May 17, Thursday
I woke up just before 9 am and peaked out the curtains. It’s a grey day, just my luck. I spent the morning reading in bed, sipping my instant coffee and sending an email to the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok where I am hoping to obtain my new passport. {To my RCMP friends, I may be asking to use you as references.} Mine expires in January 2013, but since it has to be valid for at least 6 months when you travel, I need to get a new one in June or July.
By noon I decide to get dressed and go out to visit other sections of Hakata. By the time I’m dressed and out on the street, the sun has come out to greet me ! AWWWW Isn’t that nice !
A stone lantern dating back to the late 1890s along the river walk
I arrive at Canal City, a huge shopping complex finished in 2011
As it names indicates, there are canals (of sorts) in the complex
and a beautiful large fountain in the central area
I need a few items from the stores, so I head south again making for Canal City. It is a recent mall, opened in 2011 according to my tourist map. The walk there along the river was very pleasant and after finishing my shopping, I’m just in time for one of the “fountain shows”.
Beautiful graceful water sprays to the classical music
Too bad I didn’t bring my camcorder; I’ll have to come back to film this… maybe later this week in the evening.
I walk around for about 1 ½ hours and decide to have a bite to eat at about 2pm. Today I opt for some noodles; the Japanese love their noodles !
After leaving the mall I opt to walk east past the Kawabata covered street shopping area
It looks nicer from this end of the street than the other side
I continue on my way to find Kushida Shrine.
A series of torii gates all in a row
Nice little pond with trickling water providing a serene quiet setting
They have portable gold leaf shrines in a closed in area
It is a little gem.
The well to wash your hands is adorned with cranes
The stone lanterns are everywhere
The shrine is filled with carved wooden figures, amomg the hanging lanterns
Not sure if this little guy is giving us a fierce look or is laughing !
The shrine contains masks with "long nosed" faces. Not sure what that is all about.
This horse statue looks alot like the one I saw in Hiroshima, on the grounds of the Castle
Leaving the Shrine by the main gate; I appear to have entered by the side gate.
Fish wind socks are a sign for good luck
And it contains one of the floats they use during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, a fold festival of Fukuoka. The floats are over 10 meters tall and are flamboyantly decorated. The floats are “carried” one after the other along a five km stretch of the city on July 15.
Here is the top of the float
and this is the bottom portion. These are full size dummies, just to give you an idea of how big this is
And the entire float in one shot.
I’m walking down the street towards Reizen Park when I notice another float stored in a neighboring building
Not as many figures on this one, but just as tall.
I make my way back to the hotel by a circuitous route, only to drop off my few packages (sockets that have built-in insoles for my sore feet & baked goods for tomorrow’s breakfast in bed !) and set out again west of the hotel toward Fukuoka City Hall.
There is a Tourist Information Office here, as well as the bus stops for 2 tourist buses: Open Top Bus, and the Fukuoka City Loop Green Bus. I had been told at the hotel that both of these only ran during the weekends, but when I got to the City Hall Info desk I found out that the Open Top Bus was running today. It was 4:10 and they had a bus leaving at 4:30 for the “red” loop; it was too late for the longer “blue” route. When I tried to reserve the blue route for tomorrow, the young lady gestured “No”. She spoke no English so I wasn’t able to find out why. No matter, I went on the more than one hour “historic” ride.
I walked around the park while I waited. Other people were also out enjoying the day
The Open-Top-Bus waiting for passengers to embark
Just beside where I'm waiting is the building with the gardens on it.
I went back inside the building and noticed a miniature display in the huge lobby area of City Hall. It was a historical re-enactment of one of the parades where they carried the tall floats. Unfortunately, many of my photos did not turn out because of the glare from the glass cases, but here are a few of them.
They are carrying one of those floats; so the tradition goes back for centuries
The figurines are quite revealing with regard to the costumes
And their is a lord or other important figure on top of the float
The costumes of the onlookers are very nice as well
It is finally time to board the bus. The lady guide gave information only in Japanese. I, as the only English speaking person on board, was given an audio-guide on an I-Pod. She spoke the entire time the bus went around the city and the Japanese passengers were laughing, so she must have been funny. My audio-guide on the other hand only provided about 10 very limited descriptions along the route; kind of disappointing.
Riding on top of the open bus, through Hakata streets
One of the only "historic" buildings I saw; designed by a famous Japanese architect
Major streets of Hakata
Hakata Port Tower
Hakata JR Train Station, where I arrived earlier this week
This modern building has something that looks like an old camera lens in front of it. They were all bank buildings, so I'm not sure what the connection is. Could just be "art work".
And we drove by the back of Canal City. Notice the greenery growing on the walls !
And we drove by the hotel where I am staying (silver with long blue banner)
And the branches of the river. It is a beautiful modern city.
This was the street with all the BIG name shops on it.
When the loop ended at 5:45 I tried one more electronics store “Best Denkei” in the hope of finding a spare battery for my new camera. No luck anywhere ! I should have bought one in Hong Kong when I purchased the camera, but the guy who sold it to me said the battery was long lasting. He obviously did not know who he was speaking to; I can easily take between 200-300 photos each day; more if I’m on an interesting tour.
At 6 pm I head back to my hotel, just a short walk away over two pedestrian bridges.
Well I finally treated myself to my birthday dinner tonight. The hotel has a great restaurant that was advertising STEAK ! OH MY GOD …actual steak. It was the smallest $40 steak I ever ate, but it was D E L I C I O U S with its Bourguignon sauce ! Add a side of steamed vegetables and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and finish it off with a Banana flavoured Crème brulé…. Absolutely delicious. Still, a $70 meal isn’t usually in my budget !
