fukuoka

To go to Chuuk, I first had to fly to Fukuoka, stay the night, fly to Guam, stay the night, and then fly to Chuuk. This led to the fulfillment of a decade-long dream--to visit Fukuoka for the sole purpose of eating its famous Hakata (former name a city that became part of Fukuoka) tonkotsu ramen.

I was told by a man in the know to eat at a ramen shop called Menchan, located near the Nakasu neighborhood that is famous for ramen. The above ramen was what I got, and I could have eaten it thrice (or gotten kaedama, the extra round of noodles every Kyushu ramen shop offers for 100 yen or so), but I was looking to explore at least one more shop to make the trip more worthwhile.

The second bowl turned out to be here, at an outdoor shop along the river. This kind of shop is called yatai, and this particular one was manned by three affable dudes who asked where I was from. I told them "Hachioji, in Tokyo." I have gotten to the point that I tell people where I live when they ask me where I'm from. They got "Salt Lake City" out of me eventually, but I like to tell people about Hachioji first. I love me some Hachioji.

They served the usual ramen, but also had yaki-ramen (fried ramen) and the assorted items in broth you see above, which are known as oden, and which 99% of Japanese folks love. You'll find these on every convenience store counter throughout times of cold.

The dudes worked with way too much precision to have any time for sanitation.

I chose to have the yaki-ramen. It was much better than this photo indicates, but I have to admit I should have just gotten another bowl of ramen.

It was a good night in Fukuoka. I followed the eating with much walking.

I walk a lot now. The reasons are:

1. I want to be less fat

2. I like walking

3. I bought and now frequently wear a fine gentleman's hat that makes me four to five times happier at any given moment when I am wearing it, and walking is pretty much the best thing a fledgling gentleman can do in a hat