Table for 1?

I was craving ramen tonight, so after work once I got off at my subway station I asked someone about a block from my sharehouse: “ramen?” This person gave me directions to a spot just a block away with a “yellow” sign. I walked in, by myself, and was gestured to sit down at the only open table. The place maybe had 20 dining seats, so it was warm and cozy. As a typical “i-za-ka-ya” or Japanese cafe-style restaurant, the patrons were mostly men except for 2 women (probably a wife and/or sister) and the server. Naturally, everyone was looking at me, but I sat facing the restaurant, welcoming the curious stares with a friendly smile. The server came over and started pointing out different things on the menu, so once again I asked, “ramen?” and she nodded her head in affirmation, then proceeded to point to out what I assume was the ramen selection. I found the word “salt” in my Japanese/English dictionary to say “salt ramen”- I know I like this dish and that was exactly what I was craving. She flashed a big smile, said “hai hai hai” (yes, yes, yes!), turned to the rest of restaurant and gave a big thumbs up, a sign of success! An older gentleman sitting two tables away with about 6 other dudes made eye-contact with me, held up 1 finger and asked: “just one?” I nodded yes, and he gestured for me to come sit with him. I, of course, obliged and continued a broken English/Japanese conversation with these men. I was able to communicate my name, country of origin and age. I was able to understand some names and ages. The remainder of my time there was spent laughing and watching (even routing for) remote control boat races one of the guys was streaming from his phone. Although gambling is technically illegal in Japan, I pretty sure my new friends were placing bets and moving money. Lucky for them, my Japanese skills are no where close to a level in which I can confirm this, though I did feel like an insider (at least for 20 minutes!). Either way, they were super nice and made jokes with me the whole time. Laughter really is a universal language 🙂 Not to mention, they complimented my chop stick skills too! And the icing on top: it was the best ramen I’ve had thus far!!