Fukuoka

So, today was actually my first day in Japan. At first the city did no surprise me that much. It was like any other city. But it's some small things that really are different from around here. Like crossing a street. You'd just stand there at a zebra crossing and somewhere on the far end of the street is a traffic light. And it's counting down, without having to press a button. We actually were surprised when we found a crossing that required us to press a button. 
In the morning I just went for a walk with a few people from our tour group. There were actually a few younger people on this trip; I expected I was the only one really. Or come to think of it, I think I did see some people added to the group a tad later, a few years younger than me. So naturally I sought them out. Not too hard to spot amongst a group of mainly old people. (If you are reading this, I'm sorry for calling you old). One of the younger dudes was wearing a Sabaton shirt, we bonded fairly quickly ;)
anyway, so we went 'solo' with this group of younger people, and a dad. And we took the subway to the next stop. Oh! Subway! Subways here are way better than in the Netherlands. There's this card, for which you need a deposit of 500 yen. Deposit meaning, you can get the money back later. And you'll put money on it and you can check in, and out, just like in the Netherlands, with the addition.. you can also use it on vending machines and such! Plus, the subways are really cheap in comparison. Also, they are always on time. You can check your watch, rather than the signs, to know whether you're at the right stop. Took a wrong train? No worries, another one will pass by in about three minutes. 
Mind = blown.
anyway, we got off at the next stop and started walking around, I saw my first temple, where I actually already took a lot of photos, but might not upload those as they are shitty. The temple, or shrine actually, wasn't that special. It's just that it was my first one.

Later we arrived at this park. Quite a big park, thing is, it was too early. It was really set up for the cherry blossom trees, but they weren't blooming yet.. Still we walked around for quite a while and eventually got back to the hotel in time for the trip to Daizaihu Shrine; the most popular shrine of Fukuoka. There we learned how to rinse ourselves before entry and how to pray at a shrine. I also bought a piece of fortune, mine was "small luck". Not too bad, considering I'm small. I thought it fits me, so I was happy. Ayako told us, that when she got some "bad luck", she'd fold it onto these bars behind it and buy another one. So apparently, money can  buy happiness.
So, about the rinsing, it's not like you're taking a shower or anything. It's just to clean your hands and mouth with water. And the praying, it requires a small coin, preferably a 5yen coin. bowing, clapping your hands twice, pray and bow again.

In the afternoon, we walked around a bit, saw some smaller shrine and a pathway full of torii gates, but nothing really worth talking about. Except maybe one thing. I got some tea out of a vending machine. Hot tea. Awesome.

In the evening, still hadn't started my habit of taking pictures of food, but I can say though: it was really good. Another great thing about Japanese restaurants, and they really should start doing this in the Netherlands as well, is a little buzzer, or bell, at each table. Whenever you want to order anything, or ask for that matter, you just push this button and a waiter will be at your table only seconds after.

After the food, me and the Sabaton guy went to a hardrock cafe. I don't know when I decided I wanted to go to every hardrock cafe in Japan, I think it was before my trip, but anyway, this was the first. We drank our first Japanese beers and eventually I wanted to go buy some shirt. Wasn't really used to the yen to euro conversion, so when I bought some hardrock merchandise I thought I had struck a bargain. Nope. Expensive as hell.