The steak was less than 4 inches across and not even 1/2 an inch thick
I savoured every single bite of this lecadent dessert.
I woke up just before 9 am and peaked out the curtains. It’s a grey day, just my luck. I spent the morning reading in bed, sipping my instant coffee and sending an email to the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok where I am hoping to obtain my new passport. {To my RCMP friends, I may be asking to use you as references.} Mine expires in January 2013, but since it has to be valid for at least 6 months when you travel, I need to get a new one in June or July.
By noon I decide to get dressed and go out to visit other sections of Hakata. By the time I’m dressed and out on the street, the sun has come out to greet me ! AWWWW Isn’t that nice !
I arrive at Canal City, a huge shopping complex finished in 2011
As it names indicates, there are canals (of sorts) in the complex
and a beautiful large fountain in the central area
I need a few items from the stores, so I head south again making for Canal City. It is a recent mall, opened in 2011 according to my tourist map. The walk there along the river was very pleasant and after finishing my shopping, I’m just in time for one of the “fountain shows”.
Beautiful graceful water sprays to the classical music
Too bad I didn’t bring my camcorder; I’ll have to come back to film this… maybe later this week in the evening.
I walk around for about 1 ½ hours and decide to have a bite to eat at about 2pm. Today I opt for some noodles; the Japanese love their noodles !
After leaving the mall I opt to walk east past the Kawabata covered street shopping area
It looks nicer from this end of the street than the other side
I continue on my way to find Kushida Shrine.
A series of torii gates all in a row
Nice little pond with trickling water providing a serene quiet setting
They have portable gold leaf shrines in a closed in area
It is a little gem.
The well to wash your hands is adorned with cranes
The stone lanterns are everywhere
The shrine is filled with carved wooden figures, amomg the hanging lanterns
Not sure if this little guy is giving us a fierce look or is laughing !
The shrine contains masks with "long nosed" faces. Not sure what that is all about.
This horse statue looks alot like the one I saw in Hiroshima, on the grounds of the Castle
Leaving the Shrine by the main gate; I appear to have entered by the side gate.
Fish wind socks are a sign for good luck
And it contains one of the floats they use during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa, a fold festival of Fukuoka. The floats are over 10 meters tall and are flamboyantly decorated. The floats are “carried” one after the other along a five km stretch of the city on July 15.
Here is the top of the float
and this is the bottom portion. These are full size dummies, just to give you an idea of how big this is
And the entire float in one shot.
I’m walking down the street towards Reizen Park when I notice another float stored in a neighboring building
Not as many figures on this one, but just as tall.
I make my way back to the hotel by a circuitous route, only to drop off my few packages (sockets that have built-in insoles for my sore feet & baked goods for tomorrow’s breakfast in bed !) and set out again west of the hotel toward Fukuoka City Hall.
There is a Tourist Information Office here, as well as the bus stops for 2 tourist buses: Open Top Bus, and the Fukuoka City Loop Green Bus. I had been told at the hotel that both of these only ran during the weekends, but when I got to the City Hall Info desk I found out that the Open Top Bus was running today. It was 4:10 and they had a bus leaving at 4:30 for the “red” loop; it was too late for the longer “blue” route. When I tried to reserve the blue route for tomorrow, the young lady gestured “No”. She spoke no English so I wasn’t able to find out why. No matter, I went on the more than one hour “historic” ride.
I walked around the park while I waited. Other people were also out enjoying the day
The Open-Top-Bus waiting for passengers to embark
Just beside where I'm waiting is the building with the gardens on it.
I went back inside the building and noticed a miniature display in the huge lobby area of City Hall. It was a historical re-enactment of one of the parades where they carried the tall floats. Unfortunately, many of my photos did not turn out because of the glare from the glass cases, but here are a few of them.
They are carrying one of those floats; so the tradition goes back for centuries
The figurines are quite revealing with regard to the costumes
And their is a lord or other important figure on top of the float
The costumes of the onlookers are very nice as well
It is finally time to board the bus. The lady guide gave information only in Japanese. I, as the only English speaking person on board, was given an audio-guide on an I-Pod. She spoke the entire time the bus went around the city and the Japanese passengers were laughing, so she must have been funny. My audio-guide on the other hand only provided about 10 very limited descriptions along the route; kind of disappointing.
Riding on top of the open bus, through Hakata streets
One of the only "historic" buildings I saw; designed by a famous Japanese architect
Major streets of Hakata
Hakata Port Tower
Hakata JR Train Station, where I arrived earlier this week
This modern building has something that looks like an old camera lens in front of it. They were all bank buildings, so I'm not sure what the connection is. Could just be "art work".
And we drove by the back of Canal City. Notice the greenery growing on the walls !
And we drove by the hotel where I am staying (silver with long blue banner)
And the branches of the river. It is a beautiful modern city.
This was the street with all the BIG name shops on it.
When the loop ended at 5:45 I tried one more electronics store “Best Denkei” in the hope of finding a spare battery for my new camera. No luck anywhere ! I should have bought one in Hong Kong when I purchased the camera, but the guy who sold it to me said the battery was long lasting. He obviously did not know who he was speaking to; I can easily take between 200-300 photos each day; more if I’m on an interesting tour.
At 6 pm I head back to my hotel, just a short walk away over two pedestrian bridges.
Well I finally treated myself to my birthday dinner tonight. The hotel has a great restaurant that was advertising STEAK ! OH MY GOD …actual steak. It was the smallest $40 steak I ever ate, but it was D E L I C I O U S with its Bourguignon sauce ! Add a side of steamed vegetables and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and finish it off with a Banana flavoured Crème brulé…. Absolutely delicious. Still, a $70 meal isn’t usually in my budget !
The steak was less than 4 inches across and not even 1/2 an inch thick
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