Today was the first day in a while that wasn't impacted by weather, and went off basically as I had planned it from start to finish. Granted, technically I swapped my morning itenerary from something I initially had planned yesterday, but the swap made added sense since my first stop was a good 30 minutes south of the city, and today I had a car. For the second time, quickly grabbing a car from Budget was a simple process, admittedly with not quite as spiffy a car this time as last.
Anyway, from leaving the AirBNB at 10am, I was at the Daizenfu Temple & Kyushu National Museum complex by 11, which was a good pace. I say complex because these two things are connected to each other by the "rainbow walkway", which think of as an above ground version of hte O'Hare tunnel (with similar-ish lights). I did the museum first, as parking is easier there, and it was lovely. They had a special exhibit which was all about Japan during the time of the ice ages, with fossils of animals, artifacts, etc., to book. Again, I found myself quite pleased with the specificity of the special exhibit. The permanent one was if anything an even more elongated, detailed and picturesque view of what I saw in the City museum yesterday, as in a series of rooms you are told the story of really Japan itself, from the time right after the ice age (stretching a bit) to modern day. The artifacts were all interesting, including some really great sections are stuff the Japanese received as gifts during the height of the silk road days, and overall it was a fabulous museum in a large, regal building in the mountains.
The main temple complex was similarly sprawling and grand, one of the better ones I've seen on this trip tp be honest, and reminded me of the my favorites in Kyoto, Nikko, etc., with the added luxury of it being all flat (I guess when you are already a good elevation, no need to go higher). The buildings were a royal red, and really had some nice carving work. The side shrines had some great sculptures of gods, deer and more. Overall, the temple was great, the museum was great, and this is all worth the trip out here.
What made it better is my main spot for the day was Itoshima, a day/half-day trip to the East of Fukuoka, a town that closely hugs the coast with beaches adn peaks and much more. Itoshima sits about 30-40 minutes away from Fukuoka, and I was 30 minutes West, but it made something of a triangle where I could drive the hypotenuse, and still get to Itoshima in about 50 minutes. The town is beautiful, with some amazing scenery and sightlines. It is a must-do day trip when in Fukuoka, though I probably don't need to say that specifically, since I think its pretty much an unavoidable part of a Fukuoka itinerary.
My first stop was lunch at a place that is a tonkatsu ramen bar by day and izakaya by night. It is the first place on the trip whose name even on Google Maps is in Japanese, so can't really give a recommendation, which is a shame since it was very good. I'm not a huge ramen fan overall (far prefer pho as my go-to asian soup) but tonkatsu ramen is probably my favorite variety, and it was quite excellent - soft pork, great noodles adn a really hearty broth. They also had a nice side of karaage, which as always is excellent. My guess is they're still very, very good when in izakaya mode.
My first stop sightseeing wise was the Senyo-Ji Temple, the main temple of note in the Itoshima area, which is up a bunch of winding roads, which I will admit was a bit scary to do driving on the other side of the road. Anyway, after a while I got the hang of it and got there, and saw my second quite nice temple of the day. This one wasn't all that orante or flashy (it was mostly wood or bamboo base) but integrated itself so well into the surrounding forests, and had a nice tatami-may style series of interconnected houses and rooms to walk throuhg, including a beautiful pond in the back. This is also a must-do sight, and I can see why. The whole palce is mightily serene, if a bit more uphill than I would ahve liked.
From there the other main sight in this part of the Itoshima area is the Shiraito Waterfall, which is up another series of hairpin turns, and results in a really nice waterfall spot. Now, its far from the largest or most impressive, even for this type of waterfall that is more about the closeness and beauty than say Victoria Falls which is more about the overall awe of it. But it is also right next to the road, and has some great views of Itoshima and the sea behind it - which was a nice preview of the next stop. The waterfall also has this weird thing where I guess somewhat purified water from it is then used to live cook pasta that people eat. Strange, but a ton seemed to be doing it, I guess it is a thing.
The last main stop was my mini-hike to the top of Mt. Tateisha, one of three of this mini mountains that sit between the main city of Itoshima and the beach / coast to its North (the temple and waterfall are in mountains South of Itoshima). Tateishi is not the highest, but the one that has the best position relative to the rest, to give you the best views. It is not a long hike, but a damn arduous one at fairly steep levels throughout the 800m from the trailhead to the peak. I was close to dead by teh top, but man are the views great throughout - the Bay on two sides, rolling paddy fields on the other, the mountains behind you, and then even little slices of Fukouka peeking out on the other. It's a pretty magical setting that was, in the end, well worth the effort to get up.
The rest was a drive on the coastline, with two mini stops, before heading back to Fukuoka - first one being at a random small farmers market type thing selling mainly eggs but also dairy, produce and, for me, a brilliant cappucino. The last was the Couple's Stones and white gate on the beach - sights like these are fairly well known from photos and there are a few strewn around Japan (particularly common in Kyushu). I wouldn't go well out of my way to see it, but it was a fun spot, and especially beautiful as I arrived at the beginning of sunset, to end my time in Itoshima.
Dinner was at Yakitori Koto, which was one of the first meals I booked, and one of the ones I was the most excited about, because it was new - much like Masa three nights back in Sapporo. I had not done a proper Yakitori before. I was determined to do one this time, and Yakitori Koto stood out. It is a really impeccably decorated, designed and pampering place. As expected, the skewers of chicken were so sublime, so fresh, so juicy. The prepared plates, which all used some element of chicken (be it gelatin, shaved chicken, consomme) were excellent. Their final plate of chicken curry was brilliant. On the whole, I am all for the yakitori experience, and this, to some degree, completes my various array of different types of fancy meals, from yakinikus to omakase sushi, to tempura, to kaiseki, to a more traditional one and now yakitori.
For my after dinner activities, I had a lot of time to play with, since tomorrow I am fairly timebound by a train at 10:45. I started by replaying my stops the first night, at Bar Petrol Blue, which nicely for them was more crowded than it was on Thursday, and then at Citadel, which is just a peach of a place. Petrol Blue is as well, with some really great craft gins and whiskeys, this time me trying two half portions of craft gins which were both excellent. Citadel was packed, but I was welcomed back as somethign of a returning hero, enjoying another nice sampler and a play on a martini which were both awesome.
After repeating two stops, I did want to try somethign new and that led me to Transform, which is a place that even more than Kieth Flack, was after my heart. Up a narrow staircase, you get into this dark, lively little spot with incredible sound system and AC, and on this night three great DJs. The drinks are good and cheap. The crowd was teh friendliest out of any place I had been to in Japan to date (no idea why). It was a place I didn't want to leave, and was sad I didn't come to before. On the whole, it was a great capper to Fukuoka. Out of all the things I look for in a city, the only place where Fukuoka isn't like a 5/5 was cocktail bars, but even there they are quite good - just not up to Sapporo, Tokyo, etc., but from everything else, Fukuoka is a great place and probably the star of the trip so far.
