Timing...

Day 338:

After only an hour of sleep, I made it to the airport just in time to catch my plane.

And slurp a bowl of ramen.

'bai bai.'

If they hadn't written beef on the wrapping, I might have never known what it was.

Ahh...after about 8 hours we finally began the descent upon Los Angeles. Yo what's up with the rain!!

After a quick visit to say hi to everyone at my old workplace, I headed to my favorite hot pastrami joint. But where was all the fat and juices dripping off the meat?? Did they just suddenly go lean on me?....

Anyway, after a quick nap it was time to go see my pseudo-dad at my second home. It's been almost 2 years since I completed the infamous Foo-Foo Challenge and well over a year since Murakami-san, Paul, and I last sat down together with a never-ending glass of shochu and beer in hand. It felt good. Almost as if the year had never passed.

Then it was time for Murakami-san to make his customary disappearance into the kitchen and crank out some off the menu items.

I had brought back with me a pack of the hirauchi noodles to give to Murakami-san and to try them in his ramen. These noodles are designed for thicker soups so we tried them in the mabo ramen first. It was decent, but probably not the best match.

Next was the nanchatte ramen. Better, but still not thick enough.

And then...the tenshin ramen. Bingo!

Thanks again Murakami-san! Sorry for the surprise visit, but the look on your face when you saw me first walk in was priceless.

Now for some dessert...

Oh yeah!

The timing couldn't have been better.