When Kimberly came to stay!

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Its always a great feeling when your best friend of nearly 17 years flies half way across the world to see you. She was my first visitor in Japan and I was SO excited to show her around and more importantly make her try all the delicious Japanese food. Showing people around is the best as it gives me the chance to do touristy things that I've either already done or wouldn't otherwise have done since I live here.

We had a written list of all the food she must try whilst she was here and we managed to eat our way through the entire thing. I'd say that the food is definitely the highlight of any Japanese visit, especially in Fukuoka where certain foods like ramen are famous so are exceptionally delicious. Out of everything we tried, the only thing she wasn't keen on was the sushi! Since I have become a sushi addict, I was determined to make her like it but unfortunately I didn't succeed. One meal in particular stands out to me and that was the all-you-can-eat shabu shabu. Shabu shabu is where you get plates of meat and veg and put it into a pot of boiling broth in the middle of the table and make almost like your own stew on the table. It is so good but on this occasion we ate SO much that at one point or another we all almost cried. It was like we were full to the brim but just couldn't stop eating it!

Kimberly had decided that she wanted to see more of Japan than Fukuoka so we had booked ourself a ticket to Osaka on the Shinkansen (bullet train). Therefore we had 7 days in Fukuoka and 3 in Osaka before Kimberly flew home and I flew to Hong Kong.

Whilst in Fukuoka, I made sure to show Kimberly around the whole city which started with two of my favourite places: Hakata Station Observatory, which looks out over the whole city, and Canal City. We went to Dazaifu to visit one of the most famous shrines in the whole of Japan. Here we also ate some plum mochi (rice cake) which are a delicacy of the area and are incredible! I'm sure I've written about them before in a previous blog but they are great. I'd go back to Dazaifu just for them. It takes about an hour on the train to get to Dazaifu and I was proud of myself for working it all out even though whilst rushing to get back we managed to get on the wrong train! Never fear though, all was okay, it just meant we got home an hour later than planned! I also took Kimberly to Ohori Park and to see the Fukuoka Castle ruins. It was cold as February is the coldest month in Japan but it was a sunny day so it was nice. We also spotted what we thought was cherry blossoms so I was scared of missing Sakura Season whilst I was away travelling but some little old Japanese ladies told us it was plum blossom. So although Kimberly didn't get to see the famous cherry blossom season in Japan, she got to see some plum blossom and that's almost as good right?!

Of course karaoke was on the top of our to do list since you cannot visit Japan without doing all night, all-you-can-drink karaoke! We started with a huge group but by the end there were only a few of us and we sang a whole range of songs from cheesey 80s to Jay Z! I also wanted Kimberly to experience a night out Happy Cock style (the club we always go to). On a Sunday it is free all-you-can-drink for girls and we really did drink all we could that night. It was such a fun night.

As a result of Kimberly being here, it also meant I had some new experiences too. We went up the Fukuoka tower, the tallest sea-side tower in Japan. Its a really pretty building which offers a spectacular view not only of the city but of the sea and surrounding islands too. As it was close to Valentines Day there were loads of lovey dovey things inside like lovelock gates and a heart made of flowers which you could take pictures under. After dark the tower was lit up with pink love hearts which were actually so pretty!! Then we went to Robosquare, which I didn't even know existed! Japan is famous for its use of robots so it was cool to see some of these in real life. After this we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. This is somewhere I'd really wanted to visit for a long time but hadn't got round to it. Compared to other Japanese restaurants it was really expensive but it was really good so worth it! The Shooting Cafe was another place I really wanted to go and hadn't got round to it yet so Kimberly being here was a great excuse to try and find it. We found it pretty easily with the help of googlemaps, the area it was in was a bit shady but we were in Japan so how dangerous could it really be?! Once inside you have to purchase a drink and then you're given a 'menu' of all the different guns that you choose from. All have different prices but it is actually really reasonable. Then you take it in turns to go into the shooting booth and shoot away at your target. One other person in there did shooting in the dark where the bullets and target glowed in the dark. It was so cool. If I'd have known about that before I'd definitely have done that!

