Initially was thinking of using the photos to blog abt the japan trip, but i dont think that can work out. Pictures are supposed to be worth a thousand words, but words are worth much more, because they can tell what some pictures cant or mislead. Which is probably why books are written in much more details than movies.

Anyway, I spent a total of 16 days in Japan, and went to alot of places, all by figuring it out with my friends. A lot of places where tour groups will not bring you, thats the benefits of backpacking. The only drawback is you have to find your own way there, but thats the fun of it too. In 16days, I went to Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Beppu, Mt Aso, Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, Toyko, and Mt Fuji.

We started off at Fukuoka, which is located south of Japan, on Kyushu. Taking the SQ flight over on a saturday 1am, the plane was only half full, which means you get plenty of attention from the air stewardess, offering you hot towels and drinks. And because its a overnight flight, SQ offered toothbrush and toothpaste too.

When we reached at Fukuoka in the morning, ard 6am, it was drizzling, and there was no aerobridge available. We were given umbrellas to walked to the temminal, and was given a taste of the yet-to-turn-summer weather. 12 degrees, written on the Daikin billboard.

Taking the shuttle bus to the domestic terminal, then changing to the subway, before trying to figure the way to our hostel in the rain, took us abt 20mins walk to find the hostel. The hostel is not bad at all, really. Small, but nice. And its the only hostel in Fukuoka. The rest of the days was spent walking to Canal City, a shopping mall, while getting lost, thanks to me haa.. And the best thing is, we managed to walked to one of the famous shrine in Fukuoka, by anyhow walking. And a shopping street too. Night was spent walking to a Ramen stall near our hostel, recommended by the hostel. Its one of the nicest Ramen ard, and so is the takoyaki mobile stall we ventured upon while walking back.

I should probably blog abt this before my memory fails me. Here goes:


10th May 2008 - The Day Of Ramen~!

To start it all off, I enter Kris World~!!! haha..
First time taking SQ flights, and it was only half full =) Not many ppl do go to Fukuoka I guessed. The system isnt extremely good though, similar to what I have on China Eastern, different movies played on different system, and you had to tune in to watch the movie.



And couldnt really slp even though it was a midnight flight though, especially when they serve good food. Pastries given half hour into the flight.



And heres the breakfast.



Waiting for the bus to transfer to the other terminal, where we could take the subway. And the subway is freaking expensive~!! 250yen for 2stops??? thats like $2.60!!



And guessed what temperature it is when we touched down? 12degrees~!!! Damn shock haha.. I absolutely love this type of weather, even though it was raining and I was without an umbrella.



And heres the small little hostel we stayed at. Nice clean rooms, even though its samll and without any window. But at least the aircon is working, the shower rm is super shiok haha.. And the toilet bowl, is amazing haha.. it can clean ur butt =)



Heres our room



Street near our place.. the streets are pretty similar to singapore, with plenty of trees planted.



And after walking for quite a distance, and getting lost, we finally ended up at Canal City for lunch~! Ramen for lunch, Gyoza here looked super nice. And taste nice too =)


Heres what I had, I also dunno what Ramen haha.. Just anyhow order.. And guess what.. the waitress is Chinese -_- There are plenty of Chinese working in Japan as service staff, they spoke excellent Japanese too.



And after walking around Canal City, somehow we managed to end up at another of Hakata attraction, one of the shrine in the area. Supposedly they carry that big thing during a festival.



Dunno whats this call, but its for cleansing your hands and drinking



Nice clover leaves



And somehow, we managed to reach another destination through "anyhow" walking haha.. One of the shopping streets there



And heres the dinner~! A famous Ramen store recommended by our hostel~! Its full of people even at night. And heres the menu, totally dont understand haha.. Luckily the waiter there know a bit of english.



But I still dunno what type of Ramen Im eating hhaa..



Heres my fren's



And heres the supper~!! The best takoyaki I eaten in Japan~!



And lastly, bought my breakfast for the next morning, from the trusted convenient store, Lawson. (Its all over Japan btw, more than any other store. 7-11 doesnt even come close)




Day 2 - 11th May - Kumamoto

Train ticket~! Buying tickets in Japan is not as hard as I imagine, even if the lady at the counter cant speak english. You just have to tell them where you are going, and they will do the rest. The only difficulty is trying to figure out which platform you should be taking the train, but theres an easy way out. Just ask her.



