Fukuoka June 2004

Finally, my fukuoka trip report....heheh....maybe because i love going to Osaka more than Fukuoka that i didnt bother to explain much but since i wrote one to 'submit' to the professor, i figure i might as well post it here!!
My trip to Fukuoka was not a well-planned one. I decided to fly to Fukuoka on 23 June night two days after I got my US visa done. Luckily, my fellow friends whom I met in Calgary agreed to host me even though they were expecting my visit at least a week later. Meeting them when I, myself was a first year in University of Calgary and in Calgary itself gave me a homely feeling as we are all Asians. I have always followed the news of Japan as my country’s ex-premier had always encouraged Malaysians to look to the east. Moreover they were a bunch of nice people who are easy to mix with. When they found out the possibility of me visiting Japan on summer 2004, they excitedly offered to bring me around Fukuoka. Of course, I accepted it; I know that I am going to have an experience that I’ll never forget. Reaching Fukuoka Airport on June 24, it was a rainy day but it didn’t distract my mind at all. Moreover, I didn’t get to see much rain Calgary for the past year. Meeting Tomoko and Yosuke brought me back to my first year memories. I remember how we used to go skating and having house parties with delicious Japanese home-cook food. My adventure in Japan begins! Right after arriving in Fukuoka, I was brought to Tomoko’s house where I am going to experience Japanese home stay. I got to meet two wonderful ladies- Tomoko’s mother and grandmother. Right after the short introduction, they wasted no time and I got to go to Fukuoka downtown for a short walk and then meeting Akiko at Fukuoka Tower. At night, I was pampered with delicious home cook food by Tomoko’s mother. I have always loved to eat at home as I know that’s the best way to feel the warmth and love in the family. In the next few days, I got to experience Fukuoka like a local. I went around Hakata city for sight-seeing, shopping and eating. I got to say that I was amazed by the denseness of a Japanese city and yet it’s tidy in a way. The food was nothing less than superb. I have a profound love for food and the places where I was brought to dine in were excellent. I also made my way to places where I wish to visit in Japan- beautiful shrines (Kushida Shrine and Dazaifu Tenmanguu) and a typical Japanese garden with beautiful landscape (Ohori Garden). I know I missed out on a yearly Fukuoka festival called Yamakasa but luckily I got to see those beautifully hand-crafted portable shrines made for the race.
I also got a chance to tour Kyushu Hospital and the medical campus. Thanks to Yosuke for being my guide! During my short tour, I got to meet Prof .Maehara, a professor in surgery who is responsible for the Japanese-Calgary student exchange program starting year 2004. Then I was brought around the new block of Kyushu hospital by Dr.Soejima who was kind enough to explain to me the setup of the new hospital. It was a well-built hospital with state-of-the-art facilities. On the same day, I was dining with another friendly professor called Prof Tsuzuki along with Tomoko, Yosuke and Akiko. Yet again, delicious food served!! On the last day of my Fukuoka stay, it was raining heavily leading to cancellation of my last day programme. However, in exchange for that, I got to spend more time chatting with Tomoko, Akiko and Mihoko. We had a good time joking and laughing. On that night, I was bound for Osaka by bullet train but I will never forget the great experience that I had in Fukuoka. I was awed by the kind hospitality that was shown to me throughout my stay in Fukuoka. I can’t express enough how grateful I am to treatment that I received from Shigechi’s family and also Yosuke, Akiko and Mihoko. I know without them, I wouldn’t have such deep impression of Japan. This year, 2004, I got to meet a new batch of Kyushu medical students (Utako, Etsuro and Nobu). I enjoyed getting to know them. Hope that they too had great fun in Calgary like their seniors