Nicocosity

To be completely honest, I think culture-wise, our 2nd day or 1st full day in Fukuoka has been the most productive day we had during our trip in Japan. During this day, we have been to temples, a park, a heavenly place, a couple of malls, a couple of questionable places, and a sensory overload haven!

Yes, and of course I'm pretty sure we have had more steps than indicated.

As I have previously blogged, we booked for an AirBnB experience Temple tour around Hakata. It was fun, educational, and made me feel as cultured as a bottle of Yakult.

Ooooh

Since the tour lasted for around 3 hours, by the time it ended we still have a lot of time to waste. Originally, as per our itinerary (which was not followed to a t) we should have lunch then embark on a journey to Ohori park, where we could feed some ducks and just chill ~~before turning my art-obsessed mode on for Yamamoto Bumpodo~~ . But like every thing else in this world, the inevitable change happened- and I'm glad it happened.

After the tour, our newfound friend and co-AirBnB Temple Tour tourist, Zain asked us if we would like to check out the Reclining Buddha. Initially, that wasn't part of our itinerary even for the succeeding days, because I thought it's too far, and I have already seen a reclining Buddha back in Bangkok, so what's the fuzz? Hahaha! But seeing how Imman looks intrigued about it, I gave in, and with that the rest is history.

HAHAHA!

The Reclining Buddha is in Nanzoin which houses a couple of temples and shrines. Nanzoin is in Sasaguri, and coming from Hakata it took us around 20 minutes to get there via the JR train line. The nearest (literally just across the street kind of near) train station is the Kido Nanzoin Mae station which looks like those provincial train stations you get to see in Ghibli movies ♥

Here's a 'map' so you can have an idea how far it is from Hakata station

The fare going to Kido Nanzoin Mae station is 370 yen, or roughly Php 180+.

Going to the temples, you'll pass by this bridge that will make you feel like you're a character from a Ghibli movie!

After passing by the bridge, then a road, you'll see this alley which will lead you to the whole Nanzoin complex.

Origin of the photo here

As you can see in this map, you'll pass by a lot of shrines, and different places that will make you think, "How come every thing I see is beautiful" before you get to see the big reclining Buddha on the topmost part of the complex.

Huji version haha

Normal version lels

Me, after all the ramen.

Upo ng behave

The reclining Buddha of Fukuoka is actually 5 meters shorter than the one in Wat Pho in Thailand. Unlike the one in Thailand, I think this one is made of copper and seems a bit hollow, because we try to knock it lightly, and we hear a faint gong sound. I actually like this one better than the one in Thailand, and I think the main reason is it isn't infested with a lot of rowdy tourists. Here in Nanzoin, you can feel that you are one with the nature, because the place itself is surrounded by lush green trees, and the air is soooo fresh- well, I think the whole of Japan have nicer atmosphere, since they don't have that much pollution unlike in Manila.

After saying our prayers, and checking out every nook of the place, we decided to head over to Ohori park. Going to Ohori park, we returned to Hakata Station, and from there we took the Kuko Line train going to Ohori Koen Park.

Photo c/o Wikipedia

That is the duck situation I was referring to hahaha! Though, there's a 4 seater boat, which is the one we took for a ~~stressful~~ relaxing pedalling through the huge lake. I decided to seat in the back, and let the 2 boys do all the work hahahaha! I remember that day, we saw a man playing with a violin, then an electric guitar, minding his own business- but daaaayum, he's soooo good! We kept on going back to his location to listen to him play, then every after song we burst into a round of applause, which he responded with a gratuitous bow. Oh how I love Japan!

After Ohori park, we dashed going to Yamamoto Bumpodo, which I think was a kilometer or 2 away from Ohori-koen. We walked SOOOO fast (yes, not run haha) in order to make it, since the shop closes at 7pm pronto! For reference on what is this heavenly place I'm talking about, you may click here!

After Yamamoto Bumpodo, the next moments have been pretty much a blur. All I can remember was eating at a yatai with a couple of people from different countries, then a quick trip to the Canal City mall, and capping it all off with some highball at Nakasu. Phewww!

I badly miss Japan! Can't wait to go back sooooooon

Love always,
Nicole <3 p="">

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Hellooooooo friends, and countrymen! These past few days (weeks even), I've been sooooo busy with a lot of stuff, particularly new job, and a couple of travel-related preps. Among the things that have caused me less sleep, and bad nails is this:

Basically, the event serves as an avenue for crafters and artists to showcase their masterpieces for sale! Also, there are a lot of workshops available, so if you are a budding artist as well, you may join and start on your art journey!

As mentioned, my little brand, Class Act will be joining this fun this coming Sept. 22- 23 at the Ayala Vertis North mall! You can definitely expect to see some of these goodies for sale:

Minus the real life macarons, of course =))

I suggest you guys do your christmas shopping there, because rest assured you'll score one-of-a-kind treasures made with love! See you theeeeere!

