Ramen noodle capital of the world

Today I am in Fukuoka, the ramen noodle capital of the world! Not at all like the ramen noodles I ate as a kid... I went to the Ramen Colosseum at canal city where they have eight or so different ramen restaurants each specializing in a different style of ramen noodles. For lack of knowledge about any of the different kinds of ramen, I chose Hakata, the local style.

I ordered the tonkatsu ramen which apparently is the classic version of the Hakata. A few pieces of thinly sliced pork in a buttery broth and dark strands of vegetables. And of course, draft beer, to wash it all down. Oishii!!

Now lets talk slurping for a moment. Slurping is how its done here. You don't use a spoon, you don't cut it with your chopsticks. You stick a wad in your mouth and slurp. Back home this is definitely not how it is done, but I pretended that I was eight years old and gave it a good slurp. Not as easy as it sounds, if you don't want to splash your cheeks with broth, that is. But in no time I was slurping with the best of them!