Nikko 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 ...

... in various robot-related activities."<br>* become the "'Silicon Valley of Robotics' in Fukuoka City Japan"!<br><br>The institute holds "science and technology workshops, for school teachers who intend to incorporate robot building courses as a part of their schools science education courses." It's "a portal of knowledge and hands-on activities for the youth and individuals seeking information and an understanding" thru on-site and in-school workshops and demonstrations. And ...

... end 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 xx. According to myth, at one time, the two islands were connected, but at a particularly strategic ...

... which is probably whiy it was so from from the nearest train staion. It was about a 1 1/2 hour walk from the Kami-Imari train station, which is barely a station--there are just four plastic chais, a few signs, and an unmarked path to a nearby street. Evidently, ...................MORE TO COME!!!!<br><br>A NOTE ON TRAIN ETIQUETTE<br><br>The most amazing thing about trains in Japan are that they are always on time. You can figure out when ...

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 ...

... working in there was Asian looking with blue eyes?? After that I decided to head off to the nightlife in Tenjin. It was a Wednesday Night, so I didn't expect much. I jumped in a Taxi and told him to take me to the bus station in Tenjin. He dropped me off at Hakata Bus station, which was not where I wanted to be. I really didn't want to spend any more money on a taxi, so I started asking around for directions to Tenjin ...

... was less than $270. This isn't bad. Considering the posting for the Beetle ferry full price is $95 one way. With the discount the ferry only costs $65 one way. I was directed to the discount for foreigners via the korail website. Here's a link to the Korail English version website to get started on more information for the discounted tickets http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/etr/etr 01000/w_etr01100.jsp

... Africa, Thomas from Switzerland and Ray from Dublin. That evening we all went out for Japanese hotpot along with Kenta who obviously knew the places to go in the area. We then went back to the hostel and stayed up fairly late having beer in the common room. The next day I went walking around Fukoaka after first changing my flight out of Japan and extending my stay by one week. I had a feeling that two weeks wouldn`t be enough to do Japan justice and it wasn`t as ...

... how much it's been on my mind. Somewhere along the way Josh got lost in his own head. He said he was thirty-four, that most of his friends were married, and that time had passed him by. I asked him why he had come to Korea and he said he didn't know; that honestly all that he felt like doing at the time was nothing. Despite this he said that he had waited two extra months to come to Korea because someone had asked him to, and then at the end of those two months the person had refused to ...

... did not see the Japanese carrying one single camera. Noone was taking pictures of anything, yet suddenly I saw a group of dressed up girls and boys walking to the city centre. They were getting ready for a dance performance. At another location, we saw another already performing, possibly practicing group. And right in the town centre, we saw a very big crowd with a lot of cameras taking pictures of the ...