Fukuoka Tower

Having made it to the hotel the main place of interest that night was the Fukuoka Tower a small metro ride away and quite a lot of us headed out there.

Some seats in the carriages are for people who've eaten too much.

If you're too distracted by your mobile phone you might miss the ninjas.

From the metro station its about a 15 minute walk to the tower. Just head North...

Exactly as you'd think. A cafe for dogs. Only in Japan.

This is the tower, standing 234 metres high took just over a year to build and is the tallest seaside tower in Japan.

Most of the tower is just structure with the only floors with floors being those at the top, two of which are observation platforms.

Due to the amount of glass the tower has the nickname of "The Mirror Sail". The reflective surfaces were being put to good use by the local street dance crews. Saves paying for a studio I guess.

Random statue outside the tower.

Some views over Fukuoka from the top. The windows made it hard to get any decent photos, reflections of the observation tower getting into the shots.

Having gatecrashed the second observation floor and realising it was the dating floor full of couples we made our excuses and left heading into Fukuoka for something to eat.

We ended up in Canal City (an entertainment and dining district) just as places were closing and we were unfortunate to not get to eat here. Part of the problem was compounded by us being in a large group and not being able to please everyone.

A few of us ended up eating in a small noodle bar where you order your meal from a vending machine and then hand the ticket it produces to the chefs who cook it.

The sort of art a school kid could come up with.

Fukuoka City Walk

Myself, Jeppe and David were out once again for another morning walk. This time the plan was to walk to a nearby park with a large buddha statue on it.

Walking alongside the Naka river. Soon after this pic got taken I got to speak my first Japanese of the trip by stopping a business man, pointing to a map and asking "Sumimasen. Koko wa doko desu ka" roughly translated as "Excuse me, where are we?". We weren't totally lost, just wanting to clarify our precise location as the overpasses were confusing our map reading :) He understood what I meant and we were soon back on our way.

This was the Buddha statue I was looking for. It was in use with a number of men walking laps around and clapping.

Another statue close by. This had a couple of men sitting on a bench beneath it who were wanting to pose for our cameras.

Suspicious looking plants. :)

We could hear drums and chanting from this building and from a quick peek through a window we could see that an early morning service taking place.

Having walked out we decided to take the first metro back, and as David hadn't gone to the tower the night previous we agreed we'd take him. The logos beside each station make it easy for the school kids to know where to leave the train. A nice idea but one that would only work on small networks.

I have absolutely no idea what this is advertising but I think the woman is using the guy for his boat. I don't think there's genuine interest there. Or perhaps I'm reading too much into it :)

Beware those pesky ninjas and their roaming right hands.

Bad ass moth on the floor of the metro subway.

Dinky van parking solution en route to the tower.

Paving stones showing the route to the tower, completely overlooked on the walk the night before.

Morning shots of the tower.

Crab sculpture.

Back at our hotel, the Miyako.