10 Dogs in prams in 20 metres

It was our last day today! Noooooo!

Breakfast at the feeding frenzy buffet at the hotel before we head off – back to Fukuoka as our flight leaves quite early tomorrow.

Quick last look around Mojiko. Sunny day today but a bit windy.

We had a few options on how to get back to Fukuoka, but we decided to first catch the local train to Kita Kyushu and have a bit of a look around there.

When we got to the station at Kita Kyushu, there was an Okinawa fair happening. Steve wasted no time buying some Sata Andagi – Okinawan donuts (freshly made)

We put our luggage in some lockers at the station and headed off to see Kokura Castle. Steve was still sad that he missed out on Matsuyama castle.

Kokura castle looked cool from a distance, but it was rebuilt in the 50’s so not an original like Matsuyama. We went inside it, but it was more like a museum in there and not like being in a castle really.

The castle did have a cute mascot though

Around the castle grounds there were markets and exciting things going on. And dogs. Lots of dogs. Lots and lots and lots of dogs. Dogs in prams and dogs in bags. I started counting them but the number got so high I lost count. We later saw signs for the event which was something like “Handmade River Dog Marche” or something. The dogs were cute but they were barking a bit much for our liking. Now if it hadve been a cat event…

We looked at a flea market across the road and saw lots of things we couldn’t take home with us in the plane. We bought coffee from a friendly guy in a van, which sadly was a really dreadful coffee. Oh and earlier we are some delicious chicken karaage that we bought from the Okinawan fair at the station.

In need of a better coffee we consulted the internet and discovered Mister Parlour on the other side of the river. After a quiet visit to a favourite second hand shop of ours – Book Off – where we failed to buy a Cheap Trick vinyl record and a Simon and Gardunkel record for about $5 each we moseyed on over to Mister Parlour. The tables were all full but we were allowed to sit on the bench outside. We got Matcha lattes in the end – and some of the most delicious donuts either of us have ever eaten!

There may have been blood on the wall behind me – but I think (hope) it was actually just paint

It was starting to get late so we thought we had better get to Fukuoka. We splurged on Nozomi Shinkansen train tickets to get us there in comfort and speed- all of 15 minutes!

Back in Fukuoka we went to find our hotel to drop off our luggage. We were staying at our favourite business hotel chain The Toyoko Inn. We may have gone to the wrong Toyoko Inn before finding the correct one (there is like 4 of them within 500 m)

Then some last minute shopping at the shops at Hakata station before a delicious Pork Katsu dinner on the 8th Floor of one of the many department stores.