Hello all! It’s been a while since we updated. Actually, more than a year ago. Too many excuses to stall, too little excuse to start. Anyway, hope everyone is having a great new year so far!!! The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, so let me wish everyone a great Tiger year, wish you enjoy a great health, plenty of sunny days, awesome family time, and marvelous travels ahead!
I recently came back from a two-week trip to Japan. What a wonderful trip it was. Japan is a land of the beautiful, the cute – OMG! Cute, the wonderful, the strange, the ancient, the modern, the traditional, the orderly, and zen. Each place has its own charms, and most of them unforgettable. Some places bring laughter, some, tears. It’s pretty apparent from the minute I sit on the train to Tokyo city. The wooden buildings we pass by along the way are beautiful reminder that we are finally in Japan. What’s nice is it’s also highlighted by the fact that it’s winter and the weather was just wonderful.
With a day to spare during my stay in Hiroshima, I decided to go over to Fukuoka early in the morning via shinkansen. The JR pass makes travel in Japan amazingly easy, and you do save plenty. Hopping on and off the formidable shinkansen is like buying a cup of coffee. I surprised myself by going to another city an island away on a whim and be back by dinner time. The train trip lasts an hour and a half. You’d be there by 9.30 am if you leave Hiroshima by 8. Exiting the train station, the first stop I look for is the tourist information desk. The lady on the counter is very helpful, as most of the people are. With a map on hand, I’m set to go. First off, I have to take the 100 yen bus to city center. Stopping in front of a building with Starbucks on its first floor and not knowing where to go, I go in and get myself a cup of Japanese tea latte. It’s so fun traveling like this, armed with a map and just taking your own time to explore the city on foot. Back home, I’m pretty much clueless about the streets in the city I live, having to take public transportation most of the time. However, in another city, with the right map, I could tell you where to find the nicest ramen in town on foot. I like to think of myself as a good navigator, albeit a very flawed one at times. I set off on foot to a green building in the CBD area called ACROS Fukuoka, a modern “green” building that is home to the Fukuoka Symphony Orchestra. The building, built like a pyramid, has crisscrossing staircase on its exterior lined with various plants that fill its entire facade. It is quite a sight. Inside, the airy lobby leads the way to an exhibition on Japanese art. Outside the building, there is a small lovely park where a woman is practicing juggling, with a bicycle parked nearby, a group of citizens protesting over something I cannot make out of, they seem to be on their to a government office building. Seeing the scene makes me smile for no reason. I like parks.
So I’m on my way to TNC building, close to Fukuoka Tower and Hawks Town, home to Fukuoka’s Softbank Hawks baseball team. The main reason I’m here is to see Robosquare. Yes, I have not seen an Aibo before and is curious. The place is fairly empty, but on the displays are those very cool robots: Hello Kitty – wonder what this one does; Aibo – with its numerous versions; the types that conventionally fit what we think as robots – stoky head, arms, eyes and all that; and Pleo – the very cute dinosaur pet which I am tempted to adopt for myself. Pleo is still sleeping and Aibo is taken out to play, so I get him to dance a little, wag its tail a little, and be a nice dog it is. It responds very well to voice commands, the technology is clearly advanced. When Pleo comes out from its crib, I go over to play again. But it looks like it’s a little tired today, a few strokes on head and it freezes, apparently going back to sleep again. After Robosquare, the tower is my next stop. The tallest seaside tower in Japan, it looks over Momochi beach and offers a panoramic view of Fukuoka from the western subcenter. If you want to visit, I would recommend go during the day as the view is just refreshing, atypical of those tallest building ones.
Crossing over on foot to Yahoo! Dome and Hawks Town, I can not help but to stop and marvel at the sky. The blue is the bluest blue without a speck, and the kind I like most. It’s so wonderful to be walking around on a day like this. Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. At the Yahoo! Dome, people are queuing to buy tickets at gate number 5. At ¥800 I figure I’ll pass, for I don’t know if the is a game soon, and I’m clueless about baseball. Heading back to the city after lunch, I alight at Daimaru in Tenjin area. It feels different, I like Tenjin most compared to the other shopping strips in every city, and they are mostly the same brands anyway. Maybe I just decided I like the city very much. A round of pocket damaging shopping later, I’m on my way to Tenjin Chikagai, the super sleek underground shopping lane that leads to the main Hakata station. The black ceiling is outfitted with soft tone light and the floor carpeted. I have not seen an underground mall this chic before. Resisting temptations along the way, I finally reach Hiroshima in time for Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (pancake with yakisoba with egg, sweet sauce on top – nyam!). Miyajima! Here I come!
-
- ACROS
-
- Robosquare
-
- Shadow of Fukuoka Tower
Tags: East Asia, Fukuoka, Japan, journal, Kyushu, park, robot, train, travel
