I have already talked about going on a trip by myself, but that was just a day trip. This time, we’re upgrading – 3-day, 2-night trip in Fukuoka!
After the fiasco of bus night journey to Kyoto, I decided that I’m too old for that and treated myself a nice little trip by shinkansen. The first thing I noticed was the size of the seats and space around them! (maybe the journey to Kyoto really was a bit traumatic) There was a little tray for your food (upto 10kg!), adjustable seats and a plug, you know, the usual. But I can’t get over the space… planes could never. The journey itself was quite pleasant, full of tunnels, though during the time we weren’t in a tunnel, the views were really nice. The more I see of Japan, the more I fall in love with it.
But then, the big moment, arriving to the final destination – Fukuoka, aka Hakata. Man, the stations are so confusing. I can never find my way around it in the first 10 minutes. Which exit are you supposed to use when you don’t know where you’re going? It’s just that it’s always the train stations, I’m sure you’re seeing a pattern here too.
When, with the year’s supply of luck, I chose the correct exit (with the mindset of Columbus, when in doubt, go west), getting to the hotel wasn’t too difficult. Left my baggage there and went out straight away to enjoy the lovely rainy day before it gets worse. (again, am I just reliving the same trip in a different location??) I decided to go to Nanzoin Temple, which was one, probably the biggest thing on my bucket list in Fukuoka.
Nanzoin Temple is known for the largest bronze statue of reclining Buddha (at the moment of death and entering nirvana). I must say, it was quite impressive, once I finally found it. The temple itself is quite big and there are many routes, forest paths and little side shrines. But when you follow the crowd, you’ll get there. And, you can even go inside the statue, the Buddha’s heart, where there are ashes of Buddha and two Buddhist adherents. After walking around a little bit, I found Inari and 7 gods of fortune shrines, where I got my water omikuji. It was my first time, so obviously, I had to observe first what to do. You buy an omikuji and you lay the piece of paper on water and then, your fortune appears! It was really cool, I must say, and I got small luck, which a step forward from the “no idea”. I decided to later use this luck when climbing slippery rocks to get down to the furthest corner on the temple area with a nearby waterfall. I don’t know why, but the Buddhist temples really are quite relaxing and one feels reborn leaving it, despite all the rain.
Food time! When in Hakata, one must get ramen, or so I’ve been told. So I did! I don’t know if I’m bad at choosing, though I tried and asked uncle Google for recommendations.. but it was just ramen. Not bad, but I didn’t find it special – maybe because I burnt all my tastebuds with the first slurp. The gyoza I had with it though…
After chilling in the hotel for an hour or two, as you just have to after a bowl of ramen, I set out on the road again, this time exploring the nearby shrines, no more than 12 mins away from the hotel. And guess what I found in each – Inari shrine! I’m not sure whether it’s because now I can recognise it or the pin with foxes I bought in Kyoto leads me to them. Again, they were quite nice and I can’t get enough of the torii gates, but it gets repetitive after a while, so I’m not going to bother you with all that.
What I am going to mention, though, is that, first of all, Google maps have been disappointing me in Fukuoka. Everywhere in Japan I had no problem, but once I’m on a solo trip, it can’t position me well. Or I forgot how to follow it properly or something. But thanks to that, I got me a cheeky little strawberry daifuku snack and explored a bit more freely, leading myself to the Canal City Fukuoka, which is a mall (and a good one, they even have a Disney store there♥), but not your usual mall. They have cool fountains there! I’m not sure how often, but there is a fountain performance and though I might sound like a 40-year-old woman who’s about to post on Facebook (let’s face it, I do have the mindset of a millennial), it was really cool! It gave off the Beaty and Beast’s “Be our guest vibes”, which I’m not mad about.
But then I crushed. I was back by 7 and sound asleep by 9. I didn’t even have much time to spend worrying about being in a room all by myself, not knowing what might happen. Then woke up at 6 the next day, ready for another (rainy) adventure~
