January 25: Tokyo to Fukuoka

It had snowed in Fukuoka a couple days ago and quite a few flights to Fukuoka had been cancelled so Otousan was a little worried about our flight, but luckily it hasn't snowed in Fukuoka since and Uncle Hiro said the amount of snow and ice on the roads had gone down. Our flight was at 8:10 from Haneda Airport so I got up at 5:30 and we were able to get on the 6:15 hotel shuttle to the airport. We got checked in and dropped off our baggage fairly quickly so we had a little bit of time to wander around the airport a little. When we boarded we had A, B, and C seats, which were on the left side of the plane, so when we took off we had a pretty good view of the Tokyo Sky Tree off in the distance. About 20 minutes or so into the flight we got a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji, so for future reference, if you travel from Haneda to Fukuoka grab a window seat on the left side of the plane. After taking quite a few pictures I took a little bit of a nap.

Mt. Fuji

When we landed in Fukuoka it was overcast with a thin layer of snow covering the ground. We retrieved our baggage and met Uncle Hiro in the terminal. He had rented a larger car to accommodate all our luggage and so we packed up and drove to Munakata to have lunch at their family's favorite restaurant, Eichan Udon. I ordered the yamakake udon, which comes with grated yamaimo (mountain yam) and a raw egg yolk. Otousan recommended that I add some shichimi and tempura crisps to my udon so I followed his recommendation. The broth was really good and really hot. It had a great depth of flavor even though it was so light and the egg yolk and tempura crisps added a nice richness to the dish. The noodles had a nice elasticity and chew to them. Overall it was an excellent bowl udon and extremely satisfying. We also got kashiwa onigiri and inarizushi on the side because Christal said that they always get it.

Yamakake Udon

After we finished lunch we went to Uncle Hiro's mansion (in Japan they call apartments mansions) and Christal, Luke and I hung out there and watched the replay of the Patriots vs. Broncos AFC Championship Game while Uncle Hiro and Otousan took care of some paperwork and errands from their father's death. After they had finished with their errands they came back to the mansion and we hung out until Luke woke up from his nap. Then Uncle Hiro drove us over to see their mom, Luke's Hi-Obaachan, in the nursing home and we visited with her for a few minutes. Apparently Otousan was going to tell her about Masumi Obaachan, but he didn't get a chance to and when Uncle Hiro took her back up to her room he mentioned something about Masumi. Anyway, I think Otousan may have a tough converstion with his mother tomorrow.

The Nishikawas

When we finished at the nursing home Uncle Hiro took us to the Royal Genkai Hotel, which is where we stayed when we came to Fukuoka after our wedding. He dropped us off and then drove home because he has work tomorrow. After we checked in and put our luggage in our room we went down to one of the restaurants in the hotel. As luck would have it, just about the only restaurant open in the hotel at the time was Otome, which was an izakaya, so we ended up having bar food for the third straight night. Even though the restaurant was dead the food was good, so I was happy. We got assorted sashimi that included fresh saba, akami maguro, kanpachi and sazae (horned turban snail), a mixed vegetable salad with sesame dressing, gyoza, fried Satsuma fish cakes, tempura gobo, karaage (fried chicken) and kanpachi kama. I have to say, Otousan did a great job of ordering because it was the perfect amount of food so that I was satiated and not completely stuffed. For me the sashimi was the most surprising dish of the night. I wasn't expecting much since the restaurant was like a ghost town, but all of the sashimi was extremely fresh tasting and none of it, even the saba, had a hint of fishiness. Each item that was on the sashimi platter had a different texture as well, so it provided another layer to the experience.

Assorted Sashimi

After we finished with dinner we headed up to our room for a dessert of omiyage and sweets we had either received or bought throughout the trip, then Otousan either went to the onsen or to bed and Christal went to the onsen after putting Luke to sleep.

Kanpachi Kama