Fukuoka Week 2

 Sunday 

Okay now I have discovered why the hotels are so expensive. And so booked out. This morning thought I’d grab a coffee from a close Starbucks (yes I know I shouldn’t but it’s the only coffee place open before 11am) and it was packed. At 8:30 Sunday morning, in Japan. What’s going on? It dawned on me that yesterday the station was packed. Even the bookshop had a long queue - a bookshop for crying out loud. Clearly this is more than a festival or a baseball game. Apparently, it’s Silver Week. 

WTF is Silver Week - it’s collection of holidays that run from 19th -23rd Sept. Monday is Respect for the Aged Day — I’m looking forward to pulling some weird shit that day. Tuesday is Citizen’s Holiday (no fucking idea) and ends with Autumnal Equinox Day. Australia needs to embrace at least one of these days as a national holiday. Apparently the last time these days align to form such a string of hols was 2015.  Ouch just reali

Speaking of Hakata Station it is much larger than I thought at first. And I’m used to Tokyo and Shinjuku Stations. I dunno how I navigated my way when I first arrived - blind dumb luck. 

Here’s a life question for y’all: would you rather be lucky or smart? 

Anyway, some facts about Hakarta Station. It is 2.15 billion sq feet /  200,000 sq metres. An average of 130,000 people board trains and 450,000 use the station each day. “Above” the actual train tracks are 3 different department stores with over 320 shops -  one store is 10 storeys high - I know this because I was caught in the escalator traffic to the 9th floor (bookshop). And I found 2 basement floors. Here are some picture…some aren’t mine because it’s too big for me

Hakata Station = NOT mine

Looks fab at night, right

Yesterday the taxi traffic around the station was shocking - the roads were congested and one driver honked! Japanese drivers never honk - so people really jumped and glared - his stress musta been great. This morning another taxi slipped through a red light -on a  left hand turn- and the pedestrians around me literally gasped. Me, I was like “yep, I don’t blame him”.  

Despite the crowds, the shop assistants are unfailingly polite and helpful:I was buying something and the woman helped me download an app which gave me a 300Yen discount - honestly I felt awful holding up the line. But she was totally unflustered and had the amazing talent of reading upside down. The bigger shock: not one person behind me clicked their tongue or did a Karen sigh. Like I woulda done. 

So I’ve walked to my “usual” Starbucks which is several streets back from the station and it has plenty of room. I have noticed that the Japanese would rather wait in line and then crowd together. Needless to say I rolled my eyes (which is why I wear sunglasses) when I saw the  queue at the first Starbucks, turned on my heel (watch that knee) and walked straight out. I’m sitting here feeling pretty pleased at finding a quiet place.

Crowds

It’s more confusing here than Tokyo - yesterday I got lost in several stores. Because they’re so big. A building houses dozens of types of stores - electronics alone include mobile phones, phone plans, electronics from computers to fridges, clothing, make up, household goods, services such as travel agencies and places to pay bills, restaurants (usually on the top floors), food (usually basement floors), books, luggage, and surprisingly LARGE camping and outdoor stores (huh?). The signage is overwhelming — it’s everywhere - this is a bad photo because I don’t want to annoy people but you can enlarge and see the overhead signs —-

I was looking for a simple exit sign…

My plans for today have taken a swerve. I have to avoid public transport - so today’s trip to the Nanzoin Temple, with reclining Buddha, has been postponed. 

Reclining Buddha at Nanzoin Temple

I am going back to the hotel to plan my trip to Nagasaki - I’m supposed to train it on Tuesday BUT  apparently Tuesday is one of the “peak” travel days. Damn. As the hotel in Nagasaki had vacancies I’m assuming that people aren’t travelling there for the day BUT … 

Fashion Aside: I just glanced out the window and saw a man and woman waling past…she had a handbag and so does he. A literal handbag. I was going to snap it but I was too slow. It is a LV I think. Not a long strap messenger type bag or a wrist strap man bag or a utilitarian backpack- I think it is this LV bag.

