I think we took a bus down from Osaka to Fukuoka using our Willer Express tickets. It might have been an overnight bus but my memory is slightly fuzzy about the details now.
Anyway, on our first morning we decided to check out Canal City which is a huge shopping mall in Fukuoka - they also have a ramen food court where there are a few stalls of ramen gathered in the one spot and you can choose which one you want to try. Obviously we wanted to try real Hakata ramen so we went for the one with the sign that had Hakata Tonkotsu ramen on it. Post on the ramen coming soon!
After our brunch, we walked a little around the shopping centre but then moved on to go to the observatory. The observatory was a bit of a trek to get to and signs weren't always very obvious but we found it in the end and walked up to a small parking area with lots of sakura trees. I hadn't realised that there were so many varieties of sakura around!
Spring was pretty much in full bloom when we were there - the weather was warmer than Osaka and most of the Yoshino sakura had finished blooming already.
Dinner that night was in an Okinawan restaurant - although we didn't realise it when we went in until the waiter told us I think >.<
Next day we went to have mizutaki (chicken and vegetable hotpot) for lunch - the backpackers we were staying at had a map of places to go eat so we decided on Hanamidori. Again - food review to come soon.
Here is my entirely satisfied face after lunch!
After lunch, we took the tram to explore the small market area/shopping district where we stumbled across Amaou strawberries - they're the strawberries that are most well known in Fukuoka - very big and sweet.
We then set off to check out Fukuoka castle - or what's left of it.. Fukuoka castle wasn't as well preserved as some of the other Japanese castles and there were only bits and pieces left.
One of the oldest remaining towers of the castle~
Ohori park which is just next to the castle was our next stop. Caught the sunset there - really pretty with the sun setting over the lake~
And the last touristy spot of the day was Fukuoka tower as I wanted to see the night view with the lights. There weren't many people around when we arrived and we spent a short while there resting and enjoying the view. By that time I was pretty exhausted already - it had been a long day and we hadn't had dinner yet!
Dinner for the night was... yes! Ramen again! This time we went for the roadside ramen stalls that Fukuoka is famous for - the yatai. MF chose a stall and we just went in.
Till next time...