complete lack of respect for ramen

ok...so as a ramen appreciateur, i suck.

went to ラーメン共和国 (Republic of Ramen)...but all the places had long queues. the swamp does not queue. not for the post office, not for the bank, and not for ramen. i think they make the queues longer on purpose to make their place look popular - each place had at least two empty tables, even though there were 20 people waiting to get in...

but, i did eat ramen. in another perfect example of why i will never be a ramen appreciatuer, i had no camera. fancy eating ramen and not taking a picture of it!

the place was a well-spoken of local near my japanese family's house called 道 (mitchi). it has a good rep for using no artificial flavouring. being in hokkaido, i decided to go for the miso... the soup was so thick it was like they'd dumped my ramen in a miso-flavoured potage soup. the noodles were so-so. the chashew was good, though, a single chunky slice.

so, giving up on the idea of being a freelance roving ramen-reporter under contract to the only man worth the name "ramen lover" - shoe; and going back to my real love - hot springs!

off to an onsen this afternoon - looking to find one with a view out over the snow and the ocean.