The guys in action. Even station controllers are pretty haa..



One of the statue outside of Kumamoto Castle, dont ask me who he is, I cant read.



At the castle entrance.



And heres the magnificent castle, nicknamed Black Castle I think.



And it have many many floors. One thing to note, I dont see any toilets around. How does ppl relieve themselves in the past???



View from the castle



And Mount Aso is 1/3 from the left of the picture, far far away



Some clouds on a sunny day



And they still have trams here, and in many other cities of Japan



Someone is shocked



Clickers counting the number of cars on the road



We went into this shop for lunch. One of the most impt criteria is they must have display pics on the outside or the menu.. becos we cant read~!!!



Water or tea are always given free at every dining place, even those cheap ones.



And heres menu.. tell me how many words u can identify??



And heres my lunch, Tempura Prawn Udon.



I told you its a sunny day



Doesnt this place looks like some scene from the japanese dramas???



We couldnt make it in time for Mt Aso this day, when we realise.. Japan iconic spots always close damn early~!! ard 5pm!~!!! So you really have to wake up early, and move out early.. obviously some guys cant do that ha

So after lingering in Kumamoto for a while, we came back to Hakata, and went to Tenjin, their shopping district, for dinner. And we finally settled on this:



Cant read the menu again right?? But here, theres plenty of pictures to help you. And guess what? The waitress is Chinese. You be surprised at how many Chinese working in the restaurants there.



This is dinner. The fried veggie with prawns was nice~! And cheap too~! 390 for a set, if I didnt remember wrongly.



And who can forget McDonalds~!! They have McPork there~! And its only 100yen~!

If the only way to close the distance is a chore, then I dunno what else to do..

You are not there, but you certainly left your mark in Japan..

At Mt Fuji..





At Tokyo tower..


And at Miyajima.. I knew you are there with me..



just joking =P

Ohayo fr japan, im at hotel lobby here, waiting for my friends..time no is 745am.

So far i have travelled kyushu area, mainly Fukuoka,Beppu, Kumamoto, and the volcano mount Aso. And in Osaka, went to the Dotonburi area, and to Himeji yesterday. More photos will follow when im back.

was given a taste of rush hour traffic yesterday in osaka, being squeeezed on the train, sibei jialat.. and supposedly its going to be worse in toyko. theres no way i could fall simply because theres no space to fall at all..everyone is like leaning on everyone.. cui..

im off to kyoto next

bless those ppl in szechuan..saw the tv footage yest, it seems damn jialat

Im at T3~! Waiting for my plane now, 40mins more to Japan~!!! wohoo...~!!!

Durian puffs~!!!!!!!!!!!!! From Goodwood Park Hotel haa... its damn ex la.. one puff cost like $1.50 le, but I just have to try it, esp after Ruoyun post this on her blog.

I jus got a lot of money. Im rich haa.. you know whats the fastest way to make lots of money???

Change them into Japanese Yen. Nvr see so many zeros before.. My notes are in thousands and ten thousands now haa..


Anyway, back to the topic of "and then?", my other fren commented that, Singaporean jus cant get away from the need to plan for the future. Its not like UK or US, where it does matter if you just "work n travel", jus take up any job and live. Totally agree with her..in the end, I couldnt break free fr this singaporean mindset. I fear being the "rubbish collector" that my mum constantly warned me about when I was young.

Possible destination? Mt Aso

Some photos to see, fr last thursday meetup to get some stuffs for Jap. I got myself a cufflinks haha.. (nt for jap) Anyway, its easy to upload the photos here, just kop fr my frens blog, he jus set up hhaaa.. Good job =P















Also met up at Tat-kun castle yest to discuss the plans, more or less the itineary is up, jus a few things left to do. its less than a week away now =)

On another note, was telling a fren the other day that how I wished I can go back to USA Wnt, to work there, cos really misses the days there. And she asked me, "and then?" Every thing I said was met with the same repsonse.. I got what she meant. I really cant go back there can I?