Greenland Nakasu Fukuoka

My first impression of Fukuoka was neon. Though my body knew it was the middle of the night it was used to, I was able to get yen from an ATM, buy a subway ticket, and get to the 100 year old inn where I had reservations. Enjoyed the hot communal (gender separated) bath, but not as much the ********** and buckwheat pillow.
Fukuoka, Kyushu-Okinawa, Japan travlingal

... like? I have no friggin' idea. I've been trying to research it on the internet but have come up with very little as to what kind of life we'll be living there. Which is one of the reasons I've decided to revive the travel blog and maybe somewhere down the line, someone else is moving to Salalah and will actually have some idea of what it's like before they get there. Here's hoping it's good!

-M

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091020

"ROBOSQUARE!" (Robots in Japan!)
by swami_worldtraveler

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INT RO:

Japan is famous for robots! - especially humanoid robots, even very sophisticated walking robots. I built walking robots in college as an Electrical Engineering student. So, naturally I had to find some robots while I was in Japan!...

You'd think it would be easy; they must be walking around the streets everywhere. Well, I ...

... of the line, that is, the Japan Rail Kagoshima Line. From Hakata, it's only about 45 minutes by rail if you do the Hakata to Kokura run by Shinkansen. Between Kokura and Mojiko, there is only one choice, the slow train. Mojiko is located at the Kanmon Strait which separates the island of Kyushu from the island of Honshu. According to myth, at one time, the two islands were connected, but at a particularly strategic ...

We stayed in Fukuoka for one night as we were getting the Beetle at 9am in the morning from the port here. We knew it was a bit of a party town and had many street stalls so went out in the evening for a wander. We walked for miles but ended up back at the first street stall we saw as it had a good view and seemed busy enough that it was ok to eat in!! Sat down and got noodles as we couldn't decide ...

... capsule once in a lifetime.. (just once)
8. They apologize several times a day for rudeness they haven't committed
9. When you speak English, nodding and smiling on their part does not mean they are understanding (their English is terrible)
10. The most reserved guy in the street can become the most gregarious one in a sake bar

Uniqueness of Japanese probably comes from their history of isolation, the crowded conditions imposed ...

... that I am writing this entry almost 3 weeks later, I survived (as did the Italian). It tasted quite good as well. From Usuki I went to Beppu, a famous onsen (hot spring) town. I went to one onsen but thought it rather stupid with this weather: why do I want to sit in hot water when I am already nearly boiling outside? The next day I took the train to Kokura and here I changed to my first real shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. In Hiroshima I quickly changed for a ...

... that I was "illegal" because (I had told the students I was 22) I was "far too young to have graduated university." There are lots of peculiar differences like that. The sea was choppy and it was not a pleasant traveling experience, so it was quite a relief to finally arrive in Fukuoka where I promptly purchased some Yen (very expensive) and hopped on a bus to take me to the embassy (fact: Japan drives on the left). The buses are very different from anything I have ever ...

... showing baseball highlights or cartoons or other such things to entertain passengers. Knight Rider with David Hasselholf even made an appearance, though I wasn't watching. Mostly I looked out at the scenery and listened to the Dark Tower by Stephen King on CD. The Korean countryside between Seoul and Busan is hilly, heavily forested and dotted with small white shrines, probably to dead ancestors, though I can't say for sure. It's pretty and seems wild but not forbidding. We reached ...

... said her grandmother would love them too. She wore them all evening, and said how comfortable they were. Earlier in the evening, while at dinner, I brought out yet another little custom that I had learned about Japan, whilst eating. If eating with family or friends at a table, it is not impolite to take the chop sticks which have already been put in the mouth, and dip it into the food that is common to the whole table. It is a very ...