Kyushu 2015 Autumn Self Drive Trip - Day 14

Day 14 : Shimonoseki to Fukuoka/Hataka (Kyushu)

Today will be our last drive for the trip as tonight we will return the car and then will be on public transport in Fukouka. Fukuoka = Hakata = Fukuoka ? sounds confusing ? Well basically they can be consider the same ? from wiki : "Hakata-ku is a Japanese ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture".
The sky was very dark and looks like it's gonna rain , think the forecast is that kitakyushu will rain in the afternoon ard 1 pm. So we decided to skip the Karato Fish Market. Basically the reason why we wanted to stay in Shimonoseki is for 2 reasons , 1) see the night view from Hinoyama Park and 2) visit the Karato Fish Market but end up we skipped both due to weather. Anyway it's best to visit the Karato Fish market on weekends ( Friday - Sunday ) where there will have a lot of shops selling seafoods, sushi , etc on the ground floor and then you can buy and eat on the 2nd level, as we were there on a weekday + weather is bad so don't think we missed much.Why I stressed on weather when said skipping Karato Fish Market ? 1) the market is covered so nothing got to do with weather BUT you are supposed to see very nice view of the sea and Mojiko  (門司港) , 2) As I was mentioning that forecast stated it might rain around 1 pm ? yup we are rusing to the last Koyo spot for the whole trip - Kawachi Fuji Garden (河内藤園).
Kawachi Fuji Garden (河内藤園) is a private garden and only open 2 times a year during the Wisteria season ( late april to early may )  and the Koyo season ( late nov to early dec ) ( click here for more information on TA forum ). Also one thing very special about this place is the entrance fee, E.g. the entrance for Wisteria season can range from 300 yen to 1000 yen and when you are ask to pay 1000 yen you should be happy instead of complaining , this is means that the flowers are at its peak. Anyway we were quite lucky as we did managed to catch ( though not at it's prime ) but some big orange/red sea of leaves. Also just when we got into our car , it started to rain heavily for a good few mins , meaning we should have been drenched in the garden if it had rained earlier as the garden is actually quite big and have to climb up the slope a bit. Notice the wooden fence on the first picture ? Think that is where the Wisteria will be at , it will be like a "Tunnel of Wisteria"
From there our next stop will be Hakata but before that it's time to do last minute shopping ! We stopped by Aeon and Don Quijote , Aeon for the supermarket and Don Quijote for basically anything and everything. ( pics above from Don Quijote , all the cute characters clock )
There is a Tempura shop called 天ぷらひらお in Fukuoka which is really nice, they had quite a few outlets in and outside Hakata , there is one a short drive away from the airport too. ( got one in Tenjin also if you are not driving). You order and pay at the vending machine and then with the tickets , you pass it to the staffs when you are seated then they will serve you your order , all fried in the center of the dining area. Click here for the steps and the set menu , also there are like 3-4 side dishes that is on the table for free when you dine in the shop ( all you can eat )

Very nice Fruits from Aeon

famous chocolate cube

Chicken pot @ Hanamidori

Traffic in Hakata area is really quite bad , you almost late to return our car due to some jams ( we experienced bit of traffic jams when we first reach also). After we check in was already almost 8.30 pm so we quickly take a quick walk to the Hakata Station and did some quick window shopping before going over to Hanamidori (華味雞) for dinner. When we got to the first outlet nearest to the station , it was FULL !!! it was like 9+ pm ? then was lucky when they called the next outlet about 3 -5 min walk away and they got a last table for us. First outlet we went a bit "chicken + duck talk" cos the staffs do not know english/chinese, lucky he got a lady staff who speak some english and guided us to the next outlet. ( think there is an outlets in Tenjin area which had a chinese manager from TW. ) When we reach the 2nd outlet , lucky there is a chinese staff who speak chinese ( but not very helpful as he did not explained the steps clearly on how to enjoy the meal ). Hanamidori sells chicken hot pot , the soup is cook with the chicken until all the collagen is inside , when you drink the soup you can feel your lips keeps sticking to each other. also the chicken balls and their citrus vinegar is really good also. Also you can have chicken sashimi ( raw ) if you like , apparently they raise their own chicken and am confident of the meat freshness to serve that. So do make reservation if you wanna try the chicken pot ( think now Singapore also got an outlet but i prefer to eat at the place where it origin)
During Nov/Dec , there are 2 "Christmas Village" in Fukuoka , one in Hakata and the other in Tenjin , the one in Tenjin one will operates slightly later then the Hakata one. The pictures above are from the one at Hakata Station , they will have lights up ( called illuminations in Japan ) and some shops selling food and gifts ( usually germans (or from Europe) i think ) , Over at Hakata station there is also a stage where got some performances at night. Note : some of the underpass exit/entrance closes at like 9 pm so you might need to detour a bit if that happens.