24 August 2009 in Fukuoka

24 August 2009 in Fukuoka

6:00am sharp in the morning~ I woke up to my bedside alarm, grabbed my camera and fling aside the curtains to let the sunshine flood in... Good morning Fukuoka!
6:59am... Breakfast time!
I love these rice dumplings...
Sakura flavoured rice dumpling, Curry potato croquette, Hard boiled egg, Macaroni salad, and a cuppa coffee~ ^^
8:45am... on the road for work... driving north towards the direction of Hiroshima...
Japan is conveniently joined via expressways from island to island, so there are many suspension bridges to cross...
8:59am... we arrived at an iron works ...
Just a trip for see-see-look-look on raw materials... these are Iron Coils...
Metal bars and shafts...
flat bars...
... and more iron and steel...
9:38am... the morning trip was done and we're heading for another spot to sight-see~
Cute little train crossing the road... and yep, our vehicles had to stop to let the train pass...
9:57am... crossing another suspension bridge to Shimonoseki City at the Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Average speed on these expressways: 120kmph...
If there is one thing I've never seen in Singapore... its these chrome shelled tank-lorry... I've seen several of these there...
10:12am... driving up further north... we'll see the Hiroshima and Osaka direction... but that's hundreds of kilometers away...
10:43am... we finally arrived at our sight-seeing destination: the Akiyoshidai area... that sporty yellow cabriolet just so nice happened to drive past me as I take this photo... splendid.
Akiyoshi-dai is called 秋芳台... and we now at 秋芳馆 for some early lunch...
Tonkatsu-don...
Yummy~Cold noodles...Mum had Katsu-don with egg...
11:31am... we headed for the "Exit" point of Akiyoshi-do... 秋芳洞 .
Was told that from the entrance to the exit, its a up-climbing trek...
so it makes more sense for us to enter from the exit-point and make a down-ward trek instead~ ^^
Entrance fee per adult is JPY 1,200... approx. S$18.00.
Akiyoshi-do is the largest limestone cave in East Asia. It was named by the Emperor Showa in 1926.
Cool brisk air past through the tunnel as we headed some 100 meters beneath the ground into the cave sight-seeing course...
The sight-seeing course in the cave is approx. 1 KM (total distance of cave: 10KM) and the temperature inside is a stable 17 degrees celsius... cold.
Here is another chance to show that using the camera-flash of your dummy digital camera in the cave is a bad idea. I never use the "Auto-Flash", because the photo will turn out like this:
Switch to manual mode and adjust the ISO to a high level (e.g.800 or 1600). Steady your hands (if you dun have a tripod) and snap... here's the result: (the bottom of the below photo was blurred because of other tourists walking...)
Tens of thousands of years of water droplets dripping down these limestone caves...
Very nicely carved signboard...
The scenary inside there is breath-taking... (and probably because its very cold inside)...
The ground is also wet and slippery inside...
Beautiful isn't it?
I wished I had a better camera inside...
Ah, here's another "Flash-or-No-Flash" decision. For the record, I swore by No-Flash for all of my shots. So here's a photo I accidentally took when I forgot to turn off the "Auto-Flash".
... and here's a re-take on the same scene after I switched off the Flash, and used ISO 1600 exposure, letting in all the lights the camera could absorb....
Still a along way to walk...
There have several of these "Voice-Box" explaining the cave highlights... in various languages... Press the English one and you'll have a crowd staring at you...
Finally came out of the cave at the entrance... to a delightful sight of a horde of Japanese students of an excursion trip~ lively bunch!
... The legendary Japanese Schoolgirls?
Me happily posing at the entrance...
... a peaceful walk out to the town...
with little bridges...
... and cascading waters...
An Akiyoshido monument carved into a solid marble...
an illustration of the cave...
Akiyoshido has opened its doors to visitors for 100 years...
The air here is very fresh...
12:36pm... I started snapping photos of all the beautiful flowers along the way out...
So pretty aren't they?
... the town selling souvenirs of the area...
mostly these marbles...
various shapes and sizes...
Shiny stones...
it was like a street market out there...
many more souvenirs on the way out to make you spend money...
... but I was more interested in these crepes...
Neko~! He kinda bo-chup me...
Ice-cream is ever popular during the summer season...
Not mooncakes... more marbles slabs...
Marble turtle..
Lagi more souvenirs...
Puffer fishes?
A beautiful field that caught my attention...
especially the flowers by the wooden fence...
so pretty!
More flowers on the way out...
I was constantly running to catch up with the group ahead as I stopped for photos every so often...
more beautiful flowers...
