Karatsu Shmaratsu
I'm in Fukuoka! Well, actually, a suburb of Fukuoka called Karatsu. Although I'm not sure how much of a suburb it is, because it's pretty big and in Saga-ken instead of Fukuoka-ken. Either way, I'm in Kyushu! And I'm typing on Sarajane's sticky keyboard right now.
Amanda and I left Tokyo on Sunday and got to Fukuoka on Sunday afternoon. We had some Italian food for lunch and then met up with SJ and her friends PJ (where there's an SJ there's a PJ, right?), Aoi, and Sayaka. It was raining so we walked around an enormous twisty-turny mall complex called Canal City, eating at Cold Stone and a garlic restaurant for dinner and just browsing stores and talking. After dinner we went to the craziest karaoke place ever, where we had to ring a bell a bunch of times before someone came to the front desk and then unlocked the doors to go into the building, and when we went in it was this weird pipe/cave/haunted motif, but after that hallway it turned into a mini-town and our karaoke rooms were all different shops! Like, what? So cool though.
On Monday Amanda and I went to Karatsu, SJ's town where we'll be staying until the 27th (when we go to Nagasaki). Sarajane and Aoi picked us up and took us to her apartment, then to Pizza Milano for homemade pizza made by badasses for lunch. Then we walked to the beach as SJ pointed out Karatsu things, but when we finally got to the beach it was just really cool. Sand and ocean and islands and crazy forests and winter; it was a fun mixture. We walked through gangly pine trees to Karatsu Castle and went up in that, where we saw old Japanese prints of whale and dolphin killing. Then we came back and chilled in her room watching cable (she has Nickelodeon! And Cartoon Network! And Sci Fi!) until her friend Ian came home from work with the car; once he brought the car back she drove us to an even bigger and crazier gangly pine forest, and we had Karatsu Burgers for dinner there. Then we came back, Aoi left, and we watched "Tokyo Godfathers" and Japanese game shows until we got sleepy.
Yesterday SJ had the car all day, so we went to a place called Jammin Seaside Cafe for lunch; we ate Jamaican food while watching surfers on the beach, and yes, it was as great as it sounds. Although it was still pretty cold outside. Then she took us to Tategami, where we climbed around rocky beach formations and watched even more surfers. After that we drove north to Nanatsugama, which has crazy cliffs that look like they were pressed through a playdough spaghetti-maker. And also lots of hawks and a really ugly statue ("the cross-eyed goddess of the caves"). Finally we drove all the way to the other side of Karatsu and scaled Kagamiyama (ok, in a car) to get sweet views of Karatsu and the bay. I love sweet views. Coming down we stopped at some shops ("Gifts & Presents", KFC to see if we can reserve Christmas lunch, and "Bulldog" for cooler gifts), then Amanda and I just hung out while Sara had her guitar lesson. When that was over, we went out for a long fun dinner at a yakitori place with SJ and her friends Ian, Eden, and Charlotte (coolest Scottish accent ever). Then we came back and watched Pirates 2 until we were tired.
Now today is Christmas Eve and we're going into Fukuoka City for a Christmas Eve service and to see Mongol-invasion related stuff (since the Mongols, you know, invaded Fukuoka, 800 years ago).
Amanda and I left Tokyo on Sunday and got to Fukuoka on Sunday afternoon. We had some Italian food for lunch and then met up with SJ and her friends PJ (where there's an SJ there's a PJ, right?), Aoi, and Sayaka. It was raining so we walked around an enormous twisty-turny mall complex called Canal City, eating at Cold Stone and a garlic restaurant for dinner and just browsing stores and talking. After dinner we went to the craziest karaoke place ever, where we had to ring a bell a bunch of times before someone came to the front desk and then unlocked the doors to go into the building, and when we went in it was this weird pipe/cave/haunted motif, but after that hallway it turned into a mini-town and our karaoke rooms were all different shops! Like, what? So cool though.
On Monday Amanda and I went to Karatsu, SJ's town where we'll be staying until the 27th (when we go to Nagasaki). Sarajane and Aoi picked us up and took us to her apartment, then to Pizza Milano for homemade pizza made by badasses for lunch. Then we walked to the beach as SJ pointed out Karatsu things, but when we finally got to the beach it was just really cool. Sand and ocean and islands and crazy forests and winter; it was a fun mixture. We walked through gangly pine trees to Karatsu Castle and went up in that, where we saw old Japanese prints of whale and dolphin killing. Then we came back and chilled in her room watching cable (she has Nickelodeon! And Cartoon Network! And Sci Fi!) until her friend Ian came home from work with the car; once he brought the car back she drove us to an even bigger and crazier gangly pine forest, and we had Karatsu Burgers for dinner there. Then we came back, Aoi left, and we watched "Tokyo Godfathers" and Japanese game shows until we got sleepy.
Yesterday SJ had the car all day, so we went to a place called Jammin Seaside Cafe for lunch; we ate Jamaican food while watching surfers on the beach, and yes, it was as great as it sounds. Although it was still pretty cold outside. Then she took us to Tategami, where we climbed around rocky beach formations and watched even more surfers. After that we drove north to Nanatsugama, which has crazy cliffs that look like they were pressed through a playdough spaghetti-maker. And also lots of hawks and a really ugly statue ("the cross-eyed goddess of the caves"). Finally we drove all the way to the other side of Karatsu and scaled Kagamiyama (ok, in a car) to get sweet views of Karatsu and the bay. I love sweet views. Coming down we stopped at some shops ("Gifts & Presents", KFC to see if we can reserve Christmas lunch, and "Bulldog" for cooler gifts), then Amanda and I just hung out while Sara had her guitar lesson. When that was over, we went out for a long fun dinner at a yakitori place with SJ and her friends Ian, Eden, and Charlotte (coolest Scottish accent ever). Then we came back and watched Pirates 2 until we were tired.
Now today is Christmas Eve and we're going into Fukuoka City for a Christmas Eve service and to see Mongol-invasion related stuff (since the Mongols, you know, invaded Fukuoka, 800 years ago).