Well I had a hell of a time coming to Korea, if you need a
reference re-read “pre-travel woes”. I came to Korea without my E2 work visa
with the understanding that I would travel to Japan in my first two weeks to
get my visa. Well, the time came and off I went.
I took it as more stamps in the passport and a chance to
check out Japan for a bit. I flew from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan. Which was a
quick 50 minutes up and down. I woke up at 4:45 AM to shower, eat breakfast,
and catch the subway to the airport. I did it without any complications. Holy
cow does Korean Air hook it up! In my very short 50 minutes we were given a
snack (Kim bop) and something to drink. You’re lucky if you get that on a 4
hour flight in the states.
The super cute Korean man sitting next to me tried not to
watch me eat the Kim bop but apparently my expressions were too much to pass
up. A kim bop is a triangle Korean sushi roll. On the outside there is sea weed
and the inside was rice and tuna. I’m not the biggest fan of sea weed, so that’s
prolly where the facial expressions came in.
After I landed I took the subway to Tojinmachi Station and
it was a short walk to the Korean consulate, of course I got lost a few times,
but thanks to a nice Japanese women I found my way. *** For all of you reading
this I FULLY expect that you will be nice and helpful to anyone who does not
speak your language, without all the help I’ve been getting from complete
strangers I would have been so lost. I will always remember all the help I’ve
gotten and I will NEVER treat someone disrespectfully because they do not speak
English in the states. I am eternally grateful to all the wonderful, helpful
people I have met!*** I filled out the paperwork and was able to explore the
city!
The first thing I discovered in Japan was the amazing
Japanese toilets! They are fully equipped with butt spray function, bidet,
flushing sounds, “powerful deodorizer”, and seat warmer. I tried all of these
functions and giggled like a little girl the whole time. When I came out of the
bathroom some older Japanese women was looking at me funny… lol I would have
looked at me funny too! For real, I do enjoy the bidet/butt spray function, it
leaves you feeling so clean and refreshed!
McDonalds menu! Don’t worry I didn’t eat there, I just took
a picture. Everything was the same except a fish sandwich that had shrimp on top!
This is the Fukuoka Yafuoku! Dome, where they play baseball.
Baseball is pretty popular in Asia. The next few photos are from around the
stadium.
Then I went to this park to look at the Korean straight from
the other side!
Ugh. Who is it that said the worse part of our generation
will be apathy? I think it was Audrey Hepburn… but I could be wrong. I was so
sad to see all the garbage on the beach.
There is Fukuoka Tower!
There was a Hard Rock café by the stadium. I didn’t eat
there either.
Oh hey, Pokémon!
Ahahahahah a whole store dedicated to dressing your dog up
and baby carriages for your dog too!
This is where I ate. I just pointed at a picture and hoped
for the best. I got a noodle dish with squid, shrimp and pork. It was really
yummy!
Does anyone remember these!!!
Here is my hotel room, I stayed at the Heiwandai Hotel. They
hooked it up too. They gave me complimentary shampoo, conditioner, body wash,
ear swabs, toothbrush and paste, body sponge, and pajamas!
So smart!!! When you flush the toilet, the clean water that
fills up the bowl is what you use to wash your hands. Talk about water
conservation. I was so excited about that.
If you ever travel to Japan, no need for a power converter,
they use the same plugs as the US!
The next day I had to wait until 3:30 to pick up my visa, so
I had the whole day to explore. I started at Ohori Park.
Ahhhhh, my worst nightmare, giant horrifying fish!
Me and a pagoda!
Baby turtle.
Signs are funny here. Basically if you let your dog poop in
the park and you don’t clean it up, some man is gonna be angry!
In the park there was a Japanese Garden. I went to it and it
was so pretty! There were beautiful gardens, a coy pond, and some waterfalls.
My sumo friend at the Fukuoka Art Museum. I also bought a
print of a cherry blossom tree for my “Around the World art collection”.
In the park there was the Fukuoka Castle Ruins. The next few
pictures are of the castle gate, the steps, some people dressed up in costume
(I’m not sure why they were there but I took it as a photo-op!), the gardens,
the grounds, the guesthouse, the view from the top.
Now I’m at the Gokoku Shrine!
At this point I made my way back to the Korean consulate and
I got my visa! Woot Woot, I’m legit to work in Korea now!
This is the Marizon, which is a fancy place you can have
your wedding! I met a nice Irish man, thank god because I hadn’t talked to a
single person for about 24 hours and I was going crazy! We were gonna get
hitched but we decided against it since we had just met. :p We had a few beers
at a place on the beach. It was nice and I made a new friend! He lives in Seoul
and I hope to see him again. But I'm pretty sure I gave him the wrong e-mail. :(
This Is Fukuoka Tower at night
The next day I had the whole day to kill. So I walked
through the park and down the “Rodeo Drive” of Fukuoka and made my way to
canal city. Which is a huge 5 story shopping complex. Most of you know how much
I enjoy shopping so I walked around for a bit looking at the stores, got bored
and decided to try Ramen Stadium out! It was on the 5th floor of the
complex. Which consisted of a few different places you could choose from to
eat. Thank god they had these booths that you paid for your meal and it was in
English so I knew what I was ordering! I choose the pork ramen with dumplings.
Gave my ticket to the person at the counter and took a seat! I wish I could
tell you that it was really yummy but, the pork was like uncured bacon,
super-duper fatty. So there was a layer of grease at the top of the bowl. I liked
the noodles and bean sprouts and I left the lard filled broth in the bowl. The
dumplings were really good!
Here I am making Ramen. I asked these girls to take the
photo, they did and then they ran away giggling? Silly Japanese girls!
They had one whole floor dedicated to an arcade…. And BRIAN
KORBAR, cell phones. I’ve never seen so many phones before in my life.
I was very bored of the mall so I went to a few temples.
This is the Tochoji Temple. I came just in time for worship! So I stepped in a
watched for a while. There were 9 monks in orange robes chanting, banging a few
gongs, and lighting a fire! It was really cool to watch. I just think other
religions are so interesting!
I had about 2 more hours to kill before heading to the
airport, so now I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Japan writing this so I didn’t
forget any details!
My feet hurt real bad, I’m ridiculously sleepy, and I’m
ready to go back to my comfy home in Busan… I can’t believe it feels like home
there already.
