The B Hakata 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 ...

... has helped provide "free rental of therapy robots to nursing homes for the elderly," specifically, Paro, a lovable, consoling seal-type robot.<br><br>-----<br>ROBOTS AHEAD!...<br><br>I made it to the TNC TV Building next to the Marizon Fukuoka Tower before 4 pm. Still looking for the place, thinking it was a couple streets south, I looked up to see a large sign that displayed four futuristic-looking humanoid robots. It read simply, "ROBOSQUARE www.robotsquare.org." I had arrived ...

WON'T YOU TAKE ME TO RETRO TOWN?*<br><br>Kitakyushu is the 11th(?) largest city in Japan, but, aside from Space World, it gets hardly a mention in my collection of guidebooks, maybe because it has heavy industry, including a large steel plant. Surfing the internet to discover something worth visiting in Kitakyushu, I happened to find a PDF of a guidemap for Retro Town Mojiko. I couldn't resist! Mojiko is literally at ...

... It's not my style, but I'm glad I got to see it. <br><br>The train trip between Saga and Karatsu was about a hour. There were a lot of students, in school uniforms, on the train, as well as an unusually high number of very elderly passengers. My guess is that this is a sign that this is a declining rural area--with an aging population and not enough school children to justify a school in every town. <br><br>A number of passengers were ...

... to try, but even after eating we knew it was fish but that was as far as it went!! One of the Japanese eating at the stall offered us some of his gyoza (little parcels of chicken) and we enjoyed it so much that we ordered some of our own - we weren't expecting about 10!!! Absolutely stuffed and it ended up being the most expensive meal in Japan, ironic as it was a street stall, but the ...

... eingepackt. <br><br>Was ich noch vergessen habe zu erwähnen, wir haben hier den besten maguru (thunfisch) unseres lebens gegessen. Zugegeben es war nicht billig und eigentlich war es nicht der hauptgang sondern nur das Gedeck (das man hier auch zahlt wie in Italien, nur kriegt man hier noch ne kleine Vorspeise diese bestand eben aus besagten Maguru der eingelegt oder so war und etwas ...

... legroom. We found our way to the hotel with no problems, and checked our baggage. By "checked", I mean we put our bags in a pile against the wall in the foyer, and they were covered with a net with bells attached. Yep, bells. In the most technically advanced nation in the world, that is their method of luggage security. If we were anywhere but Japan it would be a concern, but I'm sure we could have left our bags out on the footpath with no ...

... y curiosamente no parece ser algo que llene, pero sí que cunde: el primer día, Ismael y yo no comimos nada desde el desayuno y cuando llegó la hora de la cena seguíamos sin hambre. Y el caso es que, excepto ayer con los koreanos, nunca hemos comido mucho. Por cierto, otro momento lost in translation fue cuando bajamos del taxi, y, en una calle llena de restaurantes, tuvimos que buscar el nuestro. Yo sabía el nombre, cómo sonaba, pero claro.... ¿cómo lo lees? Otra ...

... changes. Outside there were more homeless people than I had ever seen in Korea. On of them with a booger hanging just outside of his right nostril said something to me. I thought for a moment he might have been speaking in English so I stopped and leaned in closer. He repeated his phrase though, and it turned out to be (according to Josh) just begging in Korean. I shook my head and walked away. I stopped in a bank to get some cash for the journey and walked out to find an old Korean ...

Traditional Japanese dinner in a Japanese home When we got back to Fukuoka it was night time. Mrs Tanaka had invited me for a traditional Japanese dinner. It was the first such experience that I ever had, and it was a very memorable one. Their apartment is located conveniently close to the main railway station of Fukuoka, making everything very accessible for them. The outside of the apartment already gave a warm feeling, with beautiful ...