Hotel Monterey La Soeur Fukuoka

Here we go again, off to lands unknown (to us, anyway) with our lives stuffed into luggage. The last time we do this will not be too soon! I suppose it's the price of an adventurous lifestyle. <br><br>Speaking of which, we are currently in Nogata, Fukuoka which is probably the *least* adventurous town ever. It consists of rice fields and... rice fields. My grandparents live here though, and it's also where we ...

... for museums or exhibition halls in Tokyo the first week I arrived. Didn't find anything! I'm sure I must have just missed them somehow. Then in Osaka I heard about a robot place in Nagoya, but I'd already passed that town by and was nearing the end of my trip, so backtracking didn't fit the circumstances. Somewhat reluctantly, I resigned myself to not getting to see any of the famous Japanese robots... at least not on THIS trip, I consoled myself.<br><br>Then I saw it ...

... Mojiko also became an important terminal for both the railroad and cruise ships. So it's full of Meiji-era Western-style buidings, mostly built in grand style between 1910 and 1920. The view of the waterfront and the bridge across the strait is just beautiful. There's a nice little railroad museum, a couple of small shopping plazas, and a new hotel with a striking modern design. I think Mojiko deserves everybody's ...

... in modern designs. <br><br>THE SCHLEP TO HASAMI<br><br>I had my big adventure hike yesterday. The Hakusan company had been producing traditional porcelain in a little town called Hasami in Nagasaki Prefecture, but then its President heard someone prominent say that design is the future. So he set out to hire a designer and got Masahiro Mori. Mori created modern designs which Hakusan mass-produced. Two years ago, when I was in ...

... the other stuff was!! But glad we did as it was the best noodle soup we have had all trip. Then we decided to be brave and order some other little bits - Rob ordered some chicken skewers, which although this is what it was, we had no idea what part of the chicken it was from as it was hard and crunchy!!!! Lesley then pointed at a few things that could not be identified but thought it might be ...

... kept wanting to come talk to me all the time. That's all I'll say about the night life in Fukuoka. Some stuff can't be written down. Some is too boring to write down. Some I cannot remember....<br><br>Overall<br>Fukuoka wasn't as mystical as the Irishman told me. There were a lot of empty bars and overcrowded clubs filled up with people who wore gangster hats and sunglasses inside. I reek of smoke and am feeling the effects of 4 days of non stop ...

... e' che da qui partono i traghetti per la Corea del Sud; c'e' anche qualcos'altro da provare comunque, tipo i migliori ramen del Paese (secondo gli abitanti del posto) e una vita notturna alquanto movimentata. L'ostello e' carino, ma si trasforma in eccezionale grazie a Santa Benedetta Aria Condizionata che rappresenta un rifugio contro l'afa insopportabile. Come sempre incontri interessanti, tipo una ragazza giapponese che e' rimasta esterrefatta quando le ho detto che ...

... but I made a cardinal sin when navigating in Japan - I left the train station via the wrong exit. In the end I succumbed and got a taxi, something I should have done in the first place, and after checking in I went for a long walk to try and get my bearings... I immediately liked Fukuoaka as it had the bright lights of Tokyo, but it somehow seemed more relaxed and of course was on a much more manageable scale. If there`s one thing I ...

... to my strong grammar knowledge. Her Germany still is pretty good and her English excellent. Meeting her in Takamiya was a strange feeling. She was from Fukuoka, and that was a very nice coincident. Atsuko-san recommended that I buy a fixed coupon commuter card for Yen 5000, which included a credit of 10%, so that I got Y5500 of travelling money for only Y5000. Great deal. Each trip cost me around Y150, so this card will last me ...