Here's a stall selling solid marble slabs. The master there will carve your surname onto the marble for you, and you can hang it outside your doorstep.
12:54pm... these are real Lily flowers! A pity they are off-season and withering off...
1:02pm... we started driving past Akiyoshidai...
Akiyoshidai is Japan's largest Karst formation and is designated as a quasi-national park (covering some 4,502 hectares)...
The majestic views of Akiyoshidai includes pinnacles with exposed limestone, moon-crater like doline, uvale and polije, which give the place an unusual atmosphere...
The view was breath-taking... a pity we didn't stop the car for some photos... I merely snap these through the windows ...
er... anyone thinking of tele-tubbies?
2:04pm... Rest-point... Yamamura-san and his wife has a habit of switching behind the wheels at every of these rest-points, so the earlier driver could rest. Very nice practice!
Another practice in Japan worth our learning... just look at their many kinda of bins for recycling...
I started to love these rest points as I get the chance to take more photos...
... and buy delicious snacks for the road-trip...
Mega-sized ice cream waffer...
3:03pm... we made a special trip to 井筒屋小仓本店 @ Kitakyushu for a reason solely for me... This red little van here is a shuttle service by IZUTSUYA... for those who are not driving, or that their vehicle is too large for their automated carpark system.
Yep~ I had the entire group accompany me here... for this - Burberry Blue Label...
Only in Japan~
Purpose? To get my gf one of these Blue Label hangbags...
Here's one Burberry Blue Label hangbag @ JPY 34,650...
many designs to choose from... this one is going @ JPY 37,800...
In the display shelves... many little accessories too...
It was a tough selection process as I have 4 pairs of eyes staring at me as I carefully made my choice...
I didn't even have the time to hop into the Black Label store...
4:14pm... back on the car again... happily with my purchase... gonna surprise my gf with this when I get back..
4:16pm... arrived at a huge-ass electrical store...
It took me 3 wide-screen photos to capture the entire floor view... and that's only Level 1...
... the i-Gallop?
Oh... I always make it a point to check out the mobile phones whenever I am in Japan...
They are oh-so-beautiful...
Clam-shell models are still popular in Japan...
I was taking so much photos I was worried the security guard might walk over...
iida phone? Looks cool though~
4:37pm... we left shortly, as it was getting late and its best to head back in time for dinner... pasted by a McDonald's in a sweet building design...
5:13pm... back in my hotel room... carefully laid out my purchase on the fluffy fluffy quilt...
The hangbag is nicely wrapped up in a dust-bag...
Pink is sweet isn't it? The trademark Burberry stripes with pink base-colour...
Close-up of the label...
I hope she likes it. She deserves this for being so nice to me~ ^^ I couldn't wait to get back to Singapore and see her expression when she receives it...
7:04pm... at the hotel lobby... was waiting for Yamamura-san to pick us up for dinner... spotted this defibrillator at a corner... this is one life-saving kit that could save many lives when used at the right time... another thumbs-up for Comfort Hotel.
7:27pm... we arrived at this Beef BBQ restaurant for dinner~the entrance counter...atypical of most major Japanese restaurants, the interior dining area is a no-shoes compound... so the entrance area has many of these shoe-lockers...Lockers with these wooden tabs on are empty... put your shoes in and pull out the tabs...
The lockers uses a very traditional key-system... each key has an unique set of teeth...
I love the interior settings...We had 5 people in all and the restaurant was so nice enough to arrange these two table for us...
Its an eat-all-you-can within the stipulated timing... I can't read the menu though...
but there appears to be 3 different packages... the cheapest being JPY 2,280 for an adult... approx. S$35.00
The hot grill plate gets heated up...
... and then the raw beef is served...
Pork and sausages too~!
I never let anyone cook my beef for me... I took my own sweet time to cook and savour the meat...
Mum fills up the hot plate with too many pieces and spent the evening stressed out over the beef charring too quickly before she can manage the other pieces... then she stacks them up on a plate and let them cool into a rubbery-state... then complains that its difficult to chew... while dad was busy chatting and not helping cook at all... *rolls eyes*
I love my beef tender and juicy... that evening, I had more beef and pork I could eat in half a year...
9:52pm... back at the hotel... hopped over 7-Eleven with mum and bought some snacks and drinks back...
I love CALPIS water~! You'll never fail to spot this at every drink stall~
Pringles is doing very well with all the new range of flavours...
10:25pm... watching Baseball on the TV... its a big thing in Japan~ Watch this 菊池雄星 fella from the 3rd year of 花卷东 High School pull off 154kmph pitch~!