So we arrive at Kita-Kyushu station at around 5:10am. There really isn’t a lot to do in Kita-Kyushu from a tourist perspective, so we hop on the next train to Fukuoka. During the two hour ride Tara and I get into a heated debate over workers rights. I state that CEOs should be held criminally responsible should one of their employees kill themselves from overwork. Tara strongly disagrees with me and she attempts to take the side of the rich greedy bastards. “Oh, but they have feelings, too”, she says. Yeah, whatever. I’m sure she makes a few good points here and there, but it’s my blog and I say that corporate executives need to keep on a tighter leash. No one is going to make me work eighty hours a week. And if they try, I’ll have their head on stick in front of their cushy corner office. Anyways, we aren’t here to talk about my rage, so let’s continue with the story.
We arrive at Fukuoka at about 9am and proceed to McDonald’s for an artery hardening good time. After breakfast we head to the station and purchase a Fukuoka subway pass. These are 500yen and good for one day. You’d be an idiot not to buy one. We then head off to our first tourist spot. There is this doll museum in Fukuoka tower. Well, at least there used to be a doll museum. It seems that it’s no longer there. So for all of you reading Lonely Planet’s Japan guide, TURN BACK NOW. Fukuoka Towers also happens to be a disgrace to towers. They charge 1300yen to ascend a tower that is smaller than some Lego sets I’ve seen. If you really want to go up it, I’m not going to stop you, but I take no responsibility for your phallic cock-mongering fantasies. Before we leave, we check out the beach and grab some pictures. I’ve never been in a tropical looking place that was so chilly before. The pictures are not indicative of was the temperature was.
On the way back from the beach we stop at the Hawks Dome, home of the Daiei Hawks. Behind the stadium there is a neat little area where they have bronzed version of famous people’s hands. I suppose it’s better than a mold of their genitals. Or is it? There is also a mall with a store called “Brand Off’” that showcased Prada and Vuitton bags. Tara then proceeded to pretend like she wanted to buy something and had every guy in the place drooling with anticipation. I do admit that it was fun to watch them squirm, but I felt pretty bad for them. After that little fiasco, we go back to the subway and headed downtown.
Now at this point I’m not really sure what we did next. I know we went back towards the center of the city and that we ended up visiting a culture museum and a great wooden budda(largest in Japan). Both were breathtaking, and the large wood statue was free to visit. However, we also ran across the most obnoxious foreigner I’ve met in a long time. He wouldn’t shut his yap and it seemed like he was trying to pick up Tara the entire time. He just kept following us and talking about whatever came into his head. This guy was in creep land. I suggested to Tara that we head the opposite direction from where he was headed, and then we took off back towards out hotel. We had reserved a youth hostel and they were going to let us in early. Yay! But first we needed some food. So we made a little side trip.
This is where the adventure gets tasty. Lonely Planet suggested we try a ramen restaurant called Ichiran. Ichiran is famous for it’s “special sauce”, and the way that you can custom make your bowl of ramen. You can choose fat content, noodle thickness, the amount of onions, and the amount of sauce that goes in. You do all this by filling out a long request form. It reminded me so much of that Simpsons episode where the IRS control the burger place. When I finished, I had myself a “Newtype” ramen that was both artistic and delicious. After our bellies were appeased, we headed to the hostel for a quick rest.
At this point in the trip things start to go a little crazy for me. I notice that while I am napping that I start to feel feverish. Tara is also pretty exhausted, so we decided to call it an early night and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. While we were eating we watched the final episode of Saiyuuki. We then went back to the hostel and I promptly fall asleep. We really tried to fit in a few episodes of Mai-Hime, but it was impossible. I was spent. The adventure continues tomorrow when we head to dazaifu. Stay tuned.
