Fukuoka, Japan

February 17-19, 2017

This weekend I got to go to Fukuoka to see Caoliang for the first time since he moved there. I had yet to visit this city so was happy I got to travel to a different city in Japan. I didn't really know much about Fukuoka before going and didn't do much research prior either. Caoliang said he wanted to checkout Dazaifu which was a little bit outside of the city, so trusted him on this plan.

I flew into Fukuoka Friday evening. It was a mission just getting there from leaving work early, to catching the right trains, to getting on the flight and the whole reverse order when arriving. I was really happy to see Caoliang though. This is probably the longest amount of time we've been apart since getting together. Yes three weeks may not seem like a long time but when you're away from a person you constantly long for, it is very long. Anyways, enough with the mushy stuff. It was really nice to see him again and just getting that first hug made the whole mission to get there worth it.

Saturday was when we went to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine. The train from the main station took only about twenty minutes so it actually wasn't that bad. The shrine is popular for those who are studying something or would like good luck in learning something new. We saw many students as well as tourists there. Lucky for us too, the cherry blossoms were starting to blossom!

If you know anything about Japan, it's the cherry blossom season is one of the most beautiful times of the year! Starbucks also recently released their cherry blossom flavors as well as many convenient stores with their shelves newly adorned with sakura flavored drinks and snacks.

I'm not too big on shrines and temples so after having a simple look, we walked around the area to snap some photos.

When looking on the map, it had shown some other temples not too far away. We decided to go check them out. We were looking for Kaidan-in temple and when we found it, it was really empty and looked nearly deserted. The area around it looked like it hadn't been kept up with in a while and even the museum next door looked dead. The most interesting thing we did here was film a few backflips for Caoliang's project.

The rest of the weekend in Fukuoka was really short. I flew out Sunday afternoon so there wasn't much time to see much else of the city. Unfortunately I don't think I'll have the chance to visit Caoliang or Fukuoka again being that it can get a little pricey and time isn't so ample.

Last week of February everyone! It's crazy how time really does fly by. Just a few more weeks at work and then it's on to the next thing! As always, thanks for reading and staying in touch!



xx
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