Day 5 Getting around Hakata

Mrs. Ponira and Mrs. Muta holding a snack from Indonesia

It was a sunny morning as woke up, then i went to the studio Kura to do my work. Inside i met with Alejandro who works for Studio Kura, was giving lesson about programming to a boy, so later on he can create and modify computer game like Minecraft. The boy's mother, Mrs. Muta Hitomi was waiting for his son at the studio, later on she introduced me to her friend Mrs. Ponira who originally from Sumatera - Indonesia just like me.  So happy to meet fellow Indonesian here, guess we are living in a small world after all! She told me that she have settled here and lived in Japan for 17 years, now that explains how did she got her nice Japanese accent.

So after a nice chat with Mrs. Ponira and Mrs. Muta, i left the studio and head on to city Hakata, i was curious to see how Hakata really looks like and went to grab a lunch as well. It took around 45 minutes from JR Ikisan station to Hakata station which cost you around 610 JPY. Some trains go straight to Fukuoka airport but sometimes you have to make a transit at Chikuzen Maebaru then change trains towards the Fukuoka airport station. Hakata station is the biggest station in Fukuoka and it's also known where most of the main railways in Kyushu island are located. There are some shopping malls connected with the Hakata station just above it, but inside the station they have many stores as well. Shinkansen or "The Bullet Train" that not only connects most cities from north to south of Kyushu, but also between East and west of Japan as well. Buses around Hakata and Tenjin area cost 100 JPY. Outside that area, prices go up slightly to about ¥440 for greater distances. 

Shoppes that sells Bento or meal boxes and souvenirs

My lunch at Ringer Hut Hakata

There is a tourist visitor information in Hakata station that will help you in case you got lost or any questions regarding getting around Hakata or Fukuoka as well. I was actually have a plan to visit Tokyo on next week for an appointment with a studio called Welz animation. First, i need to make sure how long will it take and how much is the cost if get the Shinkansen Nozomi to Tokyo. If you are planning to take Shinkansen they havea Japan Rail Pass which you can use unlimited for 5 days. However, if you have a Japan Rail Pass, you cannot use the Nozomi, so if you are traveling from Tokyo or Nagoya you will have to take one of the two hourly Hikari trains from Tokyo and change at Shin-Osaka (alternatives are Shin-Kobe, Okayama, and sometimes Himeji) to a Sakura service. Travel time from Tokyo to Fukuoka using these trains might took about 6 hours. So my survey is done, now it's time to confirm with the studio at Tokyo then confirm the date!

Sometimes you still can find women wearing Kimono