Wednesday, March 19, 2008

konnichiwa....

The phone did not ring....

Midnight passed...

I was worried...

Eventually, at 3pm it rang...

I was called up to Fukuoka *yeah finally my 1st Japan flight after my training

but it cost me my Melbourne...

and I still have to do a Colombo turnaround *huks huks

There were many students on board. 2 different private schools' students had just finished their home-stay programme in New Zealand and Australia. Imagine...up close and personal with the school kids. The only problem was..... they don't really speak English -___-''

To cut the story short, after a few hours of sleep, I decided to go out and figure what Fukuoka has to offer. Nophie said Shofukuji Temple is a MUST... but hey, where is that?

Opposite the hotel is this nice cosy shop offering nail and hair-styling services.

What I like is... cantik means beautiful in Indonesian language :)

The first stop is Kushida Shrine (around 7 mins walk from the hotel)

The entrance of Kushida Shrine

Too bad there was no guide to tell me more about all the things inside the shrine -__-''

Wishes... wishes... wishes....

Just thought that this is so Zen..hehe

Sorry...not so sure what these are for :(

Another 5-7 mins walk brought me to Tochoji Temple
- The oldest Buddhist temple in Japan of the Shingon sect, founded by Kobo Daishi, otherwise known as Kukai. The temple hosts the wooden "God of Mercy with 1000 hands," which is designated a nationally important cultural property, and the largest wooden statue of Buddha in Japan

Always love the branches of trees :)

The small 'statues' across the inner gate

One of the buildings inside Tochoji temple

COOLIO

Next, I continued my walking journey towards Shofukuji Temple. You can find many smaller temples around the area, such as Enkakuji Temple, Sesshinin Temple, Myorakuji Temple and so on.

Shofukuji Temple, the first Zen temple in Japan established by the founder of the Japanese Zen sect, Yosai, in 1195. The premises are designated as a national historic site.

The pond inside

Another corner of Shofukuji

It's all soon going to bloom prettily

The atmosphere is calm and serene

See... this was actually from Hakata high-school...

haha a peek into the Jap students' heh?.... jk

By the time I finished paying the temples a visit...

I was starving!

My 680Y lunch-cum-dinner set *slurpee...

Done with the meal...hoho

And presenting... the unique things you can find in Japan!

Prolly the next big thing: What a creative and unique decorations... expensive!!

Colourful umbrellas... ellas... ellas...

The infant seat inside the toilet cubicle..

so mommy can do her business without worry

Love this shop!

A car inside it... full of accessories... lively :)

Let's go to the candy shop *.^

Yeah... finally I got it. We (Junaidi and I) went to stroll around the red light district at night *hahaha... curiousity kills. I can feel the 'wildness' among the male creatures there... pooff

But it's much more organized and safe than some other places to be frank.

That's it for now.

Next new stop: Cairo

Labels: ArOund The WoRld