Fukuoka Visa Run (Part 5)

I left Ohori Koen Park and returned to my hosts apartment. I met her new roommate and drank a couple of beers with him before dashing out the door to meet my friend from the consulate. We had arranged to meet at 9:30pm at Exit 1 of the Tenjin Station. It was 9:15pm and I was almost 3 miles away. I decided to save the $16 taxi cab fare and jogged the distance in my hiking boots. Bad idea. I got to the exit at 9:42pm, 3 minutes before the agreed cut off point, where we would not wait for the other person to show up. I looked around and could not find my friend. I found out at the airport the next day that she was at a different Exit 1. Apparently there are two Exit 1's in Tenjin Station.

So anyway, I decided to fly solo and find a recommended bar. I walked around for about 45 minutes before giving up. My feet and legs were tired from the 3 mile jog and subsequent 3 mile search for a bar that was recommended. I considered going back to the apartment since it was already nearing 11pm.

Then I remembered being recommended to eat Fukuoka ramen noodles. Apparently Fukuoka ramen noodles are special since they are cooked with pork. Different areas of Japan cook ramen in different ways, so this was my chance. Off I went in search of a ramen tent.

I walked into the first tent I found. There were two Japanese men eating ramen and one woman and one man cooking. I ordered ramen and a glass of sake. The sake was poured into a glass that was setting in a box. Sorry no picture of that. They poured so much into the glass that it overflowed into the box. There must be a reason for this, but I decided I shouldn't drink what spilled into the box. By the time I had finished my ramen, the two men had gone, I had finished another glass of sake, and a bunch of fresh Japanese people entered the tent. One of which spoke good English. She was a lady my age and was having fun teaching me about the food and drinks available in the tent.




The lady on my right is the one who was teaching me about Japanese food and drink. I wound up having two more drinks with her of something called Show-Chu, a form of distilled hard alcohol made in Japan.

After a while my new Japanese friend invited me to go to another bar with her to try more food and drinks. We wound up staying out until 3:30am-ish. I paid for the expensive taxi ride back to the apartment and crashed. By 9:00am I was up and showering so I could pick up my visa and be at the airport for a 6:45pm flight. Too bad I didn't see that the flight wasn't until 8:50pm. I arrived at the airport around 4:30pm and spent a few hours just waiting.

Fortunately I did some last minute shopping at Tenjin Station underground mall before going to the airport. I was looking for some traditional Japanese crafts and found a great shop there for such things.


I passed through a plaza while shopping and took this photo of some daisies.


I also came across a person dressed in a wicked traditional outfit. He/she was just standing there all afternoon.

So that's all I have to share about my Fukuoka Visa Run. I've since learned that there is a huge festival there in May and am considering going back. It is the largest festival in Japan with parades in the streets and performances all week long. I happen to have a three day weekend during the festival.