The Loft Toystore

As some of you know I am quite obsessed with toys and such contraptions, and japanese toys woweee! They make my head spin! Love it!


So, we went to this big "designers" store which also had a toy floor, and we discovered a lot of fun and interesting things. 

Greta, this is for you!! These fugly guys are raging in japan!!

Real cool Wrestler/Superhero masks!!

Tigeroman

Rionman

Evildoers beware!!!

Rabitoman is near!!!

One floor higher we found a truly amazing assortment of writing and crafting goods. Japanese truly have a thing for ball-pens and mechanical-pens !! A myriad different tipes and shapes, and the craziest erasers ever!! (pictures of the aforementioned objects are sold separately ;) ). 

This is for you sis ! A whole lot of Origami paper to chose from !! 

And these are the blank books I talked to you about

   

Accross Fukuoka

Here are some pictures I took from the Fukuoka city hall, the Across building. It has a unique living air conditioning system, half of the building is covered with enormous balconies where all kinds of trees and plants have been planted. They actively regulate the temperature of the building just by existing. 

From the roof you could see most of Fukuoka, I took this oportunity and made a panoramic picture. 

Okonomiyaki !!!

Also known as the japanese pizza, Okonomiyaki, is an awesome dish. Simple, yet tasty. Very tasty indeed. This delicious piece of japanese culinary excellence we ate on our way back from the beach.    

Okonomiyaki cooking spatula

This is Mentoyaki, a dish the customer makes for himself on a hot plate that is integrated to the dining table. It is made with cole, soy sprouts, onions and a lot of extras you may choose from the menu, we made it with cheese and man different sauces.

THE Okonomiyaki, this one has bacon on top, spring onions and garlic inside!

The sea at last

This event took place a couple of weeks ago. I know, its not fresh from the counter, but still, man its the sea at last!! 
Fukuoka is a really big city, it took us about an hour on our bikes from the dormitory to the beach! 


We (Vlad, Willy, Dream and I) rode on this cloudy day determined to reach the sea. 

Here, a glimpse of the Fukuoka Tower, a local skyscraper and a bit of beach. 

Coffee in Japan

I love coffee. Its one of my favourite hot beverages, not only because it keeps me awake, but because it has a certain ritual to it and it´s taste and culinary aplication are amazing. By ritual I mean that it´s a slow drink, it should be enjoyed and not gulped down. And when you make it, try to pay attention to the details choosing your blend, like grain size and roasting, what kind of bean, arabica, robusta or a hybrid. Now how to prepare it, how to drink it. There are many questions to a cup of coffee. 

I personally don´t like coffee in Germany, good coffee shops are jewels in any citys landscape, rare to find and hard to keep. 


Coffee in japan is a whole different story. Japanese tend to pay a lot of attention to details, and they have a strong drive to achieve perfection in everything hey do. Quality is a topmost priority. I think that just by saying that even coffee from the vending machine pleases my tase you can picture how true I speak about the making of coffee in japan.

Last friday I went with my japanese friends Daisuke and Ando to a neat little coffeeshop near the university campus. And it was amazing, expensive, but worth it. You could choose everything, blend, origin and process. For 500 yen a piece of coffee haven. 

The first ramen

Directly at the airport we met our japanese buddies, who would help us poor gaijin (foreigners) cope with japanese strangeness. 
We were brought to the dormitory by van. Our buddies helped us with the luggage and took us right away for a small excursion of our new hometown. We explored the 100 yen shop in Ijiri which had literally everything to offer, except food or living animals, the market and then went to learn how to use the ticket vending machine for the city train, which we took to Ohashi, where the design faculty of the University of Kyushu is, my place of study. 
After that we went for a steaming bowl full of ramen !!!
God had I been dreaming a long time about this moment. My first ramen !!!
Every time I saw Naruto diving into his bowl of ramen loudly saying Itadakimasu!! every single time I wanted to try that mysteriously tasty dish, and now was the time. The experience was revealing and it tasted grat, although the dish itself is very simple. I´ts just noodle soop, or that is what they want us to believe....

THE HAKATA RAMEN

to my right, in order of appearance:

Willy, Vlad (exchange students from the KISD in Germany) and Japanese buddie whose name I´ll fill in later 

 to my left, also in order of appearance, Daisuke Manabe, my buddie, and other japanese guy whose name I can´t seem to remember

  

Ramen seems to be a big deal within japanese cooking, every region has it´s own variation an there is even a ramen museum, where you can taste every ramen in existance. And I think its in Kyoto... 
NEXT STOP RAMEN MUSEUM !!!

"The flight" and "arriving"

I flew with Korea Air. And I liked it! Awesome service, confortable seats, great entertainment technology and above all, cute and very kind stewardesses. 

And the awesome controllers of the entertainment system

 

The flight as such was uneventful, except for the rather annoying announces of turbulence that never came, the flight was very smooth.

On the other hand, as far as coincidenses go, I had a pretty amazing encounter. 

My seat neighbour, not the korean girl to my right but the german guy to my left, had a good story to tell. We started chatting right after the plane left the boarding area, small talk, where are you from where are you going. Until I noticed he had a bracelet with the colombian flag on it. I asked him about it. And he told me he knows this colombian guy who was doing this exchange program a couple of years back when he was at school and they hanged out a lot and became friends.  I asked him about the guys name. It turns out it was a boy who went to my school in the same bus I did, I knew him. What are the odds to find someone in a flight to friggin korea! that is directly linked to you and your past. damn!!! 


And now, a picture sequence of my arrival. 

Taking off from korea

  

First sight of japanese landmass

Fukuoka at last

 

Ikimasho !!

My first thoughts before starting this blog where, "what will I write about? that´s easy, everything japan! , but, in which language will I comunicate?" 

Since I have a pretty mixed pedigree, which includes three leanguages and friends around the globe, I have decided to write in english so no one is left out. Maybe I will add a couple of insider jokes in spanish or german, and someone might feel left out, just maybe. There are to many a thing that can´t be properly described with our ages esperanto, so I will make use of whatever verbal tool I have at my disposal to portray accurately my experiences on this strange and wonderful land called Nihon. This is my cake, and I want to share it with you.