Definitely not a mannish bag- right?

Salaries in Japan. I just happened on an editing and writing job in Japan. It’s a fairly complicated one as senior editor in charge of a team of writers and also required photography skills, tourism experience, English and Japanese, and quite extensive internet/website experience etc. The salary is 4million yen - that’s $38K a year. What!? 

This prompted me into a quick dive into salaries, and it seems that the patient shop assistant yesterday was probably earning $10-$12 per hour. University professors (tenured, full time) range 7-10million - $62-90. Ouch. No wonder everything is so cheap. 

Okay more photos and stuff later… 

Fukuoka Fun Week 1

I’m in Fukuoka - famous for being Japan’s early contact space with rest of world for trade. And now for me visiting.

Tuesday was gruelling and my knee aches to prove it. Damn Japanese train stations that don’t have escalators or elevators. Couldn’t sleep night before-dunno why as I can change my itinerary at any time. So arrived at train station really early- the Nozomi to Fukuoka is about 3 hours. Grabbed a coffee so I could online book my seat online. If you want a specific seat ie window seat, then online booking is the way to go when you don’t know window in Japanese. Hint E (window) seats are the best=only 2 on that side.

Warning: use offical SmartEX ap ONLY, the others are sponsored and add commission. A hefty commission.

Warning #2:  leave enough time if you’re booking at station. Verification of credit card can take up to 10 minutes. Also it didn’t accept my debit card.

So basically I’m tell you my mistakes because I missed my train. At the barrier my QR code didn’t work, ladies fixed it. And my platform was steps only. Luckily I could catch the next train but without a reserved seats; the godspitied me and rewarded me with an empty E seat. Woo hoo. The 3 hour trip was fabulous - trains are always clean and have chargers at each seat; the Japanese are always quiet; and the toilets are clean. 

Hakata Station is a biggie and took me a while to find my way to my underground/tub station to the hotel, Daiwa Roynet Hakata-Reisen.  It’s my most expensive hotel so far. And took me several attempts but I managed to get this $400 pnight hotel for $150. Okay there is definitely a trick to booking hotels and I will post a full explanation in another blog.

 I should’ve walked as the hotel is only 17 minutes away and doesn’t have steps like the subway. But in a new city you never know what the streets are like =  Osaka shocking. Fukuoka is a much better planned city with wide streets that are beautifully paved and meticulously clean. 

Dropped my bags and off to find a shaved ice place. I have always loved snow cones/slushy type drinks (?) in the summer.  

Popular Restaurant offers them with ice cream

Kakigori are summer specialities and can be quite expensive - but they are huge. The ones in this poster are about the size of a baby’s head. And about $15 - I got a small for $8.

I ordered coffee one (above) which was expensive $15 and delicious. I also managed to get it all down the front of my white linen top. Top is washed and restored back to white. I did not have with me, the facecloth I always carry—so had to mop up with those awful slippery napkins (à la Cole’s Cafeteria 1965). So perhaps not my greatest day. 

Anyway at the hotel they had an ‘Amenities Bar’ - this is becoming increasingly common in Japan. You will see there are many items to choose from and I use grabbed what I thought looked good. And the products I used were fabulous.  Can you guess what the items are?

Went to local konbi for an egg sandwich dinner and collected another handful of body/skin care product samples on way thru lobby. I had worked out what wasn’t a refreshing drink but a bath powder.  Thank you google translate. 

The bathroom had too many options - I don’t want a deep bath (most Japanese hotels’ baths are super deep) - nor do I want a waterfall shower cos I don’t wash my hair everyday and not a fan of water cascading down my head. I much prefer the frontal attack of an adjustable showerhead. 

Wednesday. Second day I walked around as my knee was sore I didn’t want to over do it s

Mikoshi 2 storeys high

o stuck to the local neighbourhood - there’s a covered shopping street (much look up the name for that) where I huge festival palaquin (Mikoshi) was hidden between two shops. Fukuoka loves its festivals but then the whole of Japan does - it’s part of building a community focus. The food is always extraordinary and throw in energetic taiko drums and alcohol then you’ve a real celebration. 

