A few days in Fukuoka

While searching for a place to stay in Fukuoka for the weekend, we discovered that hotel prices jump by about 3 times the normal price. Our solution was to stay at a Japanese Business Hotel at the airport the first night and then move to a better location for the next few days. By breaking it up, we fared much better. An interesting thing…the airport in Fukuoka is in the middle of the city. It is a common sight to see airplanes flying overhead at a low elevation in parts of the city.

Hotel Grand View was home for the first night. Good value…breakfast included and a small but very clean room.

Watching the runway from our room. Surprisingly, we didn’t find it to be very noisy.

Fukuoka is a well loved city for many reasons and their ramen is one of them. We were looking for a place that Barry had read about and wow..it is directly across the street from the hotel where we are moving into today.

Lunch…ramen in a tonkatsu broth, pork, egg etc….delicious.

A kindred spirit rides this bike…note the rubber duck like we have on our trikes.

This cafe is so tiny that much of it spills out onto the street.

We enjoy exploring covered pedestrian shopping areas like this. It extends for about 4 blocks and it is a great mix of local shops, eating places, hair salons, kimono shops, etc. We like that it provides a glimpse into local culture and a place that we can enjoy as well.

We lucked out here…we both got haircuts by this fellow. It is amazing how well you can communicate when language barriers exist. He is a master at cutting at a furious pace with small scissors…a Japanese Edward Scissorhands?

Looks like we did well to eat earlier at the Ramen place…the lineups wrap around the corner. We understand…the ramen here is worth the wait.

Also across from our hotel (Daiwa Roynet) is a beautiful shrine to explore. Along this street there are several shrines.

Bronze statue of a pilgrim at the entrance.

Magnificent huge doors at the entrance to the Shrine.

There was a vast cemetery behind the shrine. People could use these tools to tidy up their family plots.

Ornate and beautiful details in the Main Hall.

We have explored on foot much of the area. Our focus was to find Korea compatible electrical plugs. Fukuoka is a huge city and we are really loving it.

We found the electronics store and were greeted at the door by this robot greeter. It went up and down the aisles chatting and offering assistance. It is a bit freaky to have it follow you when you don’t know it is there.

In Japan, we like to explore local Department Stores. They are quite beautiful and always have a food floor.

First stop…a well brewed cup of coffee, prepared by this woman.

Motsunabe is a local specialty that we will try for lunch. Our broth will be soy based.

We ordered the lunch set with delicious champion noodles and the items shown on the menu.

Barry enjoys the challenge and taste of the “gnarly” ingredients like tripe and intestines, Mary Ellen less so. Most of it is gristle and fat, but it does add to the tasty flavours of the broth. This was an appetizer of pickled beef offal.

Eating this meal is quite an event. The wok shaped pot is filled with veggies, broth, lots of greens and meat. It comes to the table raw and it is cooked by a burner on the table. Your server helps with the cooking.

You can see the raw tripe, intestines and greens piled high. It will soon cook down into a tasty and filling meal.

Next step is adding the tofu and letting it simmer.

Once we have eaten much of the pot, the fresh noodles are added as well as topping up the broth. The burner is turned on and we have what seems like another meal.

Next step…raw eggs. You whisk the eggs in a small bowl and then the cooked noodles are dipped in the egg.

The final bowl of Motsunabe…we are stuffed. We loved it and the rich flavours. Barry was really stuffed as Mary Ellen kept giving him the organ meat in her bowl. This meal for 2 could stretch to more people.

We were given a gift by the restaurant..a bag that we get a lot of use on the trip.

Our server, who was the only person working, gave us excellent service.

Fukuoka has interesting architecture. It is the Fukuoka City Hall. It is basically a lush forest that has been incorporated into the structure.

We will return here in about a month after we finish riding in Korea. The decorations for Christmas are going up throughout the city, along the canals, I’m the stores. Looking forward to it…it will be festive.…

We are loving this city. Despite being huge, it feels organized and manageable for getting around by bike or on foot. So many waterways like this which create nice gathering areas.

We have been out for a long walk exploring Fukuoka. Just as we were about to go into our hotel, we discovered this magnificent Shrine close by, Kushida Shrine. It is the oldest shrine in Fukuoka dating back to 757. It is dedicated to Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the Sun and the Universe. This shrine is more busy with locals than tourists. It is intimately tied into local life with a busy ongoing schedule of ceremonies and rituals.