Before we left, we walked down to the building adjacent to the railway station which houses a collection of pottery from various kilns around Karatsu. We bought a couple of chopsticks rests in the shape of renkon (lotus root) slices. Very cute, a nice memento of Japan and most importantly, they'll fit in my bag.
A fugu (puffer fish) restaurant in Karatsu. No thanks!
We then headed off for Fukuoka, which is the seventh largest city in Japan. After riding for only a couple of minutes, we found ourselves riding through Niji-no-matsubara, a 360 year old pine forest which runs for about 4 kilometres along the coast of Karatsu. It was beautiful riding under the cool canopy of trees. The rest of the ride was varied. The first half was along the coast, with the sea on the left and the tree-covered hills on the right. The traffic was reasonably light and we saw the occasional fisherman enjoying a pleasant Sunday morning by the sea.
As we got closer to Fukuoka, the traffic became much heavier and it wasn’t really much fun. I did see another amusing name for a hairdresser shop to add to my list. This one was called “Hair Labo Nosh”.
It was good to arrive in Fukuoka and get the scooters parked at the Toyoko Inn. We picked up a few benefits from our Toyoko Inn membership today. With a 20% discount because it’s Sunday, a 5% discount for the other days (a standard member benefit)), a voucher for the value of a single room because we’d accumulated 10 points, and a discount for choosing the ‘eco plan’ (no room cleaning on the second day), we only paid $59 per night for the three nights we’re here – right in the middle of a big city!
We started our exploration at the railway station to pick up some maps and information. There is a Hankyu Department Store attached to the railway station, so we went for a browse through the Food Hall. Not quite as spectacular at the one in Osaka, but still pretty amazing!
Yum!!
We sat in the plaza in front of the station watching the world go by and then went back to the hotel to browse through the brochures. We won’t be short of things to do in Fukuoka!
Fukuoka Girls
Kids playing in the pond in the plaza
We've seen a number of ladies in kimonos during the last few weeks
After a read and a rest, we found our way over to Canal City, a mega shopping and entertainment complex. What an amazing place! The colourful and curved architecture is wonderful and a canal runs through the middle of the complex. A fountain performs a water show every half an hour and the whole place is bustling with activity. We spent quite a bit of time just admiring the sights and then made our way up to a higher floor to find some dinner. We found a nice place and had an enjoyable meal and a chat with a Japanese man at the next table who was quite interested to hear about our travels.
Two clothing shops in Canal City - "Setting Cracks" and "Mind Blow"
Child playing in the water feature on the pavement
The fountain show in the canal
We wandered back towards the hotel via the 7-11 store to see if they sold tea bags as we’re running out (now THAT would be a disaster!). Fortunately, they had some packets of Darjeeling tea bags so we’re saved. We celebrated with an ice cream.
Sign at a dental clinic
OK!
Before returning to the hotel, we decided to check out the view from the observation deck on the roof of the railway station building. It was a terrific view and gave us a true sense of what a big city this really is. It was a lovely cool evening – just right for strolling around.
We then wandered back over to the hotel to charge our batteries ready to take on the sights tomorrow.
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