Thursday. Was Museum day - kinda - each museum I visited was having something done to it so I will have to come back next week. So I when through the huge Canal City mall which is a 190s throw back mall. From the Gold Coast. It has several 4/5/6 levels and several 4/5 different coloured buildings that overlook a huge water pond/pool. 

There is a water fountain ‘show’ on the hour - honestly it was the worst thing of its type I’ve ever seen. I was so embarrassed for … the water ? Canal City management? the crowds that filmed it? I had to walk away.  On my way back to the hotel, I discovered that I have been walking the wrong way through this part of Fukuoka - I took about 20 mins to get to Canal City which was a 5 min walk the other way. Seriously Google Maps is both a blessing and a curse.

Friday - Hakozki Festival Day. Another instance of learning that Google Maps doesn’t always know best. Anyway, it was a fund couple of hours. I was surprised to find alcohol tents open at 11am but they weren’t much patronised. Actually most of the stalls were empty. I did manage to nab a shave ice for 400 yen (about $3.50) and it was huge. I also learned that most people add — wait for it — condensed milk to theirs. I shudder at the sweetness. 

Food stalls: tacos, kebabs, souvlaki, dumplings, fairy floss, toffee apples, KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) and Korean Hot dogs, squid on a stick, mochi on a stick, basically anything you can eat and put on a stick - it’s about the only place you will see Japanese people eating while walking. Anyway after a couple of hours of temple visit, garden strolling and stall testing I had enough. 

(I will post photos later because I can’t upload now)

Saturday. It is time for me to move hotels. The price at old one jumped to over $600 per night over the weekend. Again it took a lot of jiggery-pokery to find a room under $300 here. I mistakenly thought that places away from Tokyo would be cheaper. 

I’ve chosen a much more modest (cheaper) one at the train station. I’m going to Nagasaki on Tuesday, so there’s method. The hotel prices at Nagasaki are even crazier - on place went from $60 to $565. There’s a big festival/ celebration this weekend so I’m going Tuesday. Planning and trying to guess how much time I want somewhere is a pain. I read about a wonderful thing to do somewhere I was a few days ago.  Bloody annoying. But I have to accept that religious type festivals are all pretty much the same…even the food. While I don’t mind the occasional shire or Emile - after a while they lack  meaning for me, I’m looking at the architecture or the gardens. 

I’m sitting in a Starbucks looking a the passing parade while I touch-type. 

One thing I’ve noticed is that the younger Asian men are much more hands on. It’s so unlike the` ‘single’ married women I see in Australia- the women who are pushing the baby buggy, carrying bags and herding the kids. I’ll post a photo of a man who is pushing the baby buggy and the luggage with baby stuff strapped across his body; the woman eats an ice cream… this is typical. I also see many more men on their own with children strapped to them.  How did I this happen in a place where I thought women walked several steps behind and kept their eyes down…no more.  I’m loving it.   I’ll post pictures with apologies for the quality as Im grabbing people who are walking by. Oh and as far as I can tell these are NOT Chinese men. 

It is drizzling so I’ve been taking my time here. But it’s time for me to move on.  Check in time is nigh, 

Kyoto Kulture

Kiniyoshi’s Ukiyoe of Rain 

This is my last - 1/2 day in Kyoto. The hotel has 11am checkout which is a rare luxury so I am at a local Tully’s sipping an iced honey latte. The coffee culture is strong in Japan as is the coffee. In fact it has spoiled me for my homemade stuff - i have taken to adding chicory—google it. 

It’s summer and the weather in Kyoto is cooler ie under 30. Prob cos of the rain - it’s been raining everywhere in Japan typhoon-ish season. My gf in Chiba, Diane reported getting emergency warnings during early hours last night - she’s in Chiba which has had some landslides etc.She’s safe as she lives in an apartment block 3rd floor. 

