Foodie Travel Photo: Check this Bowl of Noodles Out

Ramen to Cry For

Usually, servings of soba and ramen are just snacks, to me; not a real meal.

Sometimes, I eat the stuff, after a night of drinking, to prevent hangovers.

Or, when I don't have enough sense left, the next morning, to make headaches go away.

Like, it's not a lunch that sticks to your ribs more than an hour or two.

One day, out on the road with cameras, the professor and I, decided to visit this joint.

It was before noon and, no other cars were in the parking lot so, in we went.

First, I placed my order, asked if photography was OK and, went back outside.

It's one of those "No Smoking" establishments, just like I figured.

That explained, the big, stand-up ashtray, outside the front door. Fine with me.

Just as I finished my smoke, a gal came running out the door, to get me.

My huge bowl of ramen had already been delivered to our table, she explained.

Well, I thanked her, crushed my cigarette and, put it where they're supposed to go.

There was no sense, getting in a rush. You wont catch me gobbling down scalding hot ramen.

It was steaming hot and, I'd take my time shooting it, until things cooled down.

Now, I've had ramen before but, not stacked this high with ingredients.

It had bean sprouts, onions, garlic, pork and, who knows what else, on top of the noodles.

Usually, a sniff of the broth broth is what tells you if, it's going to be spectacular.

This serving smelled mouthwateringly good but, it was still too hot for me.

So, I dipped my chopsticks in that red sauce, at the top of the pile.

It immediately reminded me of this crazy, red-headed Mexican guy, I used to know.

Whenever, he got something from home, that was super, spicy hot, he cried.

And, he'd groan, "Ow Chihuahua."

I never thought, of asking if, that meant "awesome" in Mexican speak.

When something is so spicy, it makes my eyes water, I just say, "Ow Chihuahua" since then.

When, I get home and the wife asks, what I had for lunch,  sometimes I say, "Ow Chihuahua."

She knows, it means it was something, tears-come-streaming-down- your-face, hot.

That red stuff, up there, was some sort of kimchi sauce and, it was spicy.

Just in case, there wasn't enough flavor in the bowl, you could add more.

A stand, near the front door, had more things, you could put on your dinner.

Watching, I noticed some guys, loading extra kimchi on their meals.  I passed.

The lunch was delicious and filling. I'll probably, eat there again and again.

How to Get There

It's in Nishihara, right along HWY 329 but, the sign isn't in English.

Look for a black building with a red sign, that says "麺一" meaning, "noodles one."

It's walking distance from Heart Life Hospital. That could be a good thing.

Doctors and nurses, might eat there if, it's healthy for the heart.

In case, you have too much of an Ow Chihuahua moment there's help nearby !

Hungry Caterpillars Eat Plenty of Food

Monster Was Eating Veges

 

 

It was one of those days, I didn't feel like walking too far with a 300MM lens.

So, I just went out back and looked around for something interesting to shoot.

Along came this brightly colored caterpillar and, it put on quite a show.

The little furry critter was eating vegetables in Mr's Yamashiro's garden plot.

It's a good thing, she wasn't around, to see all the damage this thing was creating.

The thought occurred to me, I could perform a random act of kindness.

Grab the culprit and, throw him over the fence, into a neighboor's vegetable patch.

Some people like to squish the hairy things, with their feet.  Not me.

And, I wasn't in a caterpillar chucking mood that day, either.

It did get me wondering, "How much food can one of them eat?"

In, "Ten Fascinating Facts About Caterpillars" I learned this:

Some of them eat 27,000 times the weight of their body, during their lifetime.

Don't diet. Eat more. Maybe, you'll turn into something as pretty as a butterfly !

 After, I shot about 5 gigabytes worth of photos, I let the rascal get away.

End of story

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They were Outside a Tent at a Festival

 

 

Someone had a produce stand near the entrance to the Azalea Festival.

They placed these two nudies out in the corner, to sort of, attract customers, I guess.

Vegetable artists like this are far and few between in this part of the country.

If, they'd make it an Olympic event, I bet lots of people would tryout for it.

That doesn't seem as dangerous or as boring as watching bobsleds, going down hills.

These characters, are known as daikon (giant radishes) in Japan.

Can you tell which one's supposed to be the female ?

To show appreciation for this fine art, I had to make sure the subjects got proper exposure.

Without further ado:

Camera:  Pentax K3

Lens:  Pentax 18-250 at 42MM

Exposure:  f/11   1/200   ISO 100

Location:  Taira Okinawa Japan

Date and Time:   MAR 18  2016  10AM

A Wagyu Burger in Kitanagusuku Okinawa

Sign Said Freshness Burger

 

That sounded kind of silly, to me but, I looked at a menu in the window.

The promise, I made to the gal in the Orion Beer restaurant, got broken, right then.

She was nice enough to let me take some photos so, I told her, I'd be back for lunch.  Liar !

 Welcome to Freshness Burger

Once, I saw the advertisement for a Wagyu Burger, the Orion Beer girl was history.

Wagyu beef is supposed to be some of most expensive and delicious cow meat in the world. 

When I saw the price, advertised on a poster, I knew I had to give it a try.

Heck, if you didn't order anything but the hamburger, it cost less than 10 bucks !

Quiet Uncrowded Atmosphere

 

 

When Doc Graff and I, walked in to the place, the population doubled.

