Somewhere there's chocolate~

The next morning, I woke up super early to check out and went to Hakata Station to get my train ticket... I was super excited because I knew that suyu was also on her way to meet me at Kagoshima. So long never see her already... Yes, I tried very hard not to get lost! A blur me was walking around the train station because there are two areas which sell Shinkansen tickets but I don't seem to find my destination "Kagoshima".... How? Open your mouth and ask~! hahaha So I was supposed to buy my ticket at first level not second level... Successfully found the place and went to buy my ticket... I tried asking in English because I felt very unsure how to go about asking in Japanese but the man don't seem to understand my question... :s Forced to use my broken Japanese again... Reserved seats were taken already so I only had the choice to buy non-reserved seat... (tip: if you are going to buy long distance train ticket, buy in advance i.e. 1 day before the trip... you would not like the idea of standing for so long!) But I was at least 30 minutes early... I went in and to my horror, one long flight of staircase! Dragged my super duper heavy luggage bit by bit... So paiseh... There was a group of teenagers who seemed to be on an outing... One by one, they walked past me and I was still dragging the luggage... The best thing I love about the train stations is vending machines and food stores... =) Grabbed something to eat and bought my favourite juice...

Despite being in the non-reserved seats cabin, I managed to find a seat... the train had a lugguage compartment right in front so I deposited my luggage there and sat down comfortably... announcements were made in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean... Don't have to worry about not understanding the announcements... heehee Enjoying the scenery outside when my ears suddenly picked up the announcement - "Train carriages from 1 to 5 are going to Kumamoto while carriages from 6 to ...." Huh?!?!?! You mean the train is going to split?? A very nervous me was looking around frantically for the carriage number... I dun want to be going somewhere I dunno... :s Luckily i was in the correct carriage...

Note: www.hyperdia.com is one of the most useful websites for travellers to plan their japan trip... as everyone knows, trains in japan run on fixed schedules... so better check everything before you go! According to my schedule, I have to change train at Shinyatsushiro to take a shinkansen to Kagoshima... When the train reached the station, all the people were rushing out to the train at the next platform... I also forgot to check and blindly dragged my luggage to alight... The train started soon after I found a seat... *OMG!* Where is the train going to? I asked the person sitting next to me and heng, the train was going to Kagoshima... -_-"

When i arrived at the station, *lost* again... but never mind! The golden rule is - Follow the crowd! hahaha I was so happy when I saw Suyu outside waiting for me... Yeah! We never meet up for so long already... At least one year plus... Went to deposit my luggage in the lockers conveniently outside the station (Why we can't have this in Singapore?) and off we go to the most famous sightseeing place in Kagoshima --> Sakurajima!

This is one part of Tenjin underground shopping arcade. I entered into a small shopping centre and its basement is connected to Tenjin underground shopping arcade. Along the walkway, there are many little shops. Feels like citylink but it is definitely more confusing. At least citylink is just a long stretch easier to shop. For Tenjin underground shopping arcade, there are several links to shopping centres that are above it. So it's quite difficult to walk around if you are not sure of the places. :s I merely did window shopping because my luggage was already too heavy for me to carry to Miyazaki and I was really unsure whether I will have enough cash to last me the coming 2 weeks plus.

Hakata Kotsu Centre is like the bus interchange in Singapore. I am very amazed that the buses actually drive into the building. On the first level are buses that travel around Fukuoka. Second level and third level are alighting and boarding points for highway buses respectively. Highway buses are alternatives to domestic airlines and trains if you want to travel around different places. For me, I took a highway bus (~4 hours) from Miyazaki to Fukuoka and on the same day, board another highway bus (~10 hours) from Fukuoka to Kyoto. From here, I can take 100 yen buses and other normal buses to go around Fukuoka!

I could not find this furusato-kan when i alighted from the bus stop! Attempted to walk around following the map. But it was terrible. Where is it?! When i was standing there at the traffic light helplessly, a man with blond-dyed hair and a half lighted cigarette came over to ask if I was lost. He offered to look at the map but wasn't sure of the directions too. He kept saying "chotto matte" to me and at the same time trying to figure out where we are on the map. After some time, he finally knew where we were and offered to walk me to furusato-kan. *happy*

This furusato-kan is a small musuem that introduces Fukuoka and Hakata history. You can learn about their culture, language etc. They also display items that were used during olden days. (There's some English introductions as well!) It was interesting to walk around this little museum. =) Next to the museum, is a small shop selling souvenirs and toys from olden days. Even if you don't want to buy, it's great to take a look.


Weaving was something really interesting that I get to try in Fukuoka! In between the furusato-kan and souvenir shop, there was this little house that showed the history of cloth-weaving in Fukuoka. I was walking inside the house taking photos of weaving machine and the finished product, when an ojisan approached me wanting to explain the history of weaving. But but but, he was speaking in Japanese! I tried my best to understand what he's speaking and probably understood only 40%. ”わかりましたか？簡単で説明しますね。” (Did you understand? I will do a simple explanation.) Looking at the question marks on my head, he decided to let me try out weaving instead. I sat in the machine above, with ojisan standing next to me to guide me. He would smack my hands if i never place my hands properly. :s I managed to do quite a few lines of strings. Weaving is not easy at all. It requires good hand and leg coordination because after you step on the peddle, your hands need to be ready to switch the ball of string. It's fun!