Can’t decide if I want rain and cooler or not. Rain isn’t great for sightseeing. But it’s perfect for my kinda sightseeing. Thinking on it, I don’t really do much sight - seeing. I am at home in museums and art gallery type places. And tbh, I’m not a religious person so temples and churches get cursory glances from me and mainly for the architecture.  Do you know the difference between a shrine and a temple - physically and spiritually? 

So what did I do in Kyoto - first “day” - when will tourists realise that a ‘day’ isn’t really a full day by the time you arrive and get booked in most of the day is gone. When I see those ridiculous itineraries on TikTok etc that have 5 to-do things—arrggh. You feel inadequate and stressed. And I think they’re mainly bs drawn from a list of other people’s to do list. Anyhow - Kyoto is a big fucking city and if you manage to get 2/3 things done then congrats to you.So below is my lazy arse way around Kyoto - remember I have been here several times and was here for 2 weeks, 6 months ago.

Thursday - afternoon wet - so undercover shopping it was. I bought a pair of Spingles at Teramachi —not a pair I’d planned. My white sneakers are dying - another tip for travel: wear an old comfy pair of shoes, wear them to death, throw away and replace with a locally-made new pair. Spingles are made in Japan from kangaroo leather so I feel doubly virtuous. 

Teramachi is an undercover shopping street that’s been added to Nishiki Markets - used to be a fishmonger alley selling fresh sea produce.Few of those stalls exist now.It was crammed with tourists - no surprise - who feel they can stop and chatter or take photos or just block a very narrow alley way. Why is it that people are so unaware of the space they inhabit? One guy threw his arm up to point out something and nearly hit me in the face.  As Bill calls, it the mall phalanx - families led by male - with wife 2 steps behind and children clustered around her. 

When did shopping become a family activity? No wonder small children throw tantrums - I would too. Can’t one person stay home and  ‘take care’ of the kids who would much rather be doing something else - but that’s a Generation Jones view. 

After browsing Hands (a great dept store to visit if you’re ever in Shibuya too) and a few other shops - I found a donut place selling Harry Potter donuts.  

Nope not tempted. But Rabbit Bagels did tempt me - bought a truffle and salt for dinner and a sugar one for dessert. Best bagels in the world, loads of shops in Kyoto, a couple in Tokyo and a few in Fukuoka — so I’ll try some from there in a couple of weeks.

After 16k steps my arse was killing me - showing me how little my glutes have been doing in the past month. 

Friday - perfect day for Kyocera Art Museum - drizzly = not too much to get wet but enough to wanna be indoors. The museum is in a beautifully restored art deco building. There were two main exhibitions - they don’t seem to have a permanent one. A bit expensive - all up about AUD50 for entrance to both. The first was Japanese scrolls and paintings (Nihonga) inspired by poetry - sounds boring but was exquisitely curated and the paintings were ‘dream-like’ - all mist and seasonal.  The second was of  Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s ukiyoe - block prints - they were fantastic but there was no English labelling nor was there an English audio guide. So I was pretty pissed at first and glowered at the images. To be fair, there were labels but as if to punish English readers they were in the tiniest print. Anyway, I came to really enjoy the pictures so much I spent more time than I thought I would.  They were really funny and some were super “gothic’. 

Scary enough for you?

Loved it. Of course, I now discover the next exhibit is one I’d really like to see - luckily Osaka is only 1 hr train ride away so I’ll try to come back and see it later this week. And I promised myself I won’t be pissed if there is no English.  

Saturday - was a sunny day so I got up super early and trammed it to the Bamboo Forrest. I love the Randen tram - it’s one of the main reasons I stay in Ms Hotel - it’s just opposite. For 250Yen about $2 - It’s a lovely 30 minute journey. Air conditioned and not too crowded. I listened to a podcast about Dolly Parton. So I’m always going to equate Arashimaya with Coat of Many Colours, and The Bridge (one of her sad ass songs that you must listen to). 

Cute - hey?

The rain had the not-so-fun effect of making the ground soggy and steps potentially slippery 0 given my recent fall, I decided to be conservative about my walk and after 1/12

hours I headed back to the tram.