We placed our orders and, asked if photography was allowed.

The hamburgers are hand made and, it's not a fast food joint so, we had to wait awhile.

It's fun, to go poking around with the camera, when the place is almost empty.

The was no need to worry about anybody, moving and ruining my shots, in the low light.

Somebody decorated the place with Norman Rockwell paintings.

He painted scenes of American life, to show the world, as he saw it, through his eyes.

The only art, on the walls of this establishment, were all works of Norman Rockwell.

It was sort of like being in some American history museum. But, I only snitched this photo.

Food Began to Arrive

 

First the fries, which are grown way up in Hokkaido, showed up at the table.

These things were yummy and, came out piping hot.

Don't ask me, why Japanese people eat their hamburgers, wrapped in wax paper.

They say "In Rome, do what the Romans do." So I pretended to be Japanese.

 In ten or fifteen minutes, I woofed everything down and, used about a dozen napkins.

Somehow, when I eat stuff like this, food, grease and cheese, runs down my beard.

Next time, I'll remember, to bring my own fork and knife.

It was a decent meal.  All the vegetables were fresh and tasty. I'd rather eat it off a plate.

There was so much food, I didn't even think of asking for second helpings or, desert.

Will I Ever Go to Eat in Kitanakagusuku Again ?

 

Now that I'm back in the office and, my research is done, I've been thinking.

A food dude from the UK, named Harry Wallop, did a review on Wagyu hamburgers. 

He says, they stick breadcrumbs in the beef, to bring down the cost. Hah !

So, next thing, I did was checkout the Freshness website and, learned something.

All the vegetables are grown on Freshness farms sites.

They get the safe and fresh beef patties, from Australia !

Here's a Freshness Burger Menu in Japanese and English if, you want to try some.


Feeling a little bit guilty, about that pretty Orion Beer gal, I left behind, I'll go back.

And, just tell her, "I said I'd be back for lunch. But, I didn't say, what day."

"So, here I am. Please, show me the menu!"

A Favorite: Okinawa's Goya Chanpuru and A Recipe for You

Goya Day in Okinawa May 8th !

Not to worry.  I didn't forget about Goya Day.  I just forgot to tell everybody else.

For those who don't know, a goya is called a bitter melon in English.

They look like bumpy cucumbers. But, don't taste anything like a cucumber, at all.

Bitter, is the word that best describes them.

People either love or, hate goya.  There's no in-between. 

Sort of like beer; it's an acquired taste.  I love the stuff.  Beer, too.

Why Celebrate Vegetables ?

 

 

 

 

In Okinawa we like to party so, we celebrate anything we can.

See, in Japanese, the word "Five" is "Go" and May happens to be the fifth month.

The eight day of the month gets a little tricky, to explain. Let's try, anyway.

Eight, in Japanese would be "Hachi" but, we'll just use the "Ha" part of it.  OK ?

Now, "Ha" rhymes with "Ya" sort of.  Doesn't it ?

Well, you put the "go" and "ya" together and that gives you goya.

It sounds like a good enough excuse to celebrate, to me.

So, that's what I did, until the wee hours of the morning.  The Missus was with me, most of the time.

The photo above was my Goya Chanpuru, just before I consumed the whole thing.


Time 12:51AM.

 

 Nobody cooks Goya Chanpuru better than Mrs. RyukyuMike.  That's the truth.

If you want to try making your own, I'll hook you up with this video I found.

Some crazy gal cooks the stuff with her dog on the kitchen counter !

 

Silly Sunday Photo: Change Your Kitchen Sharply

Nobody Likes Dull Kitchens

 

When I saw this, I just couldn't resist.  I had to have one.

The wife didn't want it in her kitchen so, I took it to the office. Maybe, I should make a kitchen there.

It changes a kitchen sharply.

A CUTTING BOARD !

What's really cool about this one, is the monotone design.

For example, if you had a rainbow-colored cutting board, you'd probably lose stuff.

Colored vegetables could be hard to spot when you start chopping them.

And, on those crazy white cutting boards you lose sight of all the white veges.

Why didn't someone think of making black cutting boards, a long time ago ?

More Sunday Silly Stuff in The Doozies

Sunday's Silly Sign (Photo) Nov 27, 2011 Ask for Ketchups

One of my favorite silly signs comes from a McDonald's in Okinawa, Japan.

The large order of french fries is what I always order because, if you're going to have a healthy, well-balanced diet you have to include lots of vegetables.  Right ?

Go look at the food pyramid scientists came up with if you don't believe me.

Well, I get one of those hamburgers with cheese on it.

To balance that you should have lots of vegetables and grains.  Healthy stuff.  You know.

  There's the bun; that'd be a grain.

The bun has sesame seeds on it; another healthy grain.

There are tomatoes, onions and lettuce.

And, they give you a few slices of pickles.

The large order of fries almost rounds out the daily recommended food pyramid, for me.

But, I figure, just in case I come up short on vegetables,  I should douse the fries with ketchup.

Ketchup is a vegetable.  Ain't it ?

So, I've been thinking.  I should probably keep a big squeeze bottle in my backpack.

That way I wouldn't have to keep running back to the counter to:

PLEASE ASK FOR KETCHUPS, WHEN NEEDING ONE

Do the McDonalds where you live make you ask for ketchups one at a time, too ?

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