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Published: February 20th 2009
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Well today was definitely more relaxing. Like I said yesterday I went to the big shopping centre here in the city today and it was unreal, you should have seen it! I slept in which was a good start to a relaxing day, just what I needed and had a late breakfast then took my time getting ready to go out, it was nice to do that for a change because I'm usually rushing around packing everything in my bag before check-out time or I have an early train or bus to catch or I want to make the most of the day so I don't want to start too late. But today I knew that I would have plenty of time to see what I wanted so I could take my time.
So, this shopping centre is called Canal City and is called so because there is a sort of man-made canal that runs through the centre. The canal had a fountain in the middle of it and like the shopping centre in Kita-kyushu it did fountain shows every so often, this one was a bit better I think, the water went a lot higher and because it went
the length of the canal it could do more creative and interesting things. Canal City is basically centred around the canal in a sort of half moon shape and is 6 floors high, well it has a few more floors on the top but I think they're used for business or something because they had no shops. The building is a red colour on the outside and on the inside on every level there is a balcony that overlooks the canal which is stepped back on every level so that you get a good view anywhere you are. The balconies also have this ivy looking stuff hanging from it so it looks really pretty and on the bottom floor, because it is mainly outside there are trees and outdoor eateries and tables and chairs, very cool.
When I first walked into the shopping centre I noticed that there were alot of black people around today, not that that bothered me but it's sort of rare in Japan, a white foreigner is rare, and a black one is even more so! Anyway after I walked around for 5 minutes I noticed that it was actually "Africa Gala" week or something
along those lines. They had big banners up and everything so that explains it. On the bottom level they had all these liitle stalls that the people from Africa had set up, one for each country, you know like a stall from Kenya that sold Kenyan goods and one from Tanzania and so on, they had some cool stuff. I think its good that they do things like that in Japan. They were even giving some of the shoppers bongo lessons, it's so very cool, I love the sound of bongos! (sp?) It was funny to watch the Japanese people try to copy this African dude who was excellent and they just looked so awkward and so out of place!
Anyway the shopping was good, I only bought small things today promise! I couldn't leave without anything after all...Some of the things that you can buy in Japan, I tell you what, they never cease to amaze me! I walked past one shop and thought that it was a baby shop and stopped to look in the window and it was actually a clothes shop for dogs!!! I mean for crying out loud, how crazy is that! The day
Someone forgot their shoe
Found this statue on the way home a dog can say to me that he wants to wear clothes and not walk around naked is the day I will consider using a shop like that but really... I went in to have a look because I was curious to see what they sold and some of the outfits are ridiculous. You can but suits and dresses and also bunny rabbit and cat suits, can you believe! If you really want a rabbit or a cat then buy a rabbit or a cat, don't make the dog wear an outfit like that, the poor creatures! They even had outfits that you could buy for the owner that matched the dog's outfit, puh-lease! I left that shop with my mouth agape.
Oh and Kelsey you wouldn't believe all the black and white checked things I found today! You're living in the wrong country girl! If you had access to this stuff you would go crazy... they had quilt cover sets, curtains, mirrors, tables, chairs, shower curtains, bookshelves, lampshades, and lots of little accessories like pens, books, pencil cases, clothes, you name it they had it!
After walking around and looking at all the shops for awhile I had a late lunch/early dinner at a delightful little cafe that overlooked the canal and then went and saw a movie in the cinema that I'd heard was excellent. They have a 13 cinema complex on the top floor of the shopping centre and so I went and saw, is it a war of worlds, or a world of wars? I don't know the english title because they had the title in Japanese, called "Uchusenso", but the Japanese language is back to front to english so I wasn't sure which one came first in the english title, in Japanese its world or literally universe. Anyway, I'll stop rambling on about that, sorry I was just typing as I was thinking. The movies in Japan always come out a lot later than everywhere else I've heard. They still had Team America at the movies!!! The movie was in english and had Japanese sub titles so it was good for me, didn't have to waste half my time reading! A lot of the movies they had you could choose between the dubbed version or the sub title version, pretty cool I reckon. The cinema was pretty good, they showed me to my seat and one advantage to going to the movies by yourself is that even when most of the seats up top are taken there is usually a few single ones scattered around, so I didn't have to break my neck watching the movie! They also have these cool trays that you get given when you buy popcorn and drinks, I didn't buy any and I wouldn't have needed it anyway because the purpose of it is so that you can put it in between two people. It has one piece of the tray that you stick in the cup holder between the two people and then the rest of the tray has two cup holders and a flat section for the popcorn, hard to explain but I thought it was cool.
Anyway after the movie it was getting late so I was going to make my way back when I noticed the African people were having a mini concert thing or show, whatever you want to call it. They had a band set up and they were playing African music and reggae (with bongos) and the girls were dancing African style dances in the middle. I tell you what those girls sure know how to swing their hips!!! They have really good rythym. At one stage they dragged some Japanese people up from the audience and made them dance with them, the boys had no idea, just sorting of being stupid and jumping up and down, and the girls were at least trying to copy them but weren't getting very far! Japanese girls, from what I have experienced, look really awkward when they try to dance and especially when they try to shake their hips, because they usually don't have anything to shake! Not all of them just the ones I've seen. Laura, you can vouch for me on that one, when we went to Club Cocoa in Hakodate, oh man so very funny!
OK, gonna go now, this is a long one, leaving Fukuoka tomorrow, heading down to Nagasaki!
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