First time traveling alone in Japan - accomplished! (First time traveling, mind you, not first time-traveling, although that would be pretty cool.) Jill's tutor Satomi helped me figured out the cheapest tickets, and I made the reservation by phone. Well, okay, Jill helped, since the lady was speaking really fast and I couldn't understand her about halfway through the conversation. It was a little odd because in order to circumvent credit cards, the method of paying by phone is that after one makes a reservation, the bus company gives a number that is taken to the local convenience store. (conbini) That number is given to the clerk, who enters it into the register, verifies the name (AnSoNee-sama, in my case) and then the bus fare is paid at the convenience store. A receipt isn't even necessary upon boarding! They just look up the name and verify its been paid.
This morning on my way to the train station, (I woke up at like, 5:30 to make sure I'd get there in time) I wrote a poem, 'cause there were tons of roosters crowing. It's a poem that wishes it could be real haiku, or something.
へんところで、
とりのうたをきく。
あさ、わかる。
HeN ToKoRo De,
ToRi No UTa (w)O KiKu.
ASa, WaKaRu.
In a strange place,
I hear a bird's song.
I know it's morning.
Fukuoka - Near Hakata Station
とりのうたをきく。
あさ、わかる。
HeN ToKoRo De,
ToRi No UTa (w)O KiKu.
ASa, WaKaRu.
In a strange place,
I hear a bird's song.
I know it's morning.
Yeah, it needs a little work, but I can only do so much with my limited Japanese and the restrictions of a 5-7-5 syllable pattern!
In the early morning, students regularly sleep on trains.
In the early morning, students regularly sleep on trains.
The train ride was uneventful, although it was packed with sleeping students. My first obstacle was to actually find my bus stop, since I was using a discount Sun Marine Liner bus that doesn't go to the typical bus station. Although I'd seen a map of where the pick-up point was, I couldn't find any defining markers. I wandered around for about half an hour before finally asking a city bus driver, who had no idea what I was talking about. I went to the bus station, but although they knew where it was, I couldn't really follow their directions very well. Finally, I asked a nice storekeeper near where I thought the bus stop should be, but she tried to direct me back to the bus station. I stumbled through trying to explain in Japanese that I'd been told to come to the spot where I was searching, 「あの。。。 みやこにできないいっていました。 ここにぐらい、あの。。。ごめんあさい。。。」 and eventually we ran into her friend who was opening up shop next door who directed me to an unmarked spot on the street that was apparently where the bus was supposed to stop.
Eventually, after standing there alone for a while feeling not only like an idiot but also doubtful that I was actually in the right place, another guy came by who looked nearly as lost as I felt. I asked him if he was looking for the Sun Marine Liner bus, and he was like, 「はい。 でも、はじめてから。。。」 It was a first time for us both! It did turn out that we were in the right place, though, so when the bus finally came, we were relieved.
Fukuoka is nearly a 4-hour bus ride (including one other pick-up point and two rest-stops) across farmland and through mountains. (HUGE tunnels) I read, napped, woke up, read some more, and was happy to stretch my legs when we stopped every now and then.
Eventually, after standing there alone for a while feeling not only like an idiot but also doubtful that I was actually in the right place, another guy came by who looked nearly as lost as I felt. I asked him if he was looking for the Sun Marine Liner bus, and he was like, 「はい。 でも、はじめてから。。。」 It was a first time for us both! It did turn out that we were in the right place, though, so when the bus finally came, we were relieved.
Fukuoka is nearly a 4-hour bus ride (including one other pick-up point and two rest-stops) across farmland and through mountains. (HUGE tunnels) I read, napped, woke up, read some more, and was happy to stretch my legs when we stopped every now and then.
Fukuoka - Near Hakata StationAfter the bus ride, I wound up in the Hakata area, which is kind of a port town. Hakata and Fukuoka used to be two cities, a port town and a castle town, but have kind of merged, from what I understand. The first thing I did was get promptly lost, as expected. I wanted to find an information booth where I could find out where the cool, hip places to check out in Fukuoka were, but instead ended up wandering around aimlessly in the complex labyrinth that makes up the combination of bus, train, subway and shinkansen (bullet train) stations, that are also connected to a myriad of underground shopping centers, which lead into tall department store buildings.
