January 28: Japan to LAX

This morning we had to wake up early to finish packing and meet Uncle Hiro at his place at 8:30 so I set my alarm for 6:15 and we went to breakfast at about 7. When we got down there Otousan was towards the back of the line and there were a tone of people. Almost all of the tables were taken so Christal and I went and grabbed an open one. Otousan called me over and told me to take his place in line to get food for myself and Christal and then he went to the back of the line. By the time he got to the food nobody else had gotten in line behind him and once he sat down at the table about half of the hoard had finished and left the dining room. It was like a swarm of locusts had descended on the breakfast buffet and then disappeared. After we finished breakfast we gathered our luggage, checked out and headed to meet Uncle Hiro. From there we drove into Fukuoka where Otousan and Uncle Hiro had to sign some documents for their father and then Uncle Hiro took us to Canal City, which is a department store/mall. We walked around a little bit and then Uncle Hiro got a phone call that he had to meet someone at Hakata Station to drop something off, so we went there hurried over there. From Hakata Station it took less than 10 minutes to get to the airport.

Canal City

We checked in for our flight to Narita and we were able to check our bags all the way to Los Angeles, so that was nice. After we checked in Uncle Hiro had parked his car and met us in the terminal so we headed up and had lunch at Kuko Ramen, which translates to Airport Ramen. They served Hakata style ramen, which uses a tonkotsu broth made from pork bones. I ordered the special ramen that included chashu pork, negi, pickled mustard greens, marinated sliced konbu and a marinated soft-boiled egg. The noodles they used were thinner than most ramens I've had before, but they still had a good chew to them. Everything was very good, the pork was really tender and soft with a good ratio of meat to fat. The mustard greens had some chili in them so it added a little extra flavor and the konbu had a tender crispness that complimented the texture of the noodles. The egg was very lightly marinated to the point that I couldn't really pick up any extra flavor. After we finished with lunch Christal and I went and bought some mentaiko for Uncle Vic real quick and then we said goodbye to Uncle Hiro and went through security.

Special Ramen @ Fukuoka Airport

Our flight to Narita was delayed by about 30 minutes, but luckily we were still able to make it to our connection pretty easily. Otousan had accidentally booked premium economy for this leg as well, so Christal and I quickly checked out the Sakura Lounge for about 10 minutes before we went to the gate to board. The first hour or so of the flight was slightly turbulent, but otherwise uneventful. The meal I got was a beef and pork hamburger steak, shredded carrot salad, simmered vegetables with sakura shrimp and a green salad. It wasn't as good as the meal flying to Japan, but it wasn't horrible for airplane food.

In-Flight Meal

After eating I tried to sleep but Luke was fussy at the time and every time I almost fell asleep he would scream out. I think I got about half an hour to an hour of sleep total. I ended up watching a couple of movies and some food shows so it was still good. The rest of the flight went smoothly and when we landed we were able to get through customs really quickly thanks to Luke. It was a really fun trip with lots of emotions, especially for Christal and Otousan, but it is good to be home.

Luke Enjoyed Premium Economy