Life in Fukuoka, Japan: A flea market and Christmas lights

A cold winter day...........

I feel like it has been forever since I last posted a blog. Not only does it feel like forever, but it has been since the end of October. That is so sad. I never thought I would be one to get “behind” on my blog. Many things have happened since the end of October. I figure the best thing to do is to start with today and then backtrack the best that I can.

Today is December 23, 2012. There was a flea market so Mark and I braved the cold, dreary weather to see if I could find the buddha that I saw the last time I was there. It was a very chilly morning. We took the subway to the flea market. It is a nice ride and for a Sunday morning it was not too crowded. As soon as we started walking around the flea market it started to rain. Many people were covering up their goods that they were trying to sell. Mark and I picked up the pace since it wasn't really the weather to be out just wandering aimlessly. My goal was to find the buddha I had seen at the market a month ago. Bummer for me......it was no where to be seen. That could mean a few things. First, the person who had it for sale may not have come today, or he could have already sold it. Either way, it must have been meant to be. I figured if it was there then it would have been the sign for me to buy it. It was about $120 so it would have needed to be a clear sign that I needed to buy it. I took photos of it when I went a month ago. That is the photo you will see in the blog. I took many photos before. I have included many since today I didn't take any today.

Once Mark and I got home from the flea market we decided to relax and stay warm. I had on my clothes with a robe over that and then a blanket over me. I was so cold in our apartment today. It said the weather outside felt like 27 degrees. We do have one heater in the apartment, but when it is that cold you would think there was no heat in the place. We even had some snow mixed in with the rain. Brrrrr...is all I can say. Now, I do prefer the cold to the heat any day. At least with the cold I can do many things to try to warm up.

Since we bought an all day pass for the subway we decided that we would go to Hakata to look at the Christmas lights. I had heard that it was beautiful and I really wanted ot go and have a look. Hakata is a very large subway/train/bus station. It is one of the biggies where you switch subway lines and also catchthe bullet trains. There is also a huge shopping area that is 10 floors. Very big and crowded. People were out taking photos of the lights and in the mall shopping. We even had to wait in a line just to purchase some items from one of the bakeries.

After taking a quick look around we headed back to Meinohama. Baloo and Noche were happy to see us since it was time for their evening treats. Our cats are so spoiled.

Enjoy the photos. I will be getting more posted now that I am on my vacation.