DYA717 Kyushu, Japan Nov 11, 2016 Back to Hakata then Yamaguchi BURA BURA
6:30 a.m. breakfast at the Hakata Eki Minami Toyoko Inn. Then “L” and I went to th airport. Of course was early so I had to watch da bags while “L” went shopping around the airport stores! Geez, what a bad disease shopping is! OK, so, almost before boarding time, we got to the counter and got the boarding pass. Phew! Close call! I said my Aloha/Sayonara and then went back to Hakata station. I had one more day on my JR railpass so I thought since I’m tired, why not just go for a ride around and rest on the train. I went to Shin Yamaguchi station (36-min) and then transferred to the local train to town. When I got to town I went to the tourist info counter and got some hints on what to see but then I was too tired and also running out of time. So, I went jump back on the train and got back to Hakata. I walked around the Hakata station and saw all these TV cameras around. So I went ask one of those guys (he couldn’t speak English and pushed me off to another guy) and then I found out that they had a train crash and were waiting for people to arrive. I guess they were going to interview them. I went underground and ran into this famous ramen shop called Ichiran or something like that! Twas in the underground Sun Plaza shopping mall. I got seated at what looked liked a study carrel and privacy side walls. What? They didn’t want me splash and slurp soup onto the other diners? : )) I asked da waiter for help and he gave me a form to fill out. I chose STRONG FLAVOR, ULTRA RICH FLAVOR, THE MOST GARLIC (1 CLOVE), A LOT OF GREEN ONIONS, WITH SLICED PORK, RED SAUCE #2 (it went 0, ½, 1, 2, or….. you choose). I chose #2 and the Noodles EXTRA FIRM. Wow, talk about the super max, ultimate ONOLICIOUS ramen! This bugger was it! Uuuuuuuuuu, ONO, ONO, ONO! I’m not trying to make y’all envious but just trying to relate my true feelings (heh, heh, heh, or kekekekeke). Every store I stopped by had Xmas stuffs. If a saw a clerk I would comment “eh, sistah, kinda early for Xmas yeh?” They only laugh or I guess went giggle hee hee hee!
Then I went BURA-BURA some more and walked past one interesting spot. 2 days ago, they had something like one sinkhole and the street went drop down. This was 1 block in from the Hakata station and 2 blocks from my hotel. Wow, spooky! Then I went looking for my hotel and ended up back at the train station. So I went into the the bus station building. Went up to the top which was restaurant row! I stopped by for a coupla glasses of red wine. Not bad. Then I went down the escalators and ran into one DAISO. I asked da wahine, eh sistah, you get sake drinking set? Of course she never understand what I was asking but after a few hand motions lifting imaginary sake cups, grunts, and basic kindergarten Japanese, I told her I would like to look at stuffs to drink sake from! Then I asked how many items would make a set! After about 5 minutes of hemming and hawing, she said weeeeeeeell, maybe 2 cups and 1 sake warming container. Well, at least they make a nice display! OK, go look at the video. They had plenty combos for you to configure a set for yourself AND only 108-yen (tax included) per item! Amazing and sooooooooo cheap! And then I looked at my watch and it said 5:30 p.m., figured it was soooooo late, and so I went back to my hotel and relaxed while writing junks for you folks to read! Kekekekeke
Oh yeh, some of you wondered about Autumn. Kyushu is going to be the last (next to Okinawa) where the leaves turn fall colors. If you look closely at the video, you’ll see areas where the tree are starting to turn colors.