Previously on Lenka’s diary: The *first* day in Fukuoka
I must be getting old because waking up NATURALLY at 6am is not something I used to do, as my mom likes to point out. But you know, I didn’t mind because it meant that most people at the hotel were still asleep, so I didn’t have to face any awkward conversation.
As I was staying on a ladies’ floor, I had access to a lounge area with a coffee/tea machine, massage chairs and good vibes, reading there my book with a nice cuppa. But, of course, my favourite part of the stay was the buffet style hotel breakfast, obviously. Indeed, one needs to get their money’s worth, so it’s recommendable to stuff yourself with absolutely everything, so that you can’t move for the next hour or two. I did so too.
But then I finally decided to get moving and got on a bus to Dazaifu. I did a bit of research on the place, but nothing too deep, so I was surprised by how many people there were. It seems to be quite a popular tourist destination. It reminded me of Kyoto with the narrow, traditionally looking street leading up to the shrine. Due to the lack of my research, I also didn’t know the place was famous for ume, Japanese plums. And I looove me some ume, I reallz do, so when I saw the ume ice cream, I just could not resist despite being still full from breakfast. And to that I say: “lunch sorted”! Being an adult, I can, you know. 0:) (No, I can’t get any more childish than this, and yes, I’m aware.)
Then I headed to the shrine area. This shrine seems to be … to the god of study, which explains the number of students I saw there. No, I had no idea while I was there. There were also statues of cows that everyone wanted to touch, maybe for good luck? As you can tell, I had no idea what was going on, so I just aimlessly wandered around, at one point walking up a hill for a little hike (I mean, to escape the tourists) to another nearby shrine (can you guess what kind of shrine it was? … Inari, indeed!) this, though, just got me thinking about why I always do the things I say I don’t enjoy. Like, whenever I see a set of stairs out in the wild, I’m most likely gonna climb it. Or a hill where no one is going, I’ll think it’s my time to shine… and then I’ll just hate myself and my poor stamina with every step I take, yet I keep doing it again and again. Anyone else?
After my shrine visit, I decided to go to the Kyushu National Museum, which reminded me how much I love museums. Who doesn’t like a good vase, right? But actually, some of the artefacts were really cool and I loved seeing the old letters, trying to make out the meaning (ha) or at least spot a familiar kanji, which was a little bit more successful. Still trying to escape the crowds, I found myself in an area where one of the shrines/temples was being reconstructed, so it wasn’t really visited by people at the moment. Obviously, why? But right next to the big temple, there was a small hidden shrine, really cute if you ask me. And this is where I found my first four-leaf clover!! You can’t imagine the happiness I felt at that moment. 22 years I’ve been waiting for this moment!
But this was when I started to feel hungry and crave curry. Yeah, I’m in Fukuoka, one of the best prefectures when it comes to food and what do I do? Run to a curry chain restaurant that I can have anywhere. But to defend myself, it completely satisfied my craving and I couldn’t have been happier.
After that I returned to the hotel, to the massage chair and my book, and, right before bed, I tried to figure out the plan for the final day. Gotta make it count!
