Ok. Japan. So we had the 28th off for Buddha’s birthday. About a month ago I decided I wanted to go to Japan for that weekend. I don’t know why! I just wanted to! [I think that’s one of the small keys to life. When you think of something you want to do, and it is feasible, and you’re not hurting anyone…DO IT! It’s not being selfish, it’s living.] So anyway, I asked everyone if they wanted to go, but most people said they couldn’t afford it. Okay, no problem. Sian wanted to go. And she didn’t mind planning most of it. Cool. So the earliest ferry we could get was a 3:00 on the Saturday of the weekend. So we got up bright and early to catch the 8:20 bus to Busan. I think that’s why I’m so tired. I never get to sleep in because my life plans are always getting me up early! We found the international ferry terminal and went to sign in. The lady told us check-in time was 1:30. Great! It was 1:15. So we decided to wait in line, because by the time we got up there it would be 1:30. So we waited, and waited. Finally, we got to the front. It was 1:29. “Oh no, check-in is at 1:30. You need to go to the back of the line.” …… What? Sigh. So we walked to the back of the line and waited again. Yup. Korea.
The ferry was great. It felt like an airplane almost. The seats were extremely comfortable and we weren’t even allowed to go outside because it was so fast. I was really surprised at how easy it was to leave Korea. They didn’t check the liquids in our bags; they just sent our things through a scanner and us through a metal detector. They didn’t really ask us any questions. It was much more difficult to get in back in February! I fell asleep on the ferry (I can fall asleep almost anywhere now) and before I knew it we were there! Immediately I could tell Japan was beautiful. And they had trash cans!! Do you know how frustrating it is living in a country with no trashcans outside?! They’re barely in any of the stores or restaurants either! Ugh. But it was sunset just as we arrived, and the last rays were falling down behind the river. So pretty! And then we got lost haha. The directions to the hostel weren’t very clear so we walked for a while before asking for directions. Eventually we found it with some help. We had been close by the whole time!
The hostel was exactly as I imagined a hostel should be. The front was a small restaurant run by the hostel owner. Three tables and a bar. The petite owner welcomed us with a big smile and showed us to the back. A tiny counter served as her office. We paid, and she led us through a tour. A small hallway led to a cozy common room, equipped with two computers, a couch, a table, a coffee maker, guides and maps, and many many letters thanking the hostel for a rewarding experience. We followed her down the hallway further; the floor consisted of a path of large stones set in a bed of smaller stones. It looked somewhat like a zen garden. The rooms were beyond a little curtained doorway. Each room was small, large enough for three people to sit comfortably. There were mats on the floor and a little table with a lamp. And that’s it! It was perfect =)
After a quick change and face wash we set out to the common room to explore our options. I had made a list of all the great places to go in Fukuoka and then conveniently left it on my bed in Yeosu. So we started searching online, looking at the tour guides, and asking the hostel owner for advice. That’s when Tyron came downstairs. A tall, polite black man whom I immediately pegged as gay, Tyron was to be our savior. “Oh you just got here? I’ve been here a few days. There are tons of cool restaurants and bars down by the water. I think I might pop down there after my shower.” Sian and I looked at each other… “We were thinking of going out for a nice dinner, too. Care to join us?” He smiled, poured me a whiskey on the rocks, and said his shower would be a quick one.
Japan at night is something you have to try to see before you die. Think Time Square, but brighter and overrun by cute things: teddy bears on top of taxis, giant animals perched on the sides of buildings, humongous squinty faces peering at you from the billboards and megatron tvs. Fukuoka was the definition of bustle. There’s a difference between bustle and chaos you know. Korea personifies chaos…cars drive any way they’d like, people dart into the road without a moment’s notice, stray cats and dogs jump out at you from alleys, people walk right into you without batting an eye. Japan moved like a slick machine. Cars followed the traffic laws and did not drive too quickly; people walked, biked, and ran by each other while giving the proper amount of space, people smiled at you without looking afraid or judgmental!
We had decided on Italian obviously. We’re in one of the oldest countries in the world! Clearly Japanese food was not an option. Seriously, though, the Italian place was awesome. We ordered things tapas style, so our three courses were brought out one at a time and we shared everything. Pasta carbonara with a thick sauce, followed by my seafood risotto brimming with scallops and delicate white fish, fresh pizza with a hot pepper oil to drizzle on top..ah it was some of the better food I’ve had anywhere in life! All the while we all chatted on about life in Asia and life back home.
Stomachs full, we set off in search of a bar. We wandered down a street near our hostel and Sian saw something intriguing on the third floor of a building. We opened the door and were met with a decked out 50’s style diner/bar! Pictures of Elvis littered the wall, and women dressed in poodle skirts milled about. We had stepped into another time, yes, but also another country! We quickly realized some live music was about to take place, so we asked for a seat and were ushered to a table right in front of the stage. We just got lucky that night. We had been seated at a window right by the water with a great view at the Italian place too! So we settled into our seats and waited for the music. We were not prepared for what was about to happen. The music was phenomenal! Their voices lost all cadences of an Asian accent. Every man and woman in that bar stood up and started dancing! They all knew the moves! It was like I stepped into the prom scene in ‘Grease’. Within a few minutes they had pulled us out of our chairs and had us dancing with them. We worked up a sweat and laughed and laughed with these awesome strangers. Exhausted from all the traveling, and with the knowledge that we needed to wake up at 5:45 the next day, we clearly decided to make one more stop before going to bed =)
The yatois in Japan are SO cool. It’s this little outdoor tent with a small bar. The whole thing looks like its falling apart, and in a way it is. Each day, the owners of the yatoi unload allllllllllll the equipment for the small kitchen and bar from their trucks and set it up. And each night the owners load allllllll the equipment back up. Seems like too much of a hassle to me. But the food was amazing! Their primary menu is ramyen noodles; yes ramyen not ramen. You can get it in a soup or fried up with vegetables, like me. It’s hard for me to explain the magic of these little restaurants. I’m not doing a good job here. It’s one of those things you just have to experience for yourself!!!
The same thing goes for Hiroshima. I want to write about it, but it’s not easy. The memorial was pretty overwhelming. I guess I can sum it up this way. On the day that the bomb was dropped, there was a reporter/photographer. He took out his camera, ready to document one of the most catastrophic events in human memory. He snapped four pictures before he fell to his knees and could do no more. The scenes before him were too devastating to face. The museum and surrounding memorials transport you to that scene. No one talks, not because there are signs asking you not to, but because no one wants to. It’s a very private experience; strange since it is something that affected and still affects so very many people.
So back to Fukuoka we went on the bullet train; it got us there in one hour instead of four. Our kind hostel owner invited us to her friend’s birthday party in the front restaurant. They helped us make traditional Japanese food called takoiaki. Basically, it was pancake mix that we put in something that looked like a waffle maker, but instead of the small squares there were larger circles. Then we filled the mixture with squid, cheese, kimchi, sausage, and other random food haha. We had to flip them when they turned golden brown, and then we drizzled bbq-esque sauce and mayonnaise on them. Weird right? But they were delicious!
Tired from our long day of traveling and sightseeing, half of which I didn’t even write about in this letter!, we went to bed. The next day we woke up early (againnnnn) and hopped on the ferry back home. Sigh. Vacation never lasts long enough!
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