23/03//18 I leave early to catch a train to the seaside park area. A giant park with plenty of activities: playgrounds, flower fields, animals, lakes etc. On my way there I stop by the marine centre, which is one of the best I have visited. They have an amazing show with sea lions and dolphins who can do really cool tricks (I wanted to be a dolphin trainer when I was little so I always look forward to those). The rest of the centre is full of fish and marine creatures I have never seen before, and the maintenance & cleanliness of the park were remarkable. Might just be the Japanese strandards but I was impressed. They also have a restaurant with view on the bottom of the dolphin pool, it is like a giant aquarium with giant creatures in it. After the marine centre, I made my way to the park and rent a bicycle to ride around the park and stop whenever there is something to see. The area is very flat, so it is a very enjoyable ride (hard enough for my legs who haven’t been on a bicycle for something like 10 years? can’t remember last time I used one).
For dinner I looked for a place to get Hakata Ramen, a popular specialty in the area, but could not find a restaurant I liked that seemed to have it on the menu so I went to a seafood restaurant. Many places in Japan are still smokers allowed, so I left the place smelling like tobacco, which is something I haven’t had in a long time. Well I will just have to wash my hair again.
24/03/18 i woke up late so could not go too far. A visit to Nagasaki would have been nice for a city view from a high lookout point, but it would have taken me 1/2 day to get there. Instead, I caught a train to the Nanzo-in temple, house of a rare reclined buddha. The train station is small and we can see a bit of the statue from there, so it should not take long. I follow the guided path and the place is full of prayer spots, offering bowls, incense and signage that I don’t understand. While thinking I am going around the site to find the buddha, I follow a little wooden sign that guides me through the forest. The parh becomes quite challenging (at least for me), muddy and not as pretty as the rest, and after 20 min climbing up I end up on a street. That didn’t sound right, the buddha was visible from down the road where I started. Then I turned back, and realised the path to the buddha was actually displayed but was so small , I missed it the first time. I finally get to the buddha, quite interesting in this position, and as the sun was out I took off my jacket and sweater to dry my tee-shirt, who had a hard time climbing in the wrong direction
