October 25, 2008: Candles Light the Way...to Texas in Japan!

What do you do on a Saturday night in October when you are in the third largest city in Japan? You go look at little candles lit up in paper sacks, that's what. Okay, to be more accurate it was the Hakata Festival of Lights. Hakata is one of the more famous areas of Fukuoka and some of the biggest events take place there. The local English events calendar type magazine,"Fukuoka Now" listed this as one of the big upcoming events for the month. It sounded pretty cool, so we got together with JD and Cara and headed down there to check it out. It was rumored to be free, so we were even more excited about that. Naturally, it wasn't really free at all. Still, it was only 500 yen per person...so not so bad I guess.

A huge line of hundreds of people waited anxiously for there turn to enter through the temple gates and wander through the labrynth of luminaries (the little paper sacks with candles burning in them giving off a soft glow). Our turn came much quicker than expected and in no time we walked through the gates ourselves. To be quite frank, we were somewhat dissapointed. It wasn't the "labrynth" of candles that we expected. Instead it was a fairly simple pathway throught the temple grounds which was bordered on both sides by the luminaries. The temple steps also had many of them giving off a pleasant, soothing glow. In short, it was nice, but not amazing. Still, it was another "notch in the belt" of things accomplished in Japan. Next on the agenda was the highlight of our week!...

TEX-MEX FOOD!!!!!!!!!
After the Festival of Lights, JD and Cara led us to their newly-discovered favorite restaurant aptly named "Chili-Joes Tex-Mex Restaurant." Walking into this restaurant was like walking into a magic portal with West Texas on the other side. The walls were painted with murals of New Mexico/Arizona style desert landscapes. Brightly colored Mexican tablecloths addorned every table and "Country Music Magazine" covers were plastered to the bar. The owner (Chili Joe I would imagine is his name), even wore Wranglers and sported a little mustache and ponytail. He actually looked kind of Mexican to me! Apparently, he lived in California for some time and brought his taste for American southwestern food back with him to spread to the Japanese masses! Or maybe just to the people in his neighborhood... Regardless, I could tell right away I was going to like this place. First things first, we ordered tortilla chips with homemade salsa and guacamole. To say it was delicous would be an understatement. Then came the real meals: shredded beef and shredded chicken burritos with sides of salad and Mexican rice, enchiladas smothered with cheese, and more salsa... Now we were really in Heaven! The food was beyond amazing (even by Texas standards), the portions were such that I, Brandon, could barely finish my own! Brandon....barely able to finish a meal in Japan...that is truly unheard of! Yet, I tell you, it is true. We stuffed ourselves and smiled with delight the entire time. Before leaving, we made sure to get some pictures of the Texas Rangers jersey on the wall, the blessed Texas flag draped behind the bar, the Taos N.M. t-shirt (for our buddy Taos), and of course a pic with Joe. I made sure to tell Joe that I had found my new favorite restaurant in Japan...and I'm not ashamed to say that it isn't Japanese food. Good is good.



As our night came to a close, we realized that less than amazing festivals can easily be forgotten with a belly full of Tex-Mex delight! Now, of course, we have spread the news of this place to our American and British friends so that everyone is anxiously awaiting our next trip to see our buddy Chili Joe. I doubt they will have to wait long. We'll be seeing you soon Joe!