foukoka, japan

had my visa re-issued outside of korea last weekend. meaning i got to travel to foukoka, japan on the school's dollar. they even paid for my meals! i didn't do much besides walk around. i tried to get some manga things, but found it nearly impossible, and when found, extremely expensive. so i enjoyed all the hello kitty stores, expensive fashion stores, great street food, and all the walking.

a fairly grey arrival day, but all i had to do was drop off paper work 

so many options | so often

 i didn't realize how much i missed obnoxious subway advertisements 

(like the ones i used to see in china)

till i saw this one. they claim 100+ individual variations... meh

men only. kthx.

edema-me, cucumber, delish japanese chicken salad and tea started off my night of ridiculous eating extravagance

the advert i sat next to without noticing till i got up.. giggle

mmmmm... rainbow mountain blend

this octopus fried yummy-ness was a good snack

till i found the most amazing pork ramen ever. hands down.

i even signed my name here... in korean: 첼 세 아 [chel-se-a]

the street my ramen came from

7-11 | seven and holdings | japan

why, hello Colonel

i see these in seoul a lot too, but i saw it way more in japan... this i got to see in action too.

~  ~  ~

so my evening in a nut shell pretty much was me walking around goofing off with my camera and stuffing my face! i had to be back the consulate office bright and early so i headed back to sun life 2.3 early in the evening and decided i would walk past a few shrines and temples on my way to the consulate for my passport.

please call me here

 

i now know why my dad said they eat crow on sticks... they are massive

if i could choose where to live in japan... i think it would be something similar to this.. or a super high rise, i can't decide

terraced acros building... you can walk through the terraces to, that was nice, they had water falls

of course there were arcades, on nearly every street corner, this one had a space invader though

smoking and walking | it does nothing for you, so don't do it in foukoka

huge carp in a lake with no fishing... oh my 

and please at the end of your journey rest your weary feet on a friendly mini yak foot-stool

thx.

lantern festival 2010

so sunday was an enthralling day. the evening before i had just come from across town, only to discover that the lantern festival and parade were back in the same area the next day! oh well. what fun! i had a good time going back out to the area, this time i took the subway both ways and got a lot of reading done in the mean time (working on Bram Stoker's Dracula). in its entirety it was a great time. i'm glad i took the time again to go out there in the day and then stay through the evening! it was so awesome to see all the lights, lanterns and buddhist tradition. it's essentially the beginning of a celebration for buddha's birthday, celebrating the joy of the world and the hopes for good happenings and good people for the year(s) to come. it was fun to enjoy... check it:

monk action figures? not sure where they were going with this

the lantern canopy at the hosting temple

the hanging tags have well wishes for the future on them (for a 100,000won donation each?!)

the golden buddha was inside the temple, and the lanterns and tree outside... reflection pictures... hur

monks, just havin' a good time

serious sand art

sugar gliders!! we learned about these adorable marsupials in english class a few days after i saw one, i thought it was a baby lemure... gahhh so cute!

so after wandering around the festival area in Insadong, the parade started around 7:30 in dongdaemun, however just so you know it was a 3 hour long precession that didn't get to my area of town until about 8:30, so I caught myself a front row seat with some adorable 3rd graders and we talked about our favorite lanterns until the first monks carrying lanterns started to appear... it was all downhill from there. monks, teens, children, agimas and just about anyone who wanted to carry a lantern to the temple got to. and it got extravagant!

i really still am not really sure about this float lantern.

 the girls saying goodbye...

i left a few floats after the girls did, realizing that there was really never going to be an end to the procession of lanterns. so i picked my way back to the temple to see the festivities there, and view the magnitude of the lantern canopy all lit up. beautiful, even now to think about it.

i acquired those lanterns from this very happy lady who greeted and hugged me

korea

namdaemun... and what's this a historical landmark?

it was a saturday, no one was really answering their phones, language class was usually from 10-12 but it was off for the end of semester and i had no idea what to do with my morning. wow! how lazy is that of me to not throw something together fast and go do something. i felt pretty bad about that so i woke myself up out of bed and surfed the net for some things to do on the other side of the city. i heard about a few markets that sounded interesting to go to, so it looked like my morning was one of exploration.
i arrived at the market fairly early and got a lot of my orientation done before it got especially crowded later in the day
and later, i wasn't even prepared for the random historical land mark gate of dongdaemun to come out of nowheres while i was walking around. all i did was walk, well, i did take the subway out to that side of town, but i followed it above ground all the way back home... which was probably one of the most diverse walks i've been on yet!!

there are malls |  children running around everywhere, often without parents | and then of course stall shopping

basket

barter for your pots and pans

buy your foods and roasted silk worms here as well

herbals and ginger

after the market rounds, walking around that area of town was a must, so many fun things to see and look at!

awwwwwww...

they're to cute, i can't help it. 

i said to her - "rockin' socks, kid".

yes, i was there. there are never many pictures of me.

this is next to the dongdaemun station. i didn't start my walk home till after this picture