President Hotel Hakata Fukuoka

... presence by the locals was very evident everywhere that we went.<br><br>We will miss Okinawa and hope that perhaps someday we can return to visit again. It was well worth it to make the trip down to this place not only for the warm weather and the friendly people but also to learn that, where we come from in Canada, we haven't known (and hopefully will not know anytime soon) the horrors that the ancestors of the people we visited experienced and still feel the pain from today.<br><br>

Today we decided to do something that I don't normally like to do -- go on a guided tour with a bunch of other people and get caught up on a commercial racket. Given that neither of us have ever been to Okinawa and don't know our way around, we decided to go on a bus tour and are we ever glad that we did.<br><br>The tour took us to a number of historical and interesting spots, most notable of which was the old Imperial Navy Underground Headquarters that served as ...

... the US invasion forces landed near the end of the war. Apparently this was one of the most difficult and bloody battles of the Pacific War. It is hard to believe that this beautiful place was once a WW2 killing ground. Thousands of Americans died here and hundreds of thousands of Japanese died. I'm sure that the war memorials here will be very sobering.<br><br>It will definitely be an interesting couple of days.<br>

... did all of our shopping in fast forward. On our way home, we stopped at the military exchange, the small American-style mall on base. My mom and I went inside to buy silk robes, like the one Julia gave me for Christmas. We also got books for our respective plane rides, and then went to dinner at Macaroni Grill nearby. It was absolutely delicious, and Riley was very funny. While Julia packed at home, my mom and I took Riley ...

... not just Okinawa but many other Pacific islands such as Micronesia, the Philippines, Tonga, and Yap. There were a lot of really cool things to see there, like the stone money tablets of Yap and recreations of ancient fishing vessels. I was mad that there was no gift shop! After that, it was still hot out and we came across a flat fountain with a water show. Riley went over to investigate and got nailed in the face by a jet of water ...

... that. But she still let us shop for a nice long time, during which I got to experience the Japanese toy section (full of bizarre toys such as Anpanman, the superhero with bread for a head, Mameshiba, the puppy-faced edamame bean, and various other sad-faced adorable animals). I also perused the candy section but was disappointed- isn't it supposed to be shiny and colorful? There wasn't even a good selection of Haribo- not even fizzy colas! There weren't a whole lot of exciting ...

... was signed here after all), or maybe it's to save fuel. Or maybe both. · Sumo Until today I'd only ever seen a real Sumo wrestler on TV. On the bus to the Fukuoka ferry terminal we passed at least 4 of them. What they were doing we'd no idea - just standing there waiting for the (reinforced) bus, like normal humans, we figured. They are not too hard to spot; they all look like man-mountains, they all wear a distinctive looking robe ...

... so I decided to walk to the ferry terminal and take in the sites of the city. The subway maps, my compass, and a vague recollection of city layout proved to be not enough to find my way there, so I made a crude drawing of a boat crossing from Japan to Korea and had some locals point me in the right direction. I got there in decent time, sweaty, tired, but satisfied in that I could navigate myself in a strange land with only the most basic of tools at my disposal. I waved ...

... really hold your attention. Some last longer, some are hilarious especially when a little guy comes up against a giant. There is one guy that is going around now from Bulgaria, 204cm tall and 130kg. HUGE. He was one of the favourates to win the tournament. Anyway once the tournament came to an end I had to high tail it back to the train station to get my shinkansen back to Tokyo to meet Adahl.

... hand emerges out of the system, and as you continue slowly withdrawing your hands, finally only the tip of your fingers, which actually remain moist the longest, will remain in the system until completely dry. After that you have completely dry hands. Ingenious! I will take a picture of it shortly. The fossets are also pretty interesting in some locations. Most fossets turn on automatically when putting your hands under them ...