An Unexpected Day…

We didn’t have firm plans today but as the day evolved it became one of our favourite ones!

Although that said, relfecting bck at the end of the day from most of our days, they have all felt pretty amazing!

We startednthe day  eating mitarashi dango, we haven’t had many of them on this trip, but when we last came to Jspan they were a staple. They are rice balls covered in a sweet soy glaze, a traditional and very yummy snack!

We knew that we wanted to trave around today, so we got a bus day ticket, which was arund £5.00. So far on this trip we have been on cable cars, normal trains, bullet trains, taxis, the subway, rail bikes, airoplane  and on our feet! So now it was the time for buses!

                

We certainly got our moneys worth!

We still had to walk a bit but no where near as much as would have had to without taking the bus. Came across my namesake pub while walking.

I had a big internal debate  about our first activity, a micro pig cafe. When we last came to Japan, we passed  lots of places that had different types of animal  cafes, all of hwich we based centraally in the busy tourist  areas, that didn’t seem very humane.

However, the micropig cafe was off the beaten track, very low key, so I felt a bit better about it. When we  got there we had to sign a lengthy agreement as to what we could or couldn’t do. We couldn’t pick up the pigs, everything had to be voluntary on their part. There were other health and safety things, all aimed at ensuring the pigs were OK. The staff interacted with them in a really lovely way and seemed to have personal relationships  with them. 

Quiet piped music was playing in the background, and although there were a few people in the room, apart from the music, it was very quiet. 

Initally  the pigs only  sat on Pete, and I have to say I was very jealous. But eventually, there was a pile on of little pigs on top of me and I was so happy. 

I also looked up to see how you can tel if a pig is happy and the little pigs were very happy, displaying their emotions very like dogs. Wagging tails, tummy tickles and little contented grunts. Pigs are  very intelligent, and they can also be trained to use litter trays etc.

The hour went by very quickly, and I got to do something that I had always wanted to.

Pete wanted to go to Ohori park, which was not far from the micropig cafe. We passed a shop and bought picnic food and headed there. Ohori means lake in Japanese, the park was constructed in the 1920s, on the original  site of Fukuoka Castle, which had a moat around it.

On the outskirts of the park were long lines of lotus fields, which are coming to bloom now and were stunning.

We popped into a little museum about the former castle, of which there are a few parts still remaining in tact. It wasn’t very interesting but it was also free, so nothing was really lost.

Having had our picnic, we walked towards the central area of  the park. We passsed lots of tents with BBQs set up, it seems that this is somehting that locals can do on a Sunday, hire a tent with tables etc and the BBQ, it was very lively and looked a great way spend a Sunday.

We also saw quite a few women in traditional dress, but obviously didn’t try to take their photos. They looked beautiful!

There is a large  lake  in the middle of the park, I really had to do a  double take as we could have been in Peasholm Park!!!

So, despite the searing heat we added another transportation mode to our list…the pedalo. I only agreed to do it as long as I could just sit and not cycle, as it would have been a bridge too far for me in the heat. Pete designated me as official photographer! He approached it  with gusto and zipped us round the lake with ease.

I dutifully took lots of photos, as well as the obligatory wave to others passing  by.

Our next stop was the Fukuoka Art Museum, with over 16,000 pieces of art ranging from antiquities to modern art. There was a Hello Kitty exhibition, but as the number of  people waiting was literally in  the hundreds, we gave it  a miss, but not without having a photo opportunity. 

The antiquities were interesting but we were blown away by  the range of modern art in the collection.

This wonderful sumo wrestler was at the entrance of the modern art section, called Nippon Cha Cha Cha, this is apparanetly from the yell that Japanese olmypians shout.

There was Warhol:

Miro:

and so much more….

It was amazing!

Today was also moving day, I had miscalculated how long we were staying  in Fukuoka, so had to book somewhere else, nearer to the ferry terminal.  So, we had to head bac to our hotel and pick up the luggae they had stored for us, I picked  up a big cup of ice from the foyer. Happily munching the ice to cool  down on the way to our next destination.

The place was not easy to find as it was named  after a large exhibiton centre which was nearby. Walking in, asking where we checked in caused a lot of confusion, as at the time they had a massive craft exhibition, and I don’t think they could quite understand why we were there. But as ever, they were very helpful and we went on our way.

The apartment once we had found it was really good, one of the best so far. Very modern, clean and airy.

As we still had the bus pass we went back to  near the centre  to an area called Canal City. on the way we passed the very impressive Kushida Shrine, a very significant historically important landmark in the area.

Canal city is a gigantic shopping and entertainment complex, calling itself a ‘city within a city’. We had never been to anything like this before, it was like the Trafoord Centre x 20.

An artifical canal runs through it, and every thirty minutes bewteen 10.00 and 11.00, there is a light show. When I read about the light show, nothing had prepared me for how spectacular it would be. The fountains reaching up to the sky  with a band, like water fireworks.  

On the fifth floor, it was dedicated to all things ramen, we went to a place called Tomato ramen – which had vegetarian tomato based ramen. I am doing better with chopsticks, but still managed to get quite a lot over me! It was delicious.