Wednesday.

Driving another two-lane road through farmland, I said to Irene, have you ever been on a plane flying over farmland and looked down and wondered who was that one car driving on those tiny little roads in between the farms? Well I just realized that’s us! We’re down in that landscape! And this is what it looks like on the ground. Of course then Irene made a crack about how the little cars driving on these roads are all looking for Chinese restaurants.

Irene shot this picture of me packing, mostly to show off how her stuff all fit in that tiny suitcase in the back corner.

The plan was to bring my boxes to FedEx on our way to the airport. We exited the freeway and immediately ran smack into David Fong’s, which made us both scream. First of all it’s massive. Then there’s the big sign: David Fong’s, in that classic, horrible chinky font. Then there’s the building! The building is a marvel, an early-60s modernist abstraction of the tired old Chinese pagoda theme. Instead of bright red it is a more sedate orangey-rust color. Truly I have never seen anything like it. There was no question of not stopping, airport schedules be damned. I veered into the lot, both of us screeching with delight, and we ran around the parking lot and the building spastically taking pictures.

Irene shot this amazing architectural detail of David Fong’s.

Inside was dark, enormous, and busy. They had matches! I was almost beside myself with the matches and then went around the corner to the take-out counter, where they had magnets! Barely able to contain myself I eagerly asked, “Are those magnets?? Are you selling those or giving them away??” Just then Irene came around the corner and I said, “LOOK! They have magnets!!!” and Irene exclaimed, “Wow, magnets!” and the solid Midwestern white woman behind the counter said, in the most flattened out tone she could manage, “Yes, we have magnets,” as she handed them over. Then we left, laughing hysterically at ourselves. It was definitely the exclamation point on the end of the trip. We could not believe how fabulous it was and regretted not having more time.

At the airport, Irene ran to get her flight and I sat in the food court with a view of the Wok and Roll, sipping a soda—I mean a pop—while I waited for my flight and tallied up the restaurants: 35 in 6 days!

You gotta chase all that fried stuff with some soft serve.

Indigo Som is a visual artist and writer working primarily in sculptural mixed media and installation. Since early 2002 she has been at work on a long-term project investigating relationships between Chinese restaurants and “American” identity. A project blog, audience participation details and more info can be found at www.indigosom.com

Chinese Restaurant Pictures, a solo exhibition of color photographs from Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota, will be on view at Mills College Art Museum, 5000 MacArthur, Oakland CA, 30 September through 12 October 2003. Reception Wednesday 1 October, 5:30 - 7:30 pm. Info: mcam@mills.edu or 510.430.2164