Golden Week (Part 1): Fukuoka Prefecture

Saturday, April 26
Greetings from Kyushu! In my last entry, I wrote that I wouldn't be posting for awhile on account of Chris and my Golden Week road trip. Thankfully, I took my laptop along for the ride, and our first hotel, a newish one in Fukuoka City, includes fast and complementary Internet access. Enjoy our first few glimpses of the island!

We left Miki at 6:30 am for SIX hours of driving along the Sanyo and Chugoku Expressways, passing through Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi Prefectures. Having spent half the day on the road, I don't have many pictures today!

At a service area in Hiroshima, we bought odd-looking food blobs (a local specialty) in three flavors:
1. ika (cuttlefish)
2. tako and negi (octopus and green onion)
3. asparagus and bacon
The "flavors" were incorporated within fat sticks of kamaboko (cooked fish paste), which had been previously grilled and were now deep fried in oil. Yum.

Mmm. Deep-fried goodness. This one is the octopus-onion version.

At a station called "Miyajima." Thanks to poor weather, however, the weather was none too nice.

At the road station "Dan-no-ura," known for a legendary battle, but in modern times simply a place to buy soft cream. The picture was taken from Honshu, looking out to Kyushu.

Our first glimpses of Kyushu were in 門司港 (Moji Bay), were the wind was blowing hard and cold and made our sightseeing walk a little uncomfortable!

The JR station at Moji is a well-known historical landmark, as are many of the buildings in the area, preserved (as close as possible) in original form. Tourists roamed the streets, and as with Kyoto, young men with rickshaws offered private tours.

As I've written before, every region in Japan holds boasting rights to specific 名物, or famous goods. Knowing what the local meibutsu are can make sightseeing plenty easier. In 門司港, people love the 焼きカレー (baked curry). At a small shop overlooking the water, I ordered banana yaki-curry--white rice topped with thick roux, cheese, egg, and banana chips. Bananas are another of Moji's specialty products. The crisp chips matched the sweet Japanese roux well.

Full from lunch, Chris and I visited the Kyushu Railway History Museum.

I'm good at finding faces in everyday objects.

I played train driver at Japan's first (and only?) mini railway, where I "drove" a miniature train around a miniature track. Chris was my passenger.

Chris and I laughed at this one. I could knit a scarf faster than those trains moved. And um, I don't knit very well.

Baby trains!

Bananas are a big deal here.

From Moji we drove west to 小倉 (Kokura), a bustling district with beautiful architecture. I would've loved to stay and shop, but we were in a hurry to reach our hotel.

Riverwalk Kokura, a shopping and entertainment complex.

From Kokura, we drove through two hours of traffic to our hotel in Fukuoka City. Thankfully the staff is friendly, the room is clean, and breakfast is included. After settling in (e.g. setting up the Internet), we set out on the hunt for dinner and found some at a small shop called 花や (Hanaya), which specializes in yakitori and motsu nabe. Chris and I had no clue what the "motsu" in "motsu nabe was, but decided to order anyway, being up to trying as many local specialties as we can.

"Motsu," I think, refers to the attachment of lean meat--included in the soup--to thick globules of fat. An adherence of one part to the other, if you will. Thick chunks of fat, still clinging to the lean meat, created a tasty broth, but I could barely swallow the chewy pieces. I fell in love with the dashi, however, and I'll try their trick of adding sliced garlic to the broth when I return home. In addition to the soup, we ordered onigiri and sticks of grilled meat wrapped around cheese, shiso, and baby corn.

Another culinary phenomenon unique to Fukuoka is its yatai, street vendors. On our trip to Seoul, we gawked at the numerous food stalls that lined the streets. In Japan, they're a rarity, but in Fukuoka tonight, we couldn't understand why yatai should not become common across the country! We walked off our meal at Hanaya by checking out the Nakasu stalls.

In true Japanese style, Chris and I waited in line for ONE HOUR to eat at the most famous yatai in the area. The stall is headed by an elderly man whose caricature graces the tent curtain. He wears a floral towel tied around his head, pours beer, and serves thick, miso-soaked pieces of oden.

We ordered the 塩ホルモン and the 焼きラーメン, the latter of which is the shop specialty--a dish of Chinese-style noodles cooked on the grill and covered with a savory gravy.

We're now back at the hotel, where I'm thankful to be done with a post, and Chris is sleeping. His camera holds more pictures, so let's cross our fingers that he uploads them sometime!

Tomorrow: City Explorations.