Our port of call for today was Fukuoka, Japan, and our final stop while in this country. Actually, we had arrived early last night, and the ship was docked by 10pm. We were not allowed to get off, since the ship had not been cleared by the local officials. Just as well as it looked like it rained most of the night. Before we turned in for the evening, we checked outside our veranda door, and saw the waterfront all lit up and decided to snap a few pictures since we would not see this during the day. It was very striking with the tower all lit up.
The weather was not the best today. The skies were very overcast and there was a 99% chance of rain. Not a problem….we shall simply pack the umbrellas and wear our waterproof jackets. After a warm breakfast, we worked on photos from yesterday to keep up with the reports. We had a message from the front desk that they needed our Chinese visas to be copied for immigrations in China. Our current visas are in our expired passports, so we had to bring them down to be documented. This should have taken place when we boarded in Ft. Lauderdale, but for some reason Maja said we could do it later. By later, that meant now. As long as we were doing the Chinese check, we also brought the Sri Lanka visa papers we brought with us from home. Copies were made and all was OK now. The originals were handed back.
We left the ship after 10am. We were having more fun trying to get photos of what appeared to be hawks of some kind flying around the top of the ship. Counting about eight of the large birds, we did some research and discovered they were Japanese golden eagles. They worked the skies all morning much the way the ravens and other birds of prey will do. The only other birds we saw on our way to the Bayside Place were a pair of white wagtails. Of course there were seagulls, crows and cormorants but not in large numbers.
There were three tours today that included more shrines, temples, Fukuoka Tower, Tenjin for shopping, and a folk museum. They ran from $105 to $110 for 3 to 5 hours. All aboard was 3:30pm today and it would be more complicated with this being the last Japanese port. But more about that later.
Kimberly delivered her talk on this city yesterday, so we did get a few facts. It is really a combination of two cities….Fukuoka and Hakata. Located 480 nautical miles from Kobe, it is one of the most populous cities on this southernmost island. There are 10,000 years of history here that survived on rice farming and fishing. Ramen noodles were created in this area with a creamy soup with pork added.
Two million visitors come here every year to witness major festivals. The Hakata Gion Yamakasa Festival is for the men, while the girl's event in May is called the Hakata Dontaka Festival. Several sights can be reached on foot, but many of them are located further away. There is a good underground metro as well as trains and buses. By the way, there was no shuttle provided today, and we heard that made the guests a bit disappointed during the talk yesterday. Taking taxis were suggested. And of course, there were always the ship's excursions to book.
We were not docked in the International Terminal, but at a smaller facility right next to it. Before we left the building, there was a table set up with maps and two local ladies giving directions….in English. They mapped out a self- walking tour we could do on our own. Then we ran into Suzanne who was on her way back already. She also pointed out the way towards town.
The walk would take us to wide open spaces surrounding the smaller harbor. We spotted an orange object on the end of the walkway and checked it out. It was a memorial to the WWII victims that were displaced during the war. Hundreds of thousands of locals were transported to China and Korea at that time. Many years later, some of them returned to their homeland, helping to rebuild the city bigger and better.
We zeroed in on the Bayside Place located across the harbor from the pier. This small harbor has the terminals for the local ferries that operate to the local islands as well as Korea. The Hakata Port Tower was the one we could see from our veranda last night. On the top is the radio station for ships. On the bottom level of this tower is a museum that displays the history and the usefulness of the shipping traffic. It is set up to appeal to the younger crowd, but also to tourists like us. Not sure if it was opened to us, one of the workers welcomed us inside. Another lady invited us to take the elevator to the top to check out the 360 degree view. So we did and glad we did it. The only thing that would have made it perfect would be if the sun was out and the rain stopped. It was more of a misty shower that tended to cloud the photos again. More and more locals were coming up and we knew it would be crowded, so we went back down. We toured the little museum then before we left, another nice lady came over and handed us a brochure on this tower and museum. On the back page, she placed two large ink stamps of the city where it was written "stamp here for memory". What a welcome for us strangers.
One of the main building here housed a central aquarium which was filled with many types of fish. Most of them were tropical varieties, but there were also huge turtles, nurse sharks, and colorful reef fish. This cylindrical tank was three stories tall. We sure never expected to see this here. Then we passed by some shops and got lucky with a purchase of a cashmere shawl to replace the one that blew away. We still had some Japanese yen to spend, and this was a good way to do it. Exploring this three story building at the base of the tower, we discovered the top floor was for little kids as there was an indoor playground for them. Nice restrooms were there too, and one of us discovered that the seats of the commodes were heated. They are also automatic with bidets and auto flush. Way better than the expected hole in the floor, which we are sure we will find while in China.
Back on the second floor we saw a patio that surrounded the outside shops. From there we could see a huge water stadium. Reading the map later in or room, we learned that this was called the Boat Race Fukuoka. The spectators pay 100 yen to enter, then place bets on the six speed boats that race around the stadium. It is a 600 meter course and a fun way for people to gamble.
We had hoped to find a suitable place to eat lunch, but the closest we could find was a cafeteria-style restaurant. There were a few bars but they would not open until this evening. There was Family Mart, which is the equivalent to our 7-11's. We still had a handful of coins to spend, so we tried the small grocery store and bought some KitKat bars and more bags of popcorn. It was starting to rain harder now, so we headed back to the terminal.
Anyone arriving back to the terminal from 12pm to 3:30pm would need to be seen by the immigration officials for a mandatory inspection. Our room keys were scanned first, then we each went to an official who scanned our passports and placed an exit sticker next to the entrance sticker we got several days ago. Once this was done, our room keys were stickered with a new black one to indicate we had passed this inspection. Finally, our current and expired passports with the Chinese visas were turned over to the front desk people where they were banded together. They will be kept for the Chinese officials to clear us tomorrow we assume. Once we completed this checkpoint, we were not allowed to leave the ship. We had taken our hike and did what was required and were back onboard by 2pm.
Lunch was a Cobb salad, beef panini and a club sandwich. Fresh apple slices were our dessert along with some chocolate-covered almonds from Kobe. Sometime around 3pm, Kimberly announced for everyone to appear at the customs check or else we would not be able to leave on time. The second announcement must have worked since we were ready to leave after 3:30pm. Captain Frank gave his departure talk at 4:30pm, and explained we were waiting on the pilot. We will be heading into open waters on our way to Shanghai, China and we could expect 35 mph winds as well as a 10 to 12 foot swell. It wasn't long after we left the shelter of the bay that we felt the swells. Showers clouded our exit from the harbor, and we could barely see the tall port tower as we left.
Dinner was good with a few items created by the guest chef who is from China. We tried the sesame seeded chicken appetizers with a sweet and sour sauce. Very tasty. Salads came next, then we ordered one kalbi beef entrée and one vegetarian plate of broccoli and vermicelli noodles seasoned with Sichuan sauce. Very good, we were assured there was not a drop of oyster or clam juice added to it. Dessert was carrot cake for both of us with a little vanilla ice cream on the side.
The clocks went back tonight which was appreciated by all. We will be on Beijing time now and it should stay the same until we leave China. Looking forward to a day at sea.
Bill & Mary Ann
