Left Busan by Hydrofoil, nice change from a plane but as we cleared the harbour the sea became quite rough and Heather started wondering if the airplane was that bad after all. We stayed in another hostel called &And which was strangely located in the middle of a busy shopping arcade, we found it with the help of google maps and the little blue "walking man", which was quickly becoming our favourite gadget (after working out the local bus and which stop to get off on, and that you pay the fare when leaving). On checking in we were given a welcome drink - Beer (extremely welcome). Great hostel with an attached bar and a lively atmosphere.

The hostel had lots of gadgets that we didn't understand like a little robot in our room, whose eyes started flashing at apparently random times ……Heather became obsessed that he was watching us and listening to our conversations and forced Dan to unplug him and turn him around facing the wall.

Went out on the first night for our first tasting of Japanese food ….. Fukuoka specialise in a certain type of Ramen called Hakata, a soup broth made by boiling down pork bones, thin noodles added with pork and topped with boiled eggs ……. It was really good (much better than it sounds) especially when washed down with ice cold Asahi.

We explored the local area and walked along the canal to canal city shopping centre, past all the typical Fukuoka "yatai" stalls (open air food stalls seating about 10/12 people serving food and beer). We watched the colourful fountain display in the shopping centre before buying a couple of beers in the 7/11 to take back to our hostel.

Fukuoka has an Asahi brewery that was free to visit …… a "no brainer" - The tour was in Japanese but we got the gist of it and Heather had worked for a brewery anyway. The highlight, you guessed it, was the free beer at the end of the tour and we were allowed three generous glasses each but only twenty minutes to drink them ……. We rose to the challenge. After a walk in the local park afterwards, we picked up some sushi (and beer) on the way back and spent the evening socialising with fellow guests from Korea, Taiwan and England.