Fukouka and Beppu

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Sharon and I have just returned from a last-minute decision to relax in Japan for a few days. 3 nights/4 days was not nearly enough, of course, but it was refreshing to get out of Taiwan for a bit.

Literally from the moment I stepped onto the jet bridge (the thing that connects the aircraft to the gate -I had to look it up on Wikipedia) I was floored with warm feelings of contentment; indeed, my every pore oozed with happiness and warmth as I knew we were to spend a few days in The Land of the Rising Sun. There are 3 countries which always give me that feeling: Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan. I will visit these countries for the rest of my life. I love them.

Here are some pix from the short but sweet Fukouka and Beppu trip on Kyushu Island, Japan.

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Photos

famous noodles
This is supposed to be Fukouka's best ramen noodle (not to be confused with the cheap instant noodles sold in the States) vendor. We went back a second time after Beppu

The Sonic Express
Fast, cushy train that spirited us from Fukouka to Beppu, Kyushu Island.

before our "onsen" bath
We stayed at a place called the Nagami Honkan "onsen" (hot spring) guest house. Traditional style rooms, Japanese breakfast, 2 one-hour slots in our choice of 3 private onsen baths. This was just before our first.

Blue hell
That's not really the name of the bubbling blue pool. Jigoku means "hell" in Japanese. It's one of the 8 "hells" in the Beppu hills.

Going to the foot-steamer
Sharon preparing to give her feet a roasting

tasting the hell water
They dilute it a bit, I'm sure, but it had a molten, volcanic taste to it...

bubbling mud nipple
...I don't know what else to call it. (They call it something like "earth hell"

foot cooking bath
yet another place to warm your feet -and squeeze some lemon over your toes for good measure

Sharon getting directions
practicing her Japanese, which is...developing...

...
I'm really not sure what these dolls represent, but there were a lot of different sets of them, all dressed up differently, lining the inner wall of the temple compound

spice truck
...maybe

don't know what this is either
sorry, no information to give. just having a good time, not thinking, researching, inquiring at all

Japanese construction
This photo is for those who live in or have visited Taiwan. How vastly different does this site appear than the hideous, cacophonous, dust and pollution-spewing train wrecks that are Taiwan building sites? Taiwan (ROC): Republic of Construction. The Japanese actually took the time here in downtown Fukouka to drape the building in a stylish blue netting to minimize particulate pollution and injury, to keep in dust, and not be an eyesore. Taiwan ought to learn from their northern neighbors...

neat, orderly, eco-like construction
...once again, a model Japanese construction site. They erect an not unpleasant green barrier fence; the Taiwanese would've used a couple of dirty orange traffic cones shackled together with some plastic tape, which would be virtually ineffective for keeping out children or stray bicycles. Not in Japan!