Hi again everyone!
Let's continue with my adventures in Fukuoka!
Today I will show everyone two interesting places to visit, and something you should try in the Birth place of Ramen!
The Hakata district isn't really that big and I would say that if you don't want to spend anything on transport to explore the city, it is definitely doable.
One of the nice sights at night in the central part of city is Canal City Hakata. The brightly lit sign can be seen from far away, so you wouldn't lose your way walking towards it.
It is rather beautiful at night, and you would have a very different experience walking around here compared to Tokyo or Osaka. Along the river, there are also many street stalls that sell food. This isn't something I usually see in Tokyo. People sit around the small stall, maybe up to 5 people and they eat freshly cooked noodles, skewers that the owner has prepared, coupled with beer.
As you pass by these stalls and continue walking straight you will soon reach Canal City Hakata. It is a pretty large shopping mall and it looks really nice. The colours illuminated make the place even more pretty at night.
Before I entered the Mall though, I saw one of my to-go places for a quick snack. St Marc Cafe! I always visit them for their chocolate and special seasonal croissants. Ask the assistant to help you heat it up and you will be in for a wonderful sweet treat!
I ordered the special strawberry chocolate flavour!
they have cute chairs
Inside the mall I heard some music and bright lights flashing so I quickly went to check out the commotion. I found out that they have light and water shows at specific timings, so we went to watch them in action along with some Japanese music.
such beautiful illumination!
At first when I heard the music, I thought that the artists were in fact live and singing at the mall. But again it was so late at night, so that didn't seem possible. Then I realised that it was just the recording being played with the MV on screen. I think that it was a song by one of the EXILE band members, but i can't remember which specific EXILE group it was. But before I saw the screen i guessed that it was probably EXILE, as the style is so similar and familiar.
We didn't really stay there too long, as we actually did not plan to go there this day, just wanted to check it out and go somewhere else to eat. The mall isn't super big, but it has enough for the average tourist to check out and shop. The mall is not the newest here, and it is actually a little out of the way of the main city, but it's not too bad. I didn't really like one of the food they served here, but I will leave that for another post. The main shopping district I would say is at the JR Hakata station area, where most of the malls are close by.
So we were so hungry, even after the croissant snack, and we decided to eat some Ramen!
The HQ of Ichiran Ramen is in Fukuoka, and we were not that far away, so we decided to have that for late dinner. When you walk pass the branch, you will know why it is the HQ. It is 4 storeys high, and you can see the Ichiran logo from far away. To make it even more obvious, when we reached, they had a traditional japanese music group playing music at the 3rd storey of the building. There is a transparent glass window where they performed and everyone downstairs was filming and watching intently. Ichiran definitely got the attention that they wanted.
spot the musicians at one of the levels!
Level 1 is for customers who want to sit together at a normal dining table and order Ramen to eat there. We went to the second level as the waiting time was less, but we had to sit at the more 'traditional' style counter tables.
we ordered through a Ramen ticket machine
I like to eat the ramen with a medium-strong dashi taste, medium richness and very firm noodles.
For Ichiran's ramen I prefer them to be slightly spicy. It is more tasty to me that way.
you can then modify your order through this sheet, this is not my order sheet, the noodles aren't firm
One thing I did not expect was that the divider between the counter tables couldn't be removed so that you could see your friend when eating. When I was in the Osaka and Tokyo branches they were able to be removed. It could be that only my counter table was not able to be tweaked.
There will be an assistant behind those curtains that will serve you your bowl direct from the kitchen. You will probably be only able to see the server's hands and torso. They will bow after serving to you and wish that you enjoy your meal.
Itadakimasu! いただきます！
I had such a good meal!
Ichiran is a really big brand in Japan, and people normally have a tough time deciding whether Ichiran or Ippudo is the 'best'. Let's just say that I like them both, and that I have also tasted better. You might have also seen Instant Ichiran ramen available for sale. If you forgot to buy them before going home, do not worry, you will be able to find tons of them at the Fukuoka airport.
Hope you enjoyed the post! Let's visit more sights in Fukuoka next!
For my introduction post please check here!
Where else have I travelled to?
Check Seanytan's SteemitWorldMap!