August 21, 2009
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Japan (Day 9): a little luxury
Now to start the vacation-within-a-vacation: the next day, L and I went down to Kyushu for a few days’ sightseeing. Starting with…
Date: July 5th
Location: Fukuoka
Brought to you by Grand Hyatt FukuokaSunday morning, I took the train from Kyoto down to Hakata station (end of the line in Fukuoka). (L took a flight, so we met up at the station.) For my first time in Kyushu, I was pretty impressed with how great the scenery all around looked.
Around this time, by the way, people were preparing for Gion Matsuri. So you’d see a lot of floats on display in a few places–the one to the right was immediately outside Hakata station.
Anyway, L and I met up at the station. (Which was easier to do without a cellphone than you’d think–I just said “pick someplace that looks like a meeting spot” and we found one another within five minutes of my arrival.) Then it was off to the hotel…
On the recommendation of my other friend L in Tokyo, and since I’d be splitting the cost with someone else, I opted for a little luxury on this leg of the trip and stayed at the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka in the middle of Canal City. I’ll say, this was definitely the right choice. I mean, check out just the lobby alone, and the view from the window:
Besides that, the room itself was equally luxurious, just like you’d expect a five-star in Vegas to be (actually, except for the smaller size, it was as good if not better than the room I had at Caesar’s Palace last year).
The best thing yet, though, was the location. Canal City is this rather trendy shopping district. And, even though I’m not much for shopping, just the atmosphere of the place made it a lot of fun to simply wander around in. Here’s a shot of one end:
Oh! And a funny thing happened later that day. While going towards the Book-Off downtown, we passed by some folks with the Happiness Realization Party, complete with their party wagon and loudspeakers. They even handed us a flyer, promising to abolish the value-added tax and prevent incoming missiles from North Korea. It’s not a bad platform if you ignore, say, the hyperbolic fearmongering in their commercials.
Anyway, that ends this little bit of luxury. The next day we would be on our way to Nagasaki. KF
