家族と福岡で (With family in Fukuoka, vol. 1)

It is very popular to go for picnicing under the blooming cherry trees in the spring time and also I have got many invitations for hanami. The cherry blossoms are late due to the cold spring which has had an effect on people's plans. They had planned to go for hanami on my Saturday's volunteer Japanese class on 25th of March but we ended up eating bento (a lunch box with different kind of ingredients) and enjoying some performances and speeches inside because there were no flowers at all yet.

I got my first visitors from Finland when my family came here last week. First I went to the international airport to pick up my friend who was supposed to land to Japan half an hour before my family but the plane was delayed so I took to the shuttle bus back to the domestic airport to greet my family who had changed the plane in Tokyo. Since my friend got stuck at the airport because of the questions about his longer stay in Japan, I took my family to the hotel and traveled back to get the sixth visitor there too. In the evening I finally got to visit Fukuoka Tower also myself when we went to enjoy the night view over the city of Fukuoka. Quite amazing view with the city lights on the other side of the tower and the black sea on the other side. From there we rushed to Sushiro (a conveyor belt sushi restaurant). I knew that Sushiro is a delicious place with cheap prices but I got even a bit surprised when all my visitors found it nice too. Sushi is not a typical food for my family, and even I have to admit that it is not my favorite from Japanese dishes. Nevertheless, Sushiro is something worth of going.

On the first full day together we headed to Dazaifu. When we got to the temple area, there was a Japanese woman who asked if we can have a photo together. She was posing with her child and the seven Western people of us while her husband took a proof that they met a group of foreigners. We walked behind the temple in some area I had not noticed on my first visit and it was great. We even found a nice restaurant in a Japanese style building and luckily they served also umegae-mochi (a rice cake with red bean paste inside) with matcha (thicker green tea with foam on the top), the delicacies one should try when visiting Dazaifu. A new place for me was also one of Japan's four National Museums. The building was big but the exhibition itself was quite small with some weapons, jewellery, statues and stories about Japan's history.

When visiting Dazaifu, it was quite easy to visit the Chikushino Tenpainosato onsen that I already once tried. When being in onsen on one hand I would like to spend hours and hours there relaxing but on the other hand the hot baths make me feel thirsty and dizzy if I stay long. Anyway, I like to visit those even for a shorter time as we needed to do to return back to the main Fukuoka fairly early. For the dinner I leaded everybody to CoCo Curry to eat the Japanese curry I really like so much. The spiciness was a surprise for some of my visitors and the taste divided opinions. But I cannot get enough of curry!