Kōzakihana, Sasebo Burger and Plum Flower

24th February 2013

Well, the post title is not so standardized because this was just what me and my friends did on the way back from Sasebo. We almost couldn't get a place to sleep in Sasebo the night before. I booked for 3 single rooms in a hotel on Rakuten, however, not long after that, the receptionist from that hotel called and apologized because their rooms were overbooked. However, she offered us rooms in another hotel (more expensive type) with the same rate. Well, I gladly accepted that. At the end, we stayed at the original hotel I booked because someone from the hotel called and informed me that the rooms were available again. Anyway, as long as we had a place to stay for the night, Sasebo (Huis Ten Bosch) was too far from our place, driving back was out of question.

After we checked out of the hotel, we went to the most western point of the four main islands in Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu), Kōzakihana 神崎鼻公園. That area was being renovated. So, we could just see from afar. Anyway, actually scenery wise, it's not so special, just it's special geography wise. The most western point, hahaha! We were the only human being at the area that time. When we left, a senior couple reached. Well, compared to other tourist attractions in Sasebo, I think Kōzakihana is the least popular. Then, we went to a very famous sasebo burger shop to buy burger, I went to this shop before, it's just a small shop, but anytime people went there, the queue was there. Too bad, we went before 11 a.m., the shop still haven't open for business. So, we waited there. We met a family of three that we met the day before in Huis Ten Bosch, wow, we have same taste!

the most western point of Japan Four Main Islands (Kōzakihana)

Since we had a very fulfilling breakfast in the hotel, we just ordered a takeaway. Then, we proceeded our journey home. Since that season was Plum flower 梅 season, we went to Dazaifu Tenmangu 大宰府天満宮 in Fukuoka that's famous for Plum flower, this shrine even have a Plum Flower Festival 梅祭り.

Dazaifu Tenmangu 大宰府天満宮

It's a very famous shrine, so there were so many visitors, plus during that time, it was full bloom. So, the road was so jammed. Well, I seldom faced 'jammed' issue in Japan, but during the travel peak season, need to prepare to endure a long trip. However, Japanese drivers are patience, during my two years there, I never once met another driver who overtake from left while waiting for the traffic light to go green, motorcyclists would stay at their lane (seldom see motorcycles on the road though), etc. However, they did park at any available place when coin parking was not available. Once, a police knocked on my friend's door to ask whether he owned the car parked at another person parking place. Wow, my friend quickly showed his parking lot to the police. Well, the incident kind of scared him out initially, later when he told us, we found that funny! Police did that kind of work in Japan? I heard another very funny story involving car and police in Japan too, a colleague of mine drove to a nearby bakery to buy bread, however, he walked back home, when he reached home, he realised that his car was gone (he forgot he drove to the bakery), so he called the police to report about his missing car, then the police actually drove a big truck to the bakery to retrieve the car and that action really caused the owner of the bakery to suffer heart attack!

Ah, out of topic. Back to Dazaifu Tenmangu, since the plum flower was blooming, people reached in droves, so crowded! Well, honestly, I couldn't differentiate plum flower and sakura, I felt that it's similar. One of my friends told me that plum flower is more fragrant than sakura. If one could smell something under the tree, then the flower is sakura. If no smell at all, then it's sakura. Other way to differentiate is the month the flower blooms, plum will bloom from February to March, while sakura will bloom from March to April. There are many plum trees in Temangu, very good looking. I was overwhelmed by the smell though, my nose couldn't take it, luckily, I brought mask with me.

Plum Flower Festival 梅祭り

Plum Flower Festival 梅祭り

white plum flower 白梅

red plum flower 赤梅

white plum flower 白梅

white plum flower 白梅

After admiring the beautiful plum flower, we went to the shopping street outside the Tenmangu. Well, there are many souvenir shops around that area, mmmm, for the cookies (40 small packs per box), one could get for under 600 yen. That's quite cheap according to Japan standard, normally one box would cost around 1050 yen (after tax). There are a number of umegaemochi 梅ケ枝餅 shops, it's a small bun with red bean filling and a small plum flower stamp on the surface. I bought one from a shop without any waiting customers, while my friend actually queued up in front of a famous shop for around 20 minutes before getting his bun. Well, for me, it's quite bland. Just trying that for the sake of trying.

We visited a duty free shop in that area, well, we didn't buy anything, just to look around. Before we left, a big group of Korean visitors entered and they became a very valued customers to the duty free shop. Some buses stopped at the parking area of the souvenir shop, so before the visitors actually did some sightseeing, they were led to shops first! !(^^)! Well, I guess that we Asians just love shopping, isn't it?

There's a starbucks in Dazaifu Tenmangu, the architecture is quite special with the woodart. My other friends (not this trip travel-mate) went to Dazaifu just for this starbucks, the Tenmangu was in their second priority only. Haha!

starbucks in Dazaifu Tenmangu 大宰府天満宮近くのスターバックス

Fukuoka Starbucks Mug

After flower viewing, we left to go home. Kinda tired after 3 days of holiday. Well, it just marked the end of my last trip in Japan before going back. Ah, I miss Japan.