. In celebration of Little Tokyo's 130th Anniversary, many restaurants and shops the area were doing a food crawl-esque event.
Thanks Jay for being my hand model!
Here's how it worked. First we had to pick up a stamp sheet in the April 2014 issue of Little Tokyo magazine. Then, we started making purchases at any of the participating shops to fill up our stamp sheet. If you collect a certain number of stamps, you can enter in a drawing to potentially win some cool prizes! A free trip to Tokyo was on the line!
Together, Jay and I had filled up the first row of the stamp sheet. 
When in Japanese Village Plaza, Mitsuru Cafe is a must-stop! I have a special place in my heart and stomach for the delicious red bean imagawayaki red bean cakes.
My favorite imagawayaki flavors are black sesame, green tea, and custard. Mitsuru only has the red bean flavor, but I still find myself getting their red bean cakes every time I'm in Little Tokyo for nostalgic reasons.
Watch out! Mini Godzilla crossing! There was a Godzilla Screening going on as part of the event.
It was a very hot day so we decided to go to Oomasa for lunch.
Cold soba noodles with dipping sauce (Zarusoba) was the perfect meal! Most people unfamiliar with Japanese food, think that soba only comes with hot soup. Cold soba is the most refreshing meal! 
Dip, dip, dip!
After filling out my row of stamps, I went see if I won a prize! I really wanted that free trip to Japan!
Unfortunately, I didn't win that Japan trip. I did win a bag full of Japanese goodies though. It came with Japanese oil blotting paper, Japanese brown rice, non-alcoholic Kirin, etc.
Overall, I thought the Taste of Little Tokyo event was a good idea. I wish it was more successful, but even friends and family that live in Little Tokyo didn't know about the event. The only place I could find info about it was in Japanese Magazines or flyers or posters at Japanese markets. Hopefully, they can do a better job publicizing their next event! Little Tokyo is full of culture and history. If more people knew about events like these, they would most definitely come out in full force to support!
