some spring FRUiTS

Since we moved to Japan, buying a new issue of FRUiTS magazine is my marker of another month living here. I am up to number 8, so that's 8 wonderful months in Fukuoka. It may seem silly to put such significance into the purchase of a magazine, but since I first laid eyes on FRUiTS in high school art class in Australia (maybe six years ago) I was in love. I looked at my copy of the Fresh FRUiTS book all the time, memorised my favourite pages. 

The fact that I am now able to buy a new issue every month from the local bookstore always reminds me of how lucky our situation is right now. I am quite literally living out some dreams here.

Here are some photos of my favourite details from the latest issue. Enjoy !

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One Day Whirlwind Fukuoka Tour

Kam's big brother Lukasz visited us last weekend in Fukuoka. His stay was really brief- only three nights - so we knew we had to fit as much as we could into the weekend. On Saturday we borrowed an extra bike for Lukasz from our lovely neighbour and set out to cover as much ground as we could.

I can't include photos of everything we did & saw, as we did so much, so I've cut it down to 7 checkpoints! 

Checkpoint 1: Ohori Koen

We rode to Ohori Koen & had a look around. This park holds some nice memories already, and we always manage to take our overseas guests here for a stroll. 

Checkpoint 2: ACROS, Tenjin
Next, we rode through Daimyo and Tenjin areas, stopped off at Bic Camera for some shopping and made our way to ACROS building. We climbed to the top of ACROS to show Lucas the city view...

Checkpoint 3: Kushida Shrine, Kawabata Shotengai, Tochoji and Shofukuji Temples
After lunch, we went riding through Hakata, parked our bikes and walked down Kawabata Shotengai and then to the lovely Kushida Shrine. Kushida is one of my favourites and a visit there always makes me happy. After Kushida, we also visited Tochoji and Shofukuji temples in Hakata (sorry, no photos!) They're both really pretty too- Tochoji has a new 5-storey pagoda and a huge wooden Buddha, and Shofukuji is Japan's first Zen temple. Kushida photos below...

Checkpoint 4: JR Hakata City
After Lukasz's mini "temple tour", we headed over to JR Hakata City and went to the rooftop for another city view (this time there were elevators, so no climbing!) After our rooftop adventure, we visited some stores below in the huge shopping complex of JR Hakata City- the Pokemon Centre and Tokyu Hands were our two main stops this time.

Checkpoint 5: Canal City
As the evening was setting in, it started to rain. We rode over to Canal City to watch the hourly water fountain show, and played some arcade games. As always, Taiko no Tatsujin was the favourite...

We also played a crazy jumping game in which you controlled characters who were racing on pogo sticks, by jumping. It was fairly ridiculous...

Checkpoint 6: Nakagawa River at night
We curved our way back through Nakasu, and Lukasz was able to see one of my favourite Fukuoka views- the Nakagawa River at night, illuminated by neon.

Checkpoint 7: Dinner at Zauo
And then, for the grand finale, we went to probably the coolest restaurant ever- Zauo. Here, you can catch your own fish by dangling the provided fishing line over the side of the two huge wooden ships. Kam & I had visited the place a few days earlier to take some photos for work, but we didn't get a chance to eat, so we were very keen to return. It was also Lukasz' first real dinner in Japan, so we wanted it to be special!



And special it certainly was. Although we didn't partake in the fishing, we ordered an amazing 3-4 person menu set that was full of the freshest sashimi, sushi, fried octopus, yaki-soba and other delights.

The food was so delicious and the atmosphere was insanely good. Anytime somebody caught a fish, the staff would announce it to the room and congratulate them over microphone, and everybody in the restaurant would clap for the successful fish-catcher!

We also witnessed the cutest mini-sashimi chefs ever! Zauo holds cooking sessions for children, where they learn to prepare fresh fish sashimi. They were so adorable.

Half-way through our dinner, the staff announced a fishing competition where the first guest to catch a fish would win it - prepared any way they wish- for their dinner. The competition just added to the excitement of the night...

And so, with our stomachs full and happy, we rode our bikes home after a full and exhausting but amazing day.

Of course there were many sights we couldn't fit into the day (Momochihama, Yahoo! Dome, Fukuoka Tower, many awesome temples & shrines (especially Atago), the botanical gardens area, a yatai meal etc. etc.) But I think we managed to give him a nice little overview of our new home.
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deery me

Today was the first time to wear an amazing Christmas present from Emily- a wonderful silk shirt by Emma Cook featuring a deer. Em has the rabbit version. I love it so very much.

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Plums blossoms and home runs at Dazaifu

About a month ago, Kam joined a baseball team and on Sunday he played his third game in Dazaifu. The timing was great, because Kam's brother Lukasz was in Fukuoka for the weekend so we were able to spend the morning sightseeing at the nearby Dazaifu Tenmangu- one of Fukuoka's most famous temples- and then head by bus to the baseball field to watch Kam play.

We've only been to Dazaifu once before, in the Summer just after we arrived in Fukuoka. It was the hottest day ever, so most of my memories are of the heat, rather than the beautiful sights. So I was really happy to return in much more temperate conditions.

The road leading up to the shrine is full of stalls and tourist shops, and has a busy market feel about it. It was particularly busy on Sunday, as winter is nearing a close and the weather is finally warming a little. I really enjoyed winter, but I am on the edge of my seat waiting for spring to arrive properly.

Dazaifu is famous for umegaemochi - a type of rice sweet (mochi) filled with red bean paste, served warm. There are many umegaemochi stalls lining the street and you can watch the sweets being made through the windows.

Since our last visit, Dazaifu has acquired a new little attraction of sorts- the following Starbucks, designed by architect Kengo Kuma. There are over 2000 wooden beams that form the lattice-like structure on both the interior and exterior of the Starbucks. I've seen photos of it on various sites online for a few months, so it was really cool to see it in person.

かっこいいね？
We had some delicious green-tea flavoured zaru soba noodles and tempura. Cold soba noodles are one of my favourite Japanese meals to have when we eat out. So delicious (excuse the blurry photo)...



And then it was onto the main attraction- Dazaifu Tenmangu, a shrine well known all over Japan, and one of Fukuoka's most famous. The shrine is dedicated to Tenjin, the god of learning or scholarship. Because of this, many students visit Dazaifu before their exams to pray for good luck & good results. There are also lots of plum trees at the shrine, which are just starting to bloom. The flowers are a brighter pink than the sakura (cherry blossoms) that will come in spring, but still so beautiful.

It was really lovely to see Dazaifu Tenmangu for the second time- a completely different experience in winter! Next, we jumped on a bus that wound its way up through the mountains and down the valleys until it dropped us off at a fairly remote baseball ground for Kam's game. It was quite picturesque and very peaceful up there.

Kamil's team, Sawara Love, played a practice game as they didn't have a league game this week. They played against a team called The Old Rookies, who are actually in the league above them. Lukasz and I sat in the dugout and watched what turned out to be a really interesting game. I was really impressed with the standard of Kam's team, who had particularly good fielding. Their uniform is cute too (Kam hasn't got his yet, but soon will have his own #19 jersey & rep cap!)

By the bottom of the fourth innings, Sawara Love were looking in trouble with the score at 0-2 in the other team's favour. Then things turned around as they loaded bases and then hit three home- one of those being Kamil! It was his first time on base and his first home, and I couldn't have been more proud!

Sawara Love won 4-2 - the first time they have beat The Old Rookies! It was a really awesome way to spend Sunday afternoon & really great that we could take Lukasz to watch his brother play ball.

More photos from other recent adventures soon!

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