The morning we were going to Osaka we got up early to catch our 9am train. This was my first time on the bullet train so I was really excited! Such an icon of Japan and in the 6 months I'd lived here I hadn't been on it yet. The main reason for this was the extortionate price when you can get flights for about a third of the price or less. However it was something I had to experience and what better time to do it than with my best friend! Its much more convenient than flying since you begin and end your journey right in the centre of the cities instead of having to make the hour or so long journey from Kansai airport into Osaka. This meant that when we arrived in Osaka 2 hours later we could go and explore right away. It was strange for me staying in a proper hotel, I'd only stayed in Ryokans (traditional Japanese hotels) since being here. They provided us with all sorts of amenities from the standard shampoo and conditioner to disposable hairbrushes and even pyjamas! I love Japanese hospitality.

After checking into our hotel, we went to explore Osaka. I had been before but only for a weekend and Osaka is a big city so there was still so much to see. We started with Osaka Castle and walking around the surrounding parks. There was loads more plum blossom here too and we even spotted a blue budgie sitting amongst the flowers! I don't know if he was someones pet or a wild bird. Japanese castles are so much different to castles at home. Interestingly, nearly all of them have been rebuilt numerous times since they burn down as a result of being completely made from wood and flammable materials. You'd think they'd rethink this but instead the Japanese are happy to rebuild them over and over again. We decide to head for the tallest building, Umeda Floating Garden Observatory, to watch the sunset over the city. I am a sucker for city lights and this view did not disappoint! I bumped into four girls from my course who just happened to be in Osaka at the same time which was pretty weird, of all the places they could have been in the city. That evening we went to Shinsaibashi to get ourself some Okonomiyaki (famous food in Osaka) and too see the bright lights. The restuarant we'd planned to go to was full with a queue all the way down the street (the Japanese LOVE queuing) but regardless, we still managed to find ourself a great little okonomiyaki restaurant which even had an English menu!

The next day we headed for Universal Studios. I am one of the few people in the world who is not a fan of Harry Potter but Kimberly on the other hand, is a huge fan. Luckily for her, the main theme of Universal Studios here is Harry Potter. The Japanese love it SO much. So much so that there was FIVE hour wait to get on the main Harry Potter ride. Needless to say, we didn't end up going on it which was a shame but we still managed to get inside Harry Potter world which you have to get a separate ticket for with a time slot once you get into the park. It was a fun day, I got myself into the spirit by buying myself a butter beer! The main disappointment for me was that it closed at 6pm because even though we had got there as the park opened, we didn't have enough time to go on all the rides. My friend went in the summer last year and said that it was open later so maybe this was just a winter thing but I still feel as though it should be open later, DisneySea in Tokyo had been open until 10pm which meant despite long queues, you could go on all the rides.

For our final day together we decided to go take the hour train ride to Kyoto. We went to Arashiyama as I had read about the monkey park and bamboo forest there and really really want to visit them! The monkey forest is at the top of huge hill which means you have to trek up there. However it was well worth the trek, there were monkeys everywhere and if you went inside the feeding area, you could feed them through the windows. There were some really cute baby monkeys as well as some big scary ones who tried to bully the others! It was great because you could really get close to the monkeys. There was an incredible view over the whole of Kyoto from up there too. However, whilst were up there it began snowing really heavily and it all became a white blur. I'm not usually a fan of cold weather but I really like snow and it made it really pretty as we were walking around temples afterwards. One temple we visited, Tenryu-ji, is a UNESCO world heritage site. It had really pretty gardens but we didn't pay to go inside the temple itself since we were a little templed out by this point.

After we went to the Bamboo Forest. It is pretty much the picture of Japan; its on all the tourist books and all over webites about Japan. It was pretty spectacular although I have to admit I thought it was going to be a little bigger. After a little explore around the bamboo areas, we made our way towards the main street. Places like this are great for souvenir shopping and getting your typical Japanese gifts like chopsticks and fans. Kimberly bought a few things and I added to my list of stuff I need to buy before I leave! I left our last supper decisions up to Kimberly and we ended up in some chicken restaurant. I think it was a Japanese fusion type place as I'd never eaten food like it Japan before. It was pretty expensive but was tasty nonetheless. It made me laugh that they had a 'how to use chopsticks' page. I thought it was pretty patronising and ignorant of them to assume we couldn't use chopsticks(I had been living in Japan for 6 months at this point) but luckily I saw the funny side.

It was sad to say goodbye to Kimberly as I wouldn't be seeing her again until I got home in the summer but we'd had a great 10 days together and I was excited for my travels around Asia to begin. I really loved having a visitor to show around and I can't wait for more people to visit me so I can do it all again. It's also a chance to practice my Japanese as in these situations I'm the one who can speak the most Japanese so actually have to use it.

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