Fran Goes In Search Of Puffy AmiYumi and Some Warm Sake
A little while back, I went to Japan to renew my visa. As a tourist, I can only stay in Korea for 90 days at a time so I had to leave to country and come back to reset my visa. Since I was paying a bit of money to do this (it's not like I can just drive to North Korea), I figured I should get my money's worth. So, I spent 3 days visiting Fukuoka, one of the southern cities of Japan.
Historically, Fukuoka served as Japan's gateway to Korea and China; Zen Buddhism, for example, first entered Japan through Fukuoka. More recently, the city has fashioned itself as Japan's ambassador city to the world. Thus, people in Fukuoka tend to be friendly and helpful and I found it pretty easy to get around.
Sadly, my first day in Japan was largely rained out but I tried to make the best of it. After taking a quick train ride into town from the airpot, my little umbrella and I made our way around the neighborhood surrounding the Hakata train station. I found a huge department store and explored for a while (OK, mostly the toy section). Later on, I ate dinner at Yayoken, a Japanese restaurant that appeared to be a chain.
I'm not quite sure what the US equivalent of Yayoken would be; it wasn't fast food but it also wasn't a typical sit-down dining experience. There are waitresses, but they don't take your order. Rather, I purchased my meal at a vending machine by the front door. It has pictures of all the different meal options; all I had to do was put my coins in (Japanese coins go up to 500 yen--about $5 US) and select my meal. The machine gave me a ticket which I then handed to a waitress who showed me to my seat.
Technically, I was seated at what was a table for two. Because of the restaurant's small size, all of the seats had to be used efficiently so I was seated across from a businessman. Well, at least I think I was--I could only see him from the chest down. A six-inch wide wooden divider spanned the middle of the table at face level. So while we were sitting directly across from each other, I couldn't see my table companion's face. I didn't mind the lack of sparkling dinner conversation but it did feel a little bit like I was having dinner with the headless horseman.
After a few minutes, my dinner arrived in a sizzling skillet. I had ordered a dish that consisted of pork, shrimp, and beef with an egg cracked over the top. The hot skillet cooked the egg and the dish had a sweet sauce taste to it that I quite enjoyed. Dinner included rice and miso soup so I left Yayoken feeling quite full.
Of course, this didn't stop my from purchasing a piece of chocolate cherry cake on my way back to the hotel. The women at the bakery got quite a kick out of my limited Japanese; I can only count to five and say "hello," "goodbye," "thank you," "Really?," and "little" as in "I know a little Japanese." But between the little English they knew and my "skoshi" Japanese, we actually had a pretty fun interaction. It's amazing how much you can communicate nonverbally, especially with a smile.
I wondered around Hakata a little more (I found a fun bookstore called "Book You!") and then walked back to the hostel. Before getting ready for to bed, I quickly grabbed a fork from the kitchen then went to eat my dessert in the lounge where I found an Australian and a Canadian were hanging out.
Now, I've heard a lot about the "hostel experience"--meeting new friends from different countries--and briefly considered giving it a shot. My girlfriend has a knack for making friends wherever we go. I'm not exactly the most outgoing person but, hey, I'm on vacation right?
Unfortunately, the first sentence I heard when I walked into the lounge was "You know, the only people I really can't stand are Americans." Now at this point, I realized that I had a choice. I could try to convince the two of them that Americans aren't all bad. Perhaps they would be won over by my charming smile and eloquent conversation. On the other hand, I hadn't actually said anything yet so they didn't know I was an American; I could easily go about my business and eat my cake. Needless to say, the cake won. From listening in on a little more of the conversation, I didn't seem like I would have been able to convince those two of much anyway.
With my dessert finished, I headed off to bed. The hostel had those sweet space age foam mattresses and pillows that conform to your body so I slept really well. Just what I needed to get ready for another big day...
Historically, Fukuoka served as Japan's gateway to Korea and China; Zen Buddhism, for example, first entered Japan through Fukuoka. More recently, the city has fashioned itself as Japan's ambassador city to the world. Thus, people in Fukuoka tend to be friendly and helpful and I found it pretty easy to get around.
Sadly, my first day in Japan was largely rained out but I tried to make the best of it. After taking a quick train ride into town from the airpot, my little umbrella and I made our way around the neighborhood surrounding the Hakata train station. I found a huge department store and explored for a while (OK, mostly the toy section). Later on, I ate dinner at Yayoken, a Japanese restaurant that appeared to be a chain.
I'm not quite sure what the US equivalent of Yayoken would be; it wasn't fast food but it also wasn't a typical sit-down dining experience. There are waitresses, but they don't take your order. Rather, I purchased my meal at a vending machine by the front door. It has pictures of all the different meal options; all I had to do was put my coins in (Japanese coins go up to 500 yen--about $5 US) and select my meal. The machine gave me a ticket which I then handed to a waitress who showed me to my seat.
Technically, I was seated at what was a table for two. Because of the restaurant's small size, all of the seats had to be used efficiently so I was seated across from a businessman. Well, at least I think I was--I could only see him from the chest down. A six-inch wide wooden divider spanned the middle of the table at face level. So while we were sitting directly across from each other, I couldn't see my table companion's face. I didn't mind the lack of sparkling dinner conversation but it did feel a little bit like I was having dinner with the headless horseman.
After a few minutes, my dinner arrived in a sizzling skillet. I had ordered a dish that consisted of pork, shrimp, and beef with an egg cracked over the top. The hot skillet cooked the egg and the dish had a sweet sauce taste to it that I quite enjoyed. Dinner included rice and miso soup so I left Yayoken feeling quite full.
Of course, this didn't stop my from purchasing a piece of chocolate cherry cake on my way back to the hotel. The women at the bakery got quite a kick out of my limited Japanese; I can only count to five and say "hello," "goodbye," "thank you," "Really?," and "little" as in "I know a little Japanese." But between the little English they knew and my "skoshi" Japanese, we actually had a pretty fun interaction. It's amazing how much you can communicate nonverbally, especially with a smile.
I wondered around Hakata a little more (I found a fun bookstore called "Book You!") and then walked back to the hostel. Before getting ready for to bed, I quickly grabbed a fork from the kitchen then went to eat my dessert in the lounge where I found an Australian and a Canadian were hanging out.
Now, I've heard a lot about the "hostel experience"--meeting new friends from different countries--and briefly considered giving it a shot. My girlfriend has a knack for making friends wherever we go. I'm not exactly the most outgoing person but, hey, I'm on vacation right?
Unfortunately, the first sentence I heard when I walked into the lounge was "You know, the only people I really can't stand are Americans." Now at this point, I realized that I had a choice. I could try to convince the two of them that Americans aren't all bad. Perhaps they would be won over by my charming smile and eloquent conversation. On the other hand, I hadn't actually said anything yet so they didn't know I was an American; I could easily go about my business and eat my cake. Needless to say, the cake won. From listening in on a little more of the conversation, I didn't seem like I would have been able to convince those two of much anyway.
With my dessert finished, I headed off to bed. The hostel had those sweet space age foam mattresses and pillows that conform to your body so I slept really well. Just what I needed to get ready for another big day...
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