Love Always,

Nicole

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Do you guys remember the hype when Temple Run was released in mobile phones? Back then, I remember thinking, "Dayuuum, this guy's only problem is that he must not trip nor fall, but endurance-wise, that ain't a concern." Clearly, in real-life even if no monster is chasing you, you've got to have endurance, especially in travelling!

Me and Imman

I have truly tested that need of endurance, and comfy shoes, during our Day 2 of Fukuoka trip, where we had our temple tour via Airbnb Experience!

Originally, we did not intend to take any kinds of tours because of the trouble of going to places with a big group. Sure, being in a tour is convenient, given that you don't have to think much about planning, you just pay, go, and let the tour guide take you to places. However the toiling part of being in a large group in tours is the fact that you have limited power to go to places, since you have to take in consideration where the group goes, and yes that includes multiple bathroom breaks. Also, how are you going to be able to do really quick, but quality-filled OOTDs?

But hey, who are we to say no to free stuff right? So we went ahead and booked for the AirBnB Experience Temple Tour with Anne and Masato HERE

I'm pretty sure you haven't move on yet when you saw the word 'free' 😂 Yes, I'm not kidding, we got this tour for free because of an AirBnB mishap, which I have blogged about, and you can check it HERE. Upon checking with the AirBnB experiences available in Fukuoka, it is definitely limited unlike in big cities in Japan like Osaka or Tokyo, but despite the small numbers of available experiences, they are all definitely interesting. Aside from this temple tour, there's also a kimono rental experience, and even a Japanese calligraphy class! At first, me and Imman were very interested with the calligraphy class, since he thinks this will help me in the further betterment of my 'skillzzz', however being outdoors seem more fun, so we ended up deciding this tour instead.

So, let me tell you how the day- or at least the tour, came to be...

Comfy shoes for a whole day of walking!

HAKATA STATIOOOON!

Love Ko 'To

We left our AirBnB place at around 8:30 am, to make sure that we get enough time to have breakfast somewhere. Since the meeting place for the Temple Tour is in Gion station, we decided to hit off Hakata Bus Terminal and see where can we eat. Supposedly, we intend to have a good start of the day in one of the nice restaurants in Hakata Station, particularly in the ground floor of Kitte OIOI, but unfortunately they open at around 10 am, so we opt for McDonald's instead ☺One nice fact about McDonald's Japan - They can give you the option of side salad, especially if you don't feel like eating mashed potato in the morning, oh and their orange juice really taste like legit orange! In the Philippines, it just taste like sugar water *sad face*.

Peaceful Zen garden

Lush greenery

Those details, tho

Me with one of the many Hakata Gion Yamakasa Floats scattered around the city. This float is carried by men during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival that is held in Fukuoka every July.

The stones used to build this wall came from the original Hakata wall.

A stunning pagoda

The Tocho-ji Temple houses the largest sitting wooden Buddha in all of Japan. This Buddha is also known as Fukuoka Daibutsu, and weighs around 30,000 kilos!

The temple tour is hosted by a couple named Masato and Anne . Masato is Japanese while Anne is Swiss, together they toured me, Imman, and our new friend, Zain, around the temples in Hakata. During the tour, they explained to us the history of the temple, as well as how these places affected the lives of the people of Fukuoka, even this day and age.

One of the notable things I have learned is the origin of the Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival. The Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival happens during July, where groups of men carry these intricately-made floats featuring lots of colorful details, and while doing this they shower the streets with water. The origin of this festival dates back 700 years ago (not joking, it's THAT old). Back then the whole of Hakata was plagued with a disease (imagine something like the Bubonic plague in Europe), then one monk scattered holy water throughout the whole city, and somehow it as if 'sanitized' the whole city, and eventually the plague stopped. From then on, they continued doing this ritual in order to clean the city, and prevent plagues from happening again. Before I used to think that the reason why they do this every year is because it's hot in July, and this festival is probably done to cool the people of Hakata hahaha! Little did I know, the festival has a very old and fascinating origin that will make you go "Ahhh Wow!"

Aside from the history, and fun facts, they also taught us some rituals, like lighting of incense, and cleansing of one's self before going inside a temple. What's so nice about their tour is, aside from learning about the origins of the temples we go to, we also learned a lot of things from them, from culture and even food! Their tour is not limited to visiting temples, because they also took us to food and tea shops, where we met some locals who taught us about traditional Japanese ways, like from the picture below, which shows a traditional Japanese furniture that is used for heating and cooking.

Tita Vibes with all the green tea

Fish Ham is Legit gooooood!

A traditional machine, used for weaving cloth that are usually used in creating Obi belts.

Fun Fact: Despite this being an old Ryokan, don't expect being able to book a room by walk-in only, because all reservations made should be done via online

This AirBnB experience is definitely one for the books, and even if we didn't get the free coupon, we'll definitely still pay for it! Anne and Masato are amazing tour guides, and I definitely urge everyone to book their tour, because it's definitely worth it!

Class picture! HAHA!

Love, Always,

Nicole ♥

P.S.

Yes.

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