Postcard from - Hakata, Kita-kyushu

Naka River yatai

I had a really nice weekend working in Hakata - the people I was working with were great, and the location was only a short walk from downtown.

No hawkers

There were dozens & dozens yatai lining the Naka River, offering all sorts of Japanese fare, from yakitori to ramen & okonomiyaki. There were queues for each and every one, and happy customers bellying up to the counters eagerly. Drinks in full flow and the scene quietly buzzing - but unlike Shinjuku not a pimp in sight & no sign of scampilly clad maids; nor the throaty jostling of Osaka with elbows out. Instead, a really orderly and patient excitement.

I found a seat with my boss for ramen, and got chatting with a Danish traveller - we got told off for talking too much/not eating & drinking fast enough (a yatai faux pas!) so I'll do better next time. The munchies were great, masters super friendly and the beers...just right :)

Fish face

Next evening I had to have sushi - especially squid, which I remember from a road trip around Kyushu twenty years ago as being exceptionally good. No disappointment this time either.

I really enjoyed my evenings out in Hakata - place has a really welcoming vibe. Nobody in a rush, the food is great and you can walk to anywhere you want to get to. If you need to get any further the new subway lines will get you there quickly, if the extensive bus network won't. I can't wait to come back...

Eating and drinking in Japan: PET writing practice (a report)

RESTAURANTS:
There are a lot of sushi restaurants in Japan, and they sell delicious raw fishes on top of some rice. You can also find noodle restaurants, in many towns.They sell many kinds of noodles like, ramen noodles.We eat them with a special soop.

FAST FOOD:
Most towns have lots of hamburger shops, which are cheap and fast.There are many kinds of drinks in there
so, lots of people go there in hot days.

CAFES:
 These usually sell hot and cold drinks, of course, but not alcohol.They also sell sandwiches, cakes, cookies,
and salads.Usually there's a smoking area so, it's good for non-smokers. 

BARS:

Drinks! (Photo credit: Martin Cathrae)

There are many kinds of alcoholic drinks in Japanese bars, but not only alcoholic drinks. There are non-alcoholic cocktails as well. Children can't go into them.

SUPERMARKETS:
If you want to buy food or drinks, you can do it here. However, if you want to buy something soon, you can
go to a convenience store. There are lots of convenience stores in Japan. They sell a lot of kinds of of things like pens and lights as well as food.

Yuya.  

Fukuoka - My holiday

I went to Fukuoka last November with my wife.We flew to Fukuoka with JAL.

We stayed for three days in a businesshotel near the station.The hotel had a hotspring;it was very nice.

During the day we walked around the city.We went to some shops and we ate ramen and motsu-nabe.At night we met friends and we went to a restaurant with them.We bought an old dish next day.

We had a great time.Fukuoka is full of great food.We had a problem;We walked a very long distance,so we were very tired.

Massive deja - vu: Akihabara station

I had one of those "hair prickling on the back of my neck" moments this evening, walking along the platform in Akihabara station towards the Sobu line for Shinjuku. It really was a "wow, I have done this before" feeling. Unlike deja-vu, I can actually remember when I did this before: exactly twenty (yes, 20) years ago.

Image via Wikipedia

Do you want to know something that makes it extremely weird? I was wearing the same jacket (rarely worn since) that I bought for interviews - always wore back then as my 'teacher uniform' because I didn't actually know how to teach but figured I needed to look the part. Yes, the jacket is a bit tighter now than it used to be...maybe I should wear it more often?

I used to grab a bowl of noodles on the opposite platform after my last class, once a week, teaching Phillipina hostesses on cultural visaes, just around the corner on Showa dori. I didn't have to speak to get food - it was one of those vending machine jobs outside; coins in, ticket out, noodles on counter. Just enough time to wolf that down, before making the last train 'home', all the way around Tokyo Bay Kemigawahama (nr Makuhari) in China, with the drunks and the porno manga reading losers.

Strewth. 20 years? Same clothes. That says a lot doesn't it?! My last trip to Akihabara then had been to buy a 'ghetto blaster', before I escaped the crap job, crap money, crap flat-mates, crap lifestyle to get "gaijinned" constantly in Suzaka. Consolation prize there was discovering a beer machine outside my apartment; drawback was the Arctic blast delivered from the long-drop khazi in a very cold winter, and the even colder flatmate Barbara I had to pretend I didn't hate. God, she was a miserable cow!

Absolutely twenty years ago, pretty much to the weekend. Thanks Dad, for lending me the cash to survive that first week in Tokyo - bought that jacket down the side of tracks in the famous markets beside Ueno station. Serious decision then was "food or clothes?" - so, again, nothing new!