Fukuoka - A Hidden Phoenix.
A Fukuoka Izakaya open in the midnight hours, overflowing with delectable food, drinks & atmosphere.
A year ago, almost exactly, we visited Fukuoka. The first time we had ever stepped foot in Japan.
It definitely was not the places we had been dreaming of visiting during our schooling years, let alone a place we even knew existed, but that is one of the greatest joys about travel; discovering knew places.
We chose to make Fukuoka our first port of call in Japan, mostly because the flights to Fukuoka were the cheapest available to us, and sometimes travelling is about trying to keep to a budget. ( if we’re honest, that’s a massive part of travelling for us, a part we’d rather not need worry about though. )
Which is why we find it so important to try and provide the most affordable options for travel deals that we can find. - This is a shameless plug which makes mention of our affiliation with Expedia & their Search widget on our Home page.
Tenjin Chikagai Station, Fukuoka
Without knowing anything about Fukuoka, we were left with a truly original and unique travel experience, particularly in our modern, always-online day and age. Being able to take in a place completely for the first time, without any preconceived notions or ideas of what to expect, was beautiful, although it did take us a while to appreciate it truly. - Being immersed in the current social media landscape, it can be difficult to withdraw ourselves from wanting to know absolutely everything we can immediately from our devices.
It was freeing to explore Fukuoka with the minimal information we were able to find, it was frustrating at times as well, though, not knowing where to go and not being able to trust Google Maps for accurate location services & business hours.
We also had our fair share of instances where we felt strongly tempted to return to our hotel rooms & hide there, particularly in this one instance where we wanted really badly to attend a Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Baseball game but couldn’t book tickets due to our not having a Japanese contact number. ( From the information we managed to gather from our Hotel Concierge & the Threads community, Japan is not very eager to hand out mobile numbers to visitors, so mostly upon arrival, tourists are given a data-only SIM card.
Kushida Shrine Subway Station, Fukuoka
After finally letting go of our ties to wanting to have all information at our fingertips, we embraced the unknown and opened our hearts and minds to exploring Fukuoka with an attitude of something-not-quite but close to reckless abandon.
We left our hotel daily and walked around, we discovered amazingly beautiful Temples & parks, and delightfully delicious Vegan Restaurants.
Unperturbed by the Japanese summer heat, we discovered a whole new world opened to us, Unique Uniqlo stores, a wealth of well-priced Vintage (Furugi - Japanese for Old Clothes ) stores across the City, and found out first-hand why the Japanese people are revered worldwide for their consideration & politeness. Oh, and also, we thoroughly enjoyed every Konbini ( Convenience store ) for their respite from the heat and their wares.
Hotel Torifito Hakata Gion - We stayed at Hotel Torifito, and whilst it was our first Japanese Hotel experience, read ‘compact’, the room was spotless, the hotel was well laid out with all the necessary amenities provided. We had no need for anything within our room, but we did want the space that we had become accustomed to in hotel rooms in China and South Africa.
Although it only takes a mere short ride on a thought train to begin understanding clearly why Japanese hotels are known for being compact, Japan is a relatively tiny collection of Volcanic islands with a massive population, so they naturally face a significant space issue. In contrast, China & South Africa, whilst vastly different, don’t have as much of an issue with finding extra space.
Fukuoka was a pleasant awakening for us, we began our YouTube adventures there, it was our first foray into Japan, and it shocked us to the depths and beauty that lay slightly further down the way from the likes of Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka, and the usual Japanese tourist hotspots.
It woke us up to the pleasure of spontaneity and new discoveries, and it ignited a stronger flame within us for the intrinsic value that travel provides to humanity.
Thank you, Fukuoka, you are the phoenix that brought us to new realizations and spurred us to keep seeking more.