After a quick lunch, (Mm... teriyaki Mos Burger) and some unintentional browsing, I made my way back to the station I originally started at, about an hour and a half after I left it. I'd also managed to find a post office, so I could withdraw some money as well. (Post offices are good places to make international withdrawals in Japan... when they're open) When I finally found the information desk, the lady I spoke with was immensely helpful, and buried me in maps and brochures for places I could check out. Although she didn't speak much English, we were able to get by with my Japanese and lots of gesturing, and she also graciously provided me with English copies of pamphlets. The places she'd recommended were mostly famous shopping centers, but I wasn't too interested in those since I hadn't planned on spending loads of money. She did, however, mention Dazaifu, which is an ancient city that high-ranking courtiers were sometimes exiled to. I was hesitant at first since getting there was a little confusing, but she gave me another map that very clearly outlined all of the subways lines and transfers I would need to make to get there.
Here's a random pictures of some interesting ice cream flavors in Dazaifu that I wasn't brave enough to try. Um, seriously? わさび(Horseradish)-flavored ice cream!? Jill thinks the tofu looks pretty odd, too.
As a sort of aside, an elderly (Australian, I think?) couple heard me say "awesome" when I was receiving information, and seemed surprised and relieved that I knew both English and at least some Japanese. They asked me to help them, since the information lady helping them was having some trouble communicating. I explained that it was my first time to Fukuoka, but would try my best to help. I kept stupidly answering them in Japanese when they would ask me questions, but would catch myself mid-sentence. ("Oh, you know English!" "あの。。。はい、 er... yes!" "And you understand Japanese, too?" ”すこしい。。。 uh, I mean, a little...") From what I could tell, the hotel they said they wanted to go to was on the other side of Hakata, according to the information lady, but they insisted that their hotel was much closer than that, since they had walked to the station before. I tried asking them if maybe they'd gotten off at a wrong stop, but they were really really frustrated and didn't remember which stop they'd gotten off at previously. Since I personally had no idea where their hotel was or how to get there, I couldn't really help them that much, but it seemed pretty clear that the name they were saying matched the name that the lady was indicating on the map, which was a dot quite a ways away from the station. The information lady offered to call them a cab, but I never found out what they decided to do. (The wife went away to use the restroom, and the husband decided to call the hotel, after thanking me for trying to help) I hope they got back okay!
Dazaifu - Main Street
After a quick lunch, (Mm... teriyaki Mos Burger) and some unintentional browsing, I made my way back to the station I originally started at, about an hour and a half after I left it. I'd also managed to find a post office, so I could withdraw some money as well. (Post offices are good places to make international withdrawals in Japan... when they're open) When I finally found the information desk, the lady I spoke with was immensely helpful, and buried me in maps and brochures for places I could check out. Although she didn't speak much English, we were able to get by with my Japanese and lots of gesturing, and she also graciously provided me with English copies of pamphlets. The places she'd recommended were mostly famous shopping centers, but I wasn't too interested in those since I hadn't planned on spending loads of money. She did, however, mention Dazaifu, which is an ancient city that high-ranking courtiers were sometimes exiled to. I was hesitant at first since getting there was a little confusing, but she gave me another map that very clearly outlined all of the subways lines and transfers I would need to make to get there.
Here's a random pictures of some interesting ice cream flavors in Dazaifu that I wasn't brave enough to try. Um, seriously? わさび(Horseradish)-flavored ice cream!? Jill thinks the tofu looks pretty odd, too.
As a sort of aside, an elderly (Australian, I think?) couple heard me say "awesome" when I was receiving information, and seemed surprised and relieved that I knew both English and at least some Japanese. They asked me to help them, since the information lady helping them was having some trouble communicating. I explained that it was my first time to Fukuoka, but would try my best to help. I kept stupidly answering them in Japanese when they would ask me questions, but would catch myself mid-sentence. ("Oh, you know English!" "あの。。。はい、 er... yes!" "And you understand Japanese, too?" ”すこしい。。。 uh, I mean, a little...") From what I could tell, the hotel they said they wanted to go to was on the other side of Hakata, according to the information lady, but they insisted that their hotel was much closer than that, since they had walked to the station before. I tried asking them if maybe they'd gotten off at a wrong stop, but they were really really frustrated and didn't remember which stop they'd gotten off at previously. Since I personally had no idea where their hotel was or how to get there, I couldn't really help them that much, but it seemed pretty clear that the name they were saying matched the name that the lady was indicating on the map, which was a dot quite a ways away from the station. The information lady offered to call them a cab, but I never found out what they decided to do. (The wife went away to use the restroom, and the husband decided to call the hotel, after thanking me for trying to help) I hope they got back okay!
