One short day in Fukuoka, JAPAN experience!

In April I had to do my work Visa for South Korea, in Fukuoka Japan. This is my experience.

Starting out on my journey, I was very excited. Never in my life have I really traveled, let alone gone to Japan. On this trip I was lucky to experience my first Ferry trip as well. I took the overnight Ferry to Fukuoka which turned out to be a cheaper and very good option. First of all, you have a gorgeous panoramic view of the Busan Harbor at night. The Ferry left for Busan to Fukuoka at 10pm.

I got on the ferry, which had this nice little lobby. I immediately went to my room to get rid of bag. Seeing as this was a very cheap option, you can see from the picture, you only have this little corner to sleep in. I must say, it was very comfortable and more that enough to do an overnight trip.

The next morning I woke up with this amazing view of the Fukuoka Harbor. It was really breathtaking as the sun came up.

I immediately got on a bus and made my way to the Korean consulate. Armed with my Nikon camera and my iphone I was very happy to take a lot of shots as I moved along. This was my first time in a bigger city with this kind of public transport.

We crossed a bridge on our way to the consulate, which had a great view of the city and harbor. We arrived at the consulate with a guard standing outside. I took a picture of the consulate, but was immediately told that it wasn't allowed. I then took a picture of the nice Yahoo dome, just down the road.

As soon as I dropped of my papers I went round the bend to see the Fukuoka tower. I initially thought that I would go up, but I wasn't sure how expensive the rest of my day would be, so I skipped it. I regretted it, and would really recommend that you do it.

I then walked directly across to the beach to sea what was happening there. It was a beautiful little man made beach, but unfortunately it was still too cold to swim.

I then started to make my way to my accommodations at the Sun life Hotel 2.3. I bought I day pass for my bus, so I could get on and off as I pleased. My destination was the JR Hakata City. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had to see a building like this. When I went inside I could see why they called this a city. It was literally an all in one building. It hat the bus terminal right next to it. It was a 10 story department store. The subway station was underground, the Japan metro rail was there as well as the speed train to Tokyo. Every now and then you would see a rush of businessmen in there suits coming out somewhere and disappearing again. It was truly something to experience.

I found my Hotel on the other side of Hakata city. It was midday by now, and it was getting hotter. As soon as I dropped of my bags, I made my way back to the buses to see what the city held in store for me. My first mission was to get to the Castle Ruins in Ohori Park! I got of the bus and saw the most beautiful sight I've seen in a long time. All the cherry trees were in full blossom! It was spectacular.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I walked around the park. It was amazing to see how people just spend their day under the cherry trees and enjoyed the beauty of it all.

The Ruins itself was beautifully situated. It was on top of a hill and overlooked the city once you got to the top.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I was at the top. It was spectacular to see the cherry trees in full bloom and just making the city a beautiful garden.

I decided to walk back down the street to catch another bus. I was greeted by amazing structures and canal.

I then made my way to the Canal City Shopping mall. It was a beautiful structured building and full of life and just had a buzz to it. I wished that I could do some more shopping there. At this point I walked my feet into a coma and they just refused to walk any further.

I went back to the Hotel at 7PM to have a little dinner and rest my feet.

Later that night I walked around again, but it was only a short while until it started to rain. One store I would recommend seeing is Yodabashi electronics store. It was level upon level of gadgets and electronics and had a lot of sales of really cool stuff.

The next day was raining again and after walking a lot the previous day, I decided to spend my time finding a place where I could sit and use a little bit of internet.

I had to pick my Visa up at 2PM and make my way back to the Ferry to catch it at 3:30, but the ferry was canceled due to bad weather, so I had to fly back. Unfortunately my flight was delayed as well, so I spend the afternoon at the airport. There I met two new American friends and we spend some time in the lounge enjoying our time before our flight.

All and all it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had in my life. I took a lot of pictures, but it can't begin to describe what I experienced. It was a combination of everything new, big city, beautiful views, different country, and a song in my head (One short day - Wicked the musical)
It was truly One (amazing) short day experience......

Look out for my next posts. It will feature Seoul and Busan and also coming up will be Hong Kong.