User Reviews

First, in the City, the Doorman and Hundley, the Doorman's Dachshund, await a special delivery of the Doorman's miniature Western Town for his apartment railroad set, which Betsy, Steve and Curious George volunteer to set up, with Hundley's supervision.

Now, the Doorman admits Betsy, Steve and Curious George to his and Hundley's apartment, to show them his miniature railroad villages of Future Town, Farm Town and Mountain Town, before they establish Western Town.

Well, after completing construction, Steve discovers that the railroad track is missing a pin, which lands across the room into one of several potted plants, but as the trio searches, the pin is still lost, and now the apartment is a mess.

Then, Hundley watches in agony as Betsy, Steve and Curious George sift through the dirt all over the apartment floor, while the brother and sister sing "Clementine," leading to Hundley's vision of the Old West, where the Man with the Yellow Hat plays banjo to serenade Steve, Betsy and Deputy Hundley, before Sheriff Doorman arrives to mosey on over to the railroad tracks.

And then, the Man with the Yellow Hat, Steve and Betsy accompany Sheriff Doorman and Deputy Hundley to the station, as a stranger rolls into town on a stagecoach, who turns out to be Curious George!

But, when Professor Wiseman makes an announcement on the dais, she looses a jewelery pin, which flies across town, and lands in the dust, leading everyone to search for the pin as the Man with the Yellow Hat serenades to Betsy and Steve's vocal accompaniment.

And, when Curious George decides that all the crew needs is a sifter, Chef Pisghetti and Nettie arrive by covered wagon to cater the event with spaghetti, giving Curious George and Deputy Hundley the idea to sift through the dirt with a colander, with holes too large, and a pie plate, with holes too small to locate Professor Wiseman's pin.

So, will Hundley and Curious George be able to rediscover Professor Wiseman's pin, before Hundley awakens from his daydream, as well as the Doorman's train-set pin before the Doorman returns to examine his Western Town train setting, as they all "Go West, Young Monkey?"

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Next, also in the City, the Man with the Yellow Hat and Curious George have a busy day, preparing to invite Professor Wiseman to dinner. As the Man with the Yellow Hat and Curious George make a shopping list of carrots, cucumbers and apples, the Man with the Yellow Hat gives Curious George a bag and money to run the errand to the Grocery Store,

Now, when Curious George arrives, the store is closed because the Grocer went fishing, so Curious George visits a Japanese store, where the male and female proprietors welcome Curious George to examine the beautiful store with delicious foods, but the fruits and vegetables look different from anything that Curious George has ever seen before.

Well, Curious George has no idea what the Japanese equivalent of apples, cucumbers and carrots would be, so he selects fruit and vegetables which appear similar to those upon his list.

Then, Daughter of Japanese Grocers arrives to inquire about Curious George, who returns to the apartment, where the Man with the Yellow Hat informs Curious George that he has purchased the wrong items, such as a pomegranate instead of an apple, along with the other unidentifiable produce items.

And then, Curious George returns to Japanese Store, where Daughter welcomes him to exchange his purchases, and offers him cheese, before substituting the items for other unidentifiable wares.

But, when Curious George returns to apartment, the Man with the Yellow Hat changes for dinner, he asking Curious George to add the produce to the cooking. But soon, the Man with the Yellow Hat suddenly realizes that the produce is all wrong, with eggplant in the cucumber soup and turnip in the carrot cake, plus something else to yield putrid aroma.

And, with ten minutes left before Professor Wiseman arrives, Curious George returns to the Japanese grocery store, where the family welcomes him back as their first and only customer.

So, what do you think will happen with the Japanese Grocery family's business once Curious George ruins the meal, before the Japanese family arrives to visit, and after Curious George, The Man with the Yellow Hat and Professor Wiseman "Meet the New Neighbors?"

WeatherViolet wrote a good overview of the episode. However, it is no small detail that the neighborhood grocery store featured in the second half of the episode is Vietnamese, not Japanese. This is important because while features of Japanese culture and food have become mainstream in the U.S. since the end of WWII (Benihana of Tokyo anyone?), Vietnamese culture and food may be less familiar in many parts of the country--big cities excepted. The name of the store, Hoa Mai, means Peach Blossom in Vietnamese and is named for the mother, Hoa, and daughter, Mai in the show. The vegetables and food depicted are traditionally Vietnamese. The producers and writers do a great job of showing their children-viewers that new foods and flavors might be unusual at first, but can open a new, exciting world if embraced.