Dazaifu - Main Street
After a 45-minute multi-subway trip, and a ten-minute stop in Tenjin (a fashion and culture district in Fukuoka) to e-mail Jill and let her know I'd made it okay, I made it to Dazaifu. I'd tried calling Jill's cell with the pay phones earlier in the day, but hadn't had any luck. I was able to find the information spot right away, and got a map of the area. Since I had to make it back to the bus stop in Hakata by 6:00, I decided that I'd just visit the Tenmangu Shrine to the god of Learning and the Kyushu National Museum in Dazaifu, with some time set aside for omiyage (gift souvenirs) shopping on the main street, too.
This guy, some kind of dragon-unicorn thing, guards the grounds around Tenmangu and its many mini-shrines. There's also some bronze bulls, deer, and other Chinese Lionesque statues as well.
This guy, some kind of dragon-unicorn thing, guards the grounds around Tenmangu and its many mini-shrines. There's also some bronze bulls, deer, and other Chinese Lionesque statues as well.As I should have expected at a shrine to a god of learning, there were tons and tons of students there. They were all on class trips, ranging from elementary school to high school. (College students' classes have ended for the semester, but I don't doubt that there were some there on holiday as well) There were also, of course, lots of foreign visitors as well, but it was interesting to see so many different kinds of uniforms all in one place!
A swarm of middle school students crossing the bridge to Tenmangu Shrine.
A swarm of middle school students crossing the bridge to Tenmangu Shrine.
The shrine itself was neat, but not terribly unlike the Heian Shrine Jill and I had visited with Charlie in Kyoto once I got inside. The biggest difference was that this one was a lot busier, so I spent more time outside of the shrine looking at the plum blossoms which haven't really come to full bloom yet.
Baby Plum Blossoms
Baby Plum Blossoms
I got really excited when I found out that there's a tree somewhere on the grounds called Tobiume, which is apparently a famous, legendary plum tree. I realize it's kind of odd, but I'd named my car Tobiume before coming to Japan, thinking it meant "flying plum." (My car is actually black, so the name makes even less sense than it should) I never realized that there was an actual tree with this name, though! I'd stolen / borrowed the name from the anime character Hinamori Momo's (Bleach) sword, which fires pretty energy bursts. Unfortunately, I was pressed for time, and never found the famous tree, but hope to return to Dazaifu someday to find it!
Some bad fortunes tied up in preparation to be burned at a later date
Some bad fortunes tied up in preparation to be burned at a later date
I tried to visit the Kyushu National Museum as well, since it was like, two minutes from the shrine, but upon arrival I found out that they were closed. Normally they are only closed on Mondays, but since Monday was a holiday, they'd stayed open. However, if they stay open on a Monday, they close on the next day instead, which, unfortunately, was the Tuesday I decided to come to Fukuoka. Ah, well. One more thing to do the next time I come back and visit!
Some kind of ritual was going on at the shrine, but I didn't stick around to see what was going on. You can kind of see a mirror on the right-ish side of this picture. I think it may be national relic, since these kinds of mirrors are part of the Imperial Regalia.
Some kind of ritual was going on at the shrine, but I didn't stick around to see what was going on. You can kind of see a mirror on the right-ish side of this picture. I think it may be national relic, since these kinds of mirrors are part of the Imperial Regalia.
Before heading back to Tenjin to catch the subway back to Hakata, I did some quick omiyage shopping since gifts were going to be kind of expected as I'd traveled. I also tried some umegae-mochi, which are these sort of lightly-grilled rice cakes filled with a delicious red bean paste. Although they have "ume" (Japanese apricot or plum) in the name, they don't actually contain any fruit. They're called umegae because when the woman who originally made them for the later deified Sugawara no Michizane, (the god of this shrine) she presented them with a twig from one of the plum trees on the dish. I picked up some to take back to Miyazaki to share with Jill and our friends as well!
Umegae-Mochi - That's my gloved hand! (It was cold, so the warm, sweet treat was welcome!) I haven't gotten in the Japanese habit of photographing food before its eaten yet, so as you can see, taking this picture was kind of an afterthought. Or, maybe, I was trying to show you what the inside of these things was like! Yeah, we'll go with that. These things are also said to have curative powers, and stave off disease! No joke!
Umegae-Mochi - That's my gloved hand! (It was cold, so the warm, sweet treat was welcome!) I haven't gotten in the Japanese habit of photographing food before its eaten yet, so as you can see, taking this picture was kind of an afterthought. Or, maybe, I was trying to show you what the inside of these things was like! Yeah, we'll go with that. These things are also said to have curative powers, and stave off disease! No joke!Omiyage shopping also took me a little longer than planned, now that I think back about it. Usually when Jill and I visit places in Japan, it's easy to find omiyage that are obviously from the place we're visiting. This time though, every omiyage store I went to seemed to have omiyage from everywhere I've already been in Kyushu! (Little mango, hyuganatsu and chicken things from Miyazaki, shinto priests, priestesses, and kagura dolls from Takachiho, and little black boars, radishes, and Saigo Takamoris from Kagoshima, and much more that I couldn't identify!) Jill later explained that she thought the reason for this was that Fukuoka is essentially the first stop for people coming to Kyushu from Honshu, the main island of Japan. It's also usually the last stop for people who have been visiting Kyushu who are going back to Honshu. (by land, usually shinkansen, anyway) So, Fukuoka has omiyage from all over Kyushu just in case someone missed something along the way, I guessed.
For some reason there's this random Dazaifu children's theme park with small-world-esque music about two minutes away from the shrine, also. It, like the museum, was also closed today.
Unfortunately, what his meant for me was that it wasn't easy to identify what exactly the "famous" omiyage was, so I asked some elementary school kids, (with their cute little mandatory $600 backpacks) if they knew: 「すみません、 あの。。。 何がいちばん、ゆめいおみやげですか？」 (SuMiMaSeN, ANo... NaNi Ga IChiBan YuMei OmiYaGeDeSuKa? - Excuse me, um... what's the most famous souvenir?) The boy I asked said he had no idea, but wisely suggested that I ask the clerk instead, who directed me to the place where I would end up buying the umeage-mochi rice cakes. She also showed me some uso (bullfinch) mini totem-pole like things that are famous in Dazaifu, but were way too expensive for me to consider picking one up for each of our friends in Miyazaki. (Something like, $30 each! They are, however, supposed to turn bad luck into good luck...)
I regret that I didn't take any pictures of those kids, who were really friendly, but for some reason taking pictures of little kids feels kinda creepy. Instead, here's a nice garden slightly off of the Dazaifu main street.
For some reason there's this random Dazaifu children's theme park with small-world-esque music about two minutes away from the shrine, also. It, like the museum, was also closed today.
Unfortunately, what his meant for me was that it wasn't easy to identify what exactly the "famous" omiyage was, so I asked some elementary school kids, (with their cute little mandatory $600 backpacks) if they knew: 「すみません、 あの。。。 何がいちばん、ゆめいおみやげですか？」 (SuMiMaSeN, ANo... NaNi Ga IChiBan YuMei OmiYaGeDeSuKa? - Excuse me, um... what's the most famous souvenir?) The boy I asked said he had no idea, but wisely suggested that I ask the clerk instead, who directed me to the place where I would end up buying the umeage-mochi rice cakes. She also showed me some uso (bullfinch) mini totem-pole like things that are famous in Dazaifu, but were way too expensive for me to consider picking one up for each of our friends in Miyazaki. (Something like, $30 each! They are, however, supposed to turn bad luck into good luck...)
I regret that I didn't take any pictures of those kids, who were really friendly, but for some reason taking pictures of little kids feels kinda creepy. Instead, here's a nice garden slightly off of the Dazaifu main street.
Sadly, my dawdling and poor sense of direction had really limited the time I could spend in Fukuoka. I had hoped to explore Tenjin a bit, since it's a fairly famous fashion district in Fukuoka, but since I got lost (again!) once I got off of the train from Dazaifu, I was really pressed for time once I reoriented myself since my bus back to Miyazaki would be leaving soon.
I asked these bronze kappa monsters in a fountain in yet another underground shopping center (this time beneath Tenjin, not Hakata) if they could tell me how to get back home. Needless to say, they didn't reply. (At least not in a language I could understand)
I asked these bronze kappa monsters in a fountain in yet another underground shopping center (this time beneath Tenjin, not Hakata) if they could tell me how to get back home. Needless to say, they didn't reply. (At least not in a language I could understand)
So, yeah. It was a long day, and I'm super tired. I wish I'd been able to visit all of the places I'd hoped to, like the Hakata Canal City, the Robot Museum, (touch and talk to real-life robots, seriously! Awesome!) and the Zoology and Botany center, but Jill and I plan to go back maybe next week on a three-day tour of the Fukuoka and Nagasaki areas. (This was kind of like a scouting trip, in a sense)
Oh! I want to mention Japanese rest stops. Um, they're awesome. I caught the bus back at 6:00, (which was vital, since it was the only one available for the price I'd pre-paid) and arrived in Minami (South) Miyazaki around 10:00. This is one of the rest stops we stopped at in between:
Wow! A Rest Stop!
Oh! I want to mention Japanese rest stops. Um, they're awesome. I caught the bus back at 6:00, (which was vital, since it was the only one available for the price I'd pre-paid) and arrived in Minami (South) Miyazaki around 10:00. This is one of the rest stops we stopped at in between:
Wow! A Rest Stop!
Japanese rest stops aren't the practically port-o-potty / Honey Buckets where there's sometimes free coffee I'm used to in the states. No, these rest stops have full-service restaurants (open late) gift shops, (open late) and of course, bath rooms (open always.) This one even had a pretty rainbow light dome on top! Oooh.
Also, because I couldn't show him earlier, here's a popular bronze bull in front of Tenmangu. It was really hard to get this picture, because people kept wanting to take pictures with the bull. I would've taken one with him, too, but I was too shy to ask someone to take a picture of me for me, and trying to do it myself, well... those pictures kept turning out really MySpacey, and were either too close, really blurry, caused a strange expression on my face, or a horrible combination of the three. End Long Caption Here.
Alrighties, even though I napped on the train and ate sugary foods way too late at night, I'm sleepy now. Thanks for keeping up, if you are, and I promise I'll eventually get to that stuff I said I'd write about before at some point in the future probably. kthxbaiyay :)
PS - For my own notes: later I should write about - JDramas, friendship (less than three) gardens in Miyazaki...
Also, because I couldn't show him earlier, here's a popular bronze bull in front of Tenmangu. It was really hard to get this picture, because people kept wanting to take pictures with the bull. I would've taken one with him, too, but I was too shy to ask someone to take a picture of me for me, and trying to do it myself, well... those pictures kept turning out really MySpacey, and were either too close, really blurry, caused a strange expression on my face, or a horrible combination of the three. End Long Caption Here.
Aaaand scene! Thus concludes probably my most haphazard blog post yet. Whoosh! Although it's been a really long day, (woke up 5:30, bussed from 7:55 to noon, took trains from about 1:30 to 2:15, then again from 4:00 to 4:45, then bussed again from 6:00 to 10:00) Jillian was a total sweetheart and unexpectedly met me at Kibana-Eki when I got off of the train from Minami Miyazaki. (This means that she walked about a mile, in the cold and dark, uphill, both ways, barefoot, you get the pictures) I was kind of dreading the walk home alone, so it was a really nice surprise! I'd picked up some goodies along the way too, (aside from omiyage and snacks) so I had more than just stories to share, although there were plenty of those. (Essentially, these) and we murmured a bit about politics, too. (boo)
PS - For my own notes: later I should write about - JDramas, friendship (less than three) gardens in Miyazaki...
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