Hey Hive/Steemit!
Happy February! If you haven't caught up with my recent Travel posts, I just finished my Travel Japan 3.0 series last week! We managed to score some really cheap tickets to Osaka on Philippine Airlines and went on our first Valentines' getaway!
That was also the first time we ever traveled in the middle of a semester (we were still in college at the time). And when term ended, we decided to celebrate by jetting off once again!
So welcome to a brand new journey as we fly off to Japan once again but this time, to Fukuoka! Neither of us had ever been to that part of Japan before and since there were some cheap flights we decided to go explore a new region together! Here we go!
20 May 2017. Saturday.
After the long ass flight last time, we decided to go for a night flight so we could maximise our days there. Our flight was around 8pm so we arrived at the airport around 6:30pm and had dinner there. After checking in, we headed to KFC to grab some burgers!
I think there was a really good coupon at the time and we managed to get 2 burgers and with a chicken for less than 8 bucks or something.
After we got done eating, we headed straight to the departure hall so we could sit and chill at the gate. There wasn't really much we had to see around Changi that we haven't already seen anyway.
Sean also got us these cool matching shirts for our trip! We have an inside joke about ducks and like the retro Superdry style so these were perfect for us!
It's also a throwback to our Taiwan trip when we wore matching plane shirts on the flight there!
I guess I didn't take many photos because the next thing I know is we're on the plane!
They actually served us dinner on the plane too, so it was lucky we didn't eat that much for dinner (yes, a burger each is not that much for us; we eat a lot!).
I think there was a Western option available; maybe lasagna or something but we weren't sure if it was good so we played it safe and opted for fried rice instead.
It was not bad, for airplane food. But I wasn't a fan of the cold appetiser so I left that the way it was.
The flight we took also had a layover but thankfully it wasn't as long as the previous one we took when we flew Philippine Airlines. About an hour or so later, we landed in Ho Chi Minh City!
We had to wait about 2-3 hours so after a brief lookaround the airport (there wasn't much to see from where we were) we just sat at our gate and waited. I was scared of taking a nap and missing our flight so Sean took a nap and I just browsed social media.
21 May 2017. Sunday.
By the time we boarded again it was probably around midnight or something. And I fell asleep on the plane until it was time to have breakfast at 4am! Man, maybe my poor sleep schedule habits are from all the flights.
It wasn't all bad though, because I managed to catch this spectacular view!
For breakfast, I decided to go for the Western option this time and got an omelette! The bacon wasn't that crispy though, but I guess that's to be expected since it is airline food.
Since the plane we were taking was a smaller plane, we had to get off on the tarmac and actually walk to the terminal.
The Fukuoka airport was actually quite small and bare-bones and the waiting area was quite small so there wasn't much to photograph unfortunately.
We ended up taking a bus from the airport to our Airbnb and by the time we arrived it was around 5pm.
The apartment itself was really nice and cozy with a minimalist, country-style interior. Yet again, Japan Airbnbs never disappoint. It might be a little small for some people but we're used to it.
There were twin beds but we just pushed them together. There was even a small desk, not that we would use it.
And even a balcony! It was a little narrow but still nice. It might've been dirty though so I don't think we actually went out there.
By the time we settled in and got comfortable, it was around dinner time. So we headed out to find some food. Coco Ichibanya was pretty much the first shop we came across and I was too hungry to look for alternatives so we just went for it.
It had been a while since we had Coco curry (they have outlets here in Singapore too) but it tasted alright. Nothing to complain about. And it definitely filled me up which was good.
There was a huge mall nearby which also contained the train station, called JR Hakata City! Apparently, this is also among the largest stations in Japan and serves as the hub of train network of Kyushu. It comprises of a cinema complex and over 200 different shops! (Cr: Yokanavi)
There was even an OIOI department store right next to it as well.
And we spent the rest of the evening exploring the mall, starting from the rooftop balcony!
It wasn't as high as the observatories we're used to, like Harukas 300 which I wrote about previously, but it was still quite a sight seeing the city from 60m up all lit up at night.
After we savoured the view, we went down the mall and took a couple of shots along the way.
They even had a Pokemon Centre here! That's when you know a the mall is legit.
They also had a pet store with a bunch of cute birbs:
A huge Kirby in one of the stationery stores:
And lastly, an arcade!
Needless to say, we had quite the time exploring the huge mall. But that's all for now! Sorry for the lack of content but you know how these first posts always go.
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
Check out my previous post in this series!
TacoCat’s Travels #94 (Japan 3.0): Peeing with a View 🏙
