So I haven't blogged again in a while. Sorry about that!
Fukuoka!
I used Fukuoka as a stop over point. For some reason it was cheaper than flying to Nagasaki. The hostel I stayed in was very quiet. People didn't really talk to each other. The rooms had beds of 10, and they were like pods. You had you're own curtain and such which I found that although it's nice to have your own space, it stops people from interacting very much.
I didn't really have any plans for Fukuoka, but I did need some new shoes as the ones I had were worn out pretty bad so I just headed to this shopping area. But what did I find? Why! Only an Owl Cafe!
It was pretty fun. Of course everything he said was in Japanese so no idea what he said about them. They had quite a range of owls, including a snowy owl which looked like it had the IQ of 1. They had big ones and medium ones and little ones and ones that were so small and fluffy I thought they were toys. You could pet them and hold them. The little and medium ones could be put on your shoulder or head - which I was the first to do then others started following suit. It was good fun :)
But I came out starving since it was now half 1 and I hadn't eaten since 8. So I just walked into the noodle restaurant opposite the cafe as I saw they did Udon noodles (Fukuoka specialty). And oh my word it was so good. Mine had deep fried shrimp in it amongst different vegetables and it was delicious.
After I stuffed my face I went on a shoe hunt. I managed to find this place that was like the equivalent of Primark and they had some decent shoes so I got them. I had also been keeping an eye out for underwear, and out of the 180 shops on the strip, nowhere sold them. They would have socks and stuff, but no underwear.
Then I found out why when I was in the Primark shop..a girl of about 14 was looking at them when I realised there was a man (about 40) watching her. Just stood there watching. Creepy. Then it got worse. He went over to the young girl and the only world I could pick up was 'buy' and then he pointed at some rather lacy and small underwear and this poor girl looked so creeped out. So I coughed loudly and he turned around. I gave him a look and he scampered off. The girl came over to me and thanked me profusely. And that's why places don't sell underwear!
After that I just took my time walking back and stumbled across a lovely shrine with statues and a big bell and some beautiful red gates with cherry blossom around them.
Once I finished looking there and chilling I headed back to the hostel. Then the next day was onto Beppu!