June 2: Temple Run at Dazaifu + Drink night with the cousinsThis was our only day tour for the whole trip: to go to the temple of Dazaifu.
The place was lined up with authentic shops leading towards the main temples and statues.
Along the way, there were a lot of food stores giving free tastes of dried squid, free green tea,etc. Most of them sells fresh hot mochi which is really really good!
If it isn't the original red bean paste ❤️
I also tried one of their ice cream parlors here.
I gotta recommend their cherry blossom flavor!It's pink and minty with bits of cherry blossom leaves.yum!❤️
Then the rest are souvenir shops such as:
a set of cute owls.
dreamcatchers that are too perfect to place in a door.
colorful glass "welcome" plates
colorful purses and handkerchiefs.
plus,some ref.magnets and clay figurines..
they also sell upsize version of Pocky and Pretz
Even Totoro has its own souvenir shop here!if it isn't the cute smiling bear :") And of course, this wouldn't be complete without having a Hello Kitty shop.Although,the items are very pricey there.
So as you reach the end point of the shops, there goes the main entrance of the temple.
They say that walking through it means that you are entering the past; While as you leave, it means that you are going to the future (and you should never turn back! what a tradition, isnt it?)
Here's a 500-yr old shrine.Japan is really fond of worshipping temples and nature.
Before praying to it, you have to purify yourself by washing your hands. Then upon praying, you have to clap and bow in order to have it answered.
It was quite a good experience :)
Another thing that I tried there is about getting this purple paper (costs ¥100) which contains your fortune. If what you got has bad fortune,you have to tie it in a string to prevent it from happening. Upon leaving, we saw nursery kids doing community service by picking up plums all around the area. They were so cute, i managed to take a picture with them.However, do they get to eat plums or do they just pick it?Hahaha.
After the tour, we this authentic bento for lunch.it consist of a small hotpot,tonkatsu,cold soba,sashimi,seaweeds and cold taho for dessert.
Then we spent the rest of the day with my dear cousins around the outskirts of Fukuoka.We had dinner in this restaurant (i forgot what it is English.lol)
And here's what we've ordered...
i like it how Gyoza is being served here in bite sizes.So that it doesn't makes you full right away.
and this is another food that I couldn't get enough of.It looked like chicken poppers but these are chicken feet!
Here's a fun night with the Ikeda's ❤️
to be continued
