Many a W.A.R. story....: Fukuoka (and Dazaifu)

My Rating: 9.2/10

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First and foremost, after combing through the photos I selected over 120 photos to go on the Flickr for Fukuoka...so without a doubt this was a brilliant spot to visit.

Never heard of the Fukuoka? Most people haven't, but Fukuoka is the gateway to Korea, in fact, and pretty awesome. Home to hordes of happy young people like myself, its considered the hub for youthful spirits in southern Japan. I was amazed at how young the population was, really. Maybe that's just because where I live in Ibara, there's a city ordinance prohibiting residents between 18-38 year of age. Just kidding, but not really.... anyways...

I got off a night bus at 4:30 A.M, pitch black in the middle of downtown Fukuoka. Busted out the GPS on the IPhone to steer me towards Fukuoka Castle with the hope that I'd be seeing my first bunch of cherry blossoms. After a 30 minute walk I arrived, hopped the fence (castle didn't officially open till 9 and, well...I wasn't waiting) and crossed my fingers for some fun. After watching the sunrise I started to snap away.

View from the top of the castle ruins

The direction of the sun wasn't all that great at the castle, so I decided to run off and explore a nearby (open) park which was unexpectedly awesome. Check out some of the shots.

Ohiri Park

Silhouette of some pink cherry blossoms in the early morning sun

High schoolers out for an early morning jog

And some beastly hawks out for an early morning snack

A massive pond decorated the center of the park

I swear this carp could swallow other carp whole. He seriously must have weighed 4x or 5x more than your traditional Asian Carp found throughout Japan.

Nishi Park

I strolled onward to another popular cherry blossom spot, Nishi Park. It was starting to get late for the soft morning light so conducive for photography, so I stopped near the entrance before turning around. I had a number of spots at Fukuoka Castle that I had scouted that looked good. Little did I know that Nishi Park was home to thousands :*( of trees. The park is one of the famous 100 cherry blossoms spots in Japan. Oops. Oh well, at least I got some flicks from the staircase leading up...?

Ninja warrior (not really though)

The oh-so-rich weeping cherry tree

One of my favorite photos of the day

Fukuoka Castle

By the time I got back to Fukuoka Castle the sun was just where I wanted it. Some of the trees were just absolutely massive. On average, the cherry blossoms of Fukuoka had only blossomed 50% (the weeping trees were considerably less), but for the first time I saw a cherry tree in full bloom. How pretty it was against the castle walls...

The braches created waves and shelves of flowers

I thought the castle architecture was pretty neat, too

Walking out of the castle I stopped dead in my tracks. In front of me was my first full dose of a cherry blossom tunnel. (This tunnel will have a special entry at a later date)

I must have stood in that same spot taking the same picture over and over for 30 minutes. Every time I lowered my camera it went back up again to snap the exact same photo, as if something had changed from the second before. I just couldn't help myself. Soon I found the sense to move on. I was jealous of this dude I found right around the corner...

Sleeping under the stars and sakura

I thought my day of shooting was about over when the morning light had passed. I decided to head downtown to get a small taste of what the city was actually like. What did I stumple upon? More...flowers...

Tulip heaven

More tulip heaven

And some daisies

My favorite of the garden

Now, for those of you familiar with DSLR camera, you may know of their ability to rip of as many as 9 photos in a second, sounding like a small little machine gun. I rarely rip photos like that, but I saw a scene worthy unfolding. Poor dog. What else is a DOG supposed to do when some lady is 6 feet away eating a CHEESEBURGER?!

cAn I hAz ChEeZeBuRgEr?!

I'd like to consider this dog's owner what my middle school friends used to call one another, a 'cockbag'. Slapping you dog for looking at a cheeseburger? Real big of you, douche.

Ok, Ok, I could keep stories like these all night. If you've gotten this far, why don't you check out the album on flickr, there's 121 photos for your viewing pleasure (without the stories im afraid). As for the rest of the day, here are a few brief highlights.

A roller-skating monkey