Happy Birthday to Me!

Having made it out of my twenties, I’ve made the transition from looking forward to being another year older to simply looking forward to what the day will bring. This year I had a great surprise awaiting me. Tsuchan took me on a trip!

We packed our bags and got everything together but where we were going, I had no idea. Tsugumi hinted that we may be taking the Shinkansen, but that was it. Considering we had just been to Tokyo a few weeks before, I wasn’t really sure where our destination would be.

As we made our way to the train station at 5 am, I wondered why we were not taking the JR line which leads directly to Shin Osaka, and the Shinkansen. I’ve only taken it once so I wasn’t in a position to second guess where we were going until we arrived at… Itami! This gave me two clues: we were flying somewhere within Japan as it’s a domestic airport.

Although I relish surprises like this, I cannot help but notice things that give them away. In this case, it was when the person behind the check in counter slapped the airport code on our luggage, “FUK.” This could only mean one place: Fukuoka! I kept my discovery to myself, