One of the Best FOOD Trips Ever in FUKUOKA

I’ve actually been to Fukuoka before a couple years ago, but during that time we joined a tour group that brought us to these horrendous restaurants.  I didn’t write much, but there are a couple of photos you can see at Fukuoka, Aso, and Sea Hell in Beppu.  During that trip, we focused more on the southern parts of Fukuoka.  As such, this time we focused more on the northern side of Fukuoka.

Anyway, the tour guide trip we were on brought us to these ridiculously atrocious restaurants.  In fact, some of these restaurants were overcharging, with the help of the tour guide, who managed to convince us to HAVE to try this Kinki fish for USD 250 that turned out to be undercooked, with lots of bones, and not delicious at all.

That trip, I had an incredibly poor impression of the food in Fukuoka.

THIS time, since we planned and managed the trip ourselves, the food experience was the opposite of what I had compared to my first trip in Fukuoka, in that we had extraordinary food experiences, from sitting near the seaside BBQing raw oysters to eating traditional and sumptuous traditional Japanese traditional cuisine.  I dare say this was one of THE best food experiences I’ve ever had, and I’m about to share with you some of the restaurants we went to.  What a difference planning a trip by yourselves and joining a tour group makes.  I’ve always been AGAINST joining tour groups, as you can manage your time however you want if you’re going by yourself and you can plan the restaurants YOU want to go to rather than being brought to tourist restaurants where the tour agency probably gets a cut or commission from bringing us there.

For things to do, you can read about my blog post Shrines and Limestones, Fukuoka and North.

Continue reading One of the Best FOOD Trips Ever in FUKUOKA

Tokyo Is Like A Bento Box

You read that right, Tokyo is like a bento box.  A perfect metaphor as I sat watching my friend struggle to think of a way to eat his bento box… without a spoon.  You’d expect a bento box bought in Family Mart to come with a spoon somewhere in the packaging, but actually you would need to get the spoon individually.  I guess he didn’t double check as we were rushing to take the train to Shinjuku from the airport… trains in Japan are never early, never late, always punctual, and so we wanted to be at least 2 minutes early to the platform. Continue reading Tokyo Is Like A Bento Box

A Vibrant Energy In Osaka

Prior to this trip, people told me that a few days in Osaka would be sufficient.  As a tourist after visiting the city, I’d agree.  Osaka isn’t really a boring city.  I am sure if I lived there, I would have fun there.  It also gives off a fun, youthful, and vibrant culture to it.  Not to mention there is a lot of shopping and good food there.

But Osaka is like any other city with its own foods and shopping.  However as a tourist, you would definitely have enough time to visit all the important attractions within 3 days.  Mind you, I was there for about 2.5 days… but from my research online and from my guidebook, I felt I have covered the major attractions that I had to see.

And Osaka is a convenient stop for you to travel to other major parts of Japan – Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe to name a few.  And the nightlife there seems to be pretty happening on any given weekday. Continue reading A Vibrant Energy In Osaka

Let’s Drive: Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Gotemba (Japan Part One)

This is a series of four blog posts because of the number of different places I went to for my Japan trip, and I want each post short enough to keep you from getting bored but long enough to provide you as many details as I could.

This first post will focus on the western parts beyond Tokyo – Izu Peninsula, Hakone, and Gotemba.  The second part will focus on Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, especially focus on Mt. Fuji since I feel it deserves a more special post.  The third part will focus on Nagoya, and the fourth post will focus on Tokyo.  The Gotemba was mainly going to the Gotemba Premium Outlets, and we actually went on two separate days.  So it was outlets, Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes, then a revisit to Gotemba again. Continue reading Let’s Drive: Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Gotemba (Japan Part One)