Japan - Day 30

So today I bought myself a brand new shiny digital camera :) I haven't exactly figured out all its features yet - but I have been able to set it to the English menu. (Progress people, it's all the about the progress - slow baby steps here). I bought my new toy in Fukuoka where Amy and I decided to go on our day off this week. Fukuoka is the city which we were originally told we'd be living in - it's the biggest city on Kyushu with 1.4 million people or so. Definitely nothing compared to Tokyo! It's a nice, relaxing, 2 hour bus ride away. (Note: slight sarcasm). To be fair, the bus ride *there* wasn't so bad. It was actually fairly spacious. On the way back however, it was an entirely different story! The seats were so small, it made the 2 hours feel more like 12! Plus it was brutally hot! At least the bus is cheap ($40 roundtrip).

We were told that the Tenjin area of Fukuoka was an amazing shopping district - but I have to say, I was a little disappointed. Sure there were plenty of stores, but they didn't seem... "special". Haha. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I guess just something different. Maybe we just weren't looking in the right area? ...After wandering around for a while we caught a bus and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Yes we try to soak up as much Japanese culture as we can get here! ;) The Hard Rock Cafe in Fukuoka is pretty much the same as the one in Toronto, and Orlando, and probably every other one around the world. We both ordered steaks and a drink... It was definitely the most expensive meal I've had in a while! But I guess it was worth it - not having a BBQ n' all. The food was alright, but nothing spectacular. Amy pointed out that our tacos last week were probably better. (That's not to say that the steaks were horrible, just that the tacos were pretty damn good! LOL).

I don't have anything else lined up for this week aside from going back to work tomorrow. Next week I might try to get to a language class on Tuesday morning but other than that I don't have anything planned for my days off... I'm sure something will come up though - maybe a trip further south down the island might be in order? I remember reading about a Venice-like gondola area somewhere around here...? I'll keep you posted!

For the record; I haven't figured out how/if I can post any pictures on this site or not. I'll keep working on it though. I might end up having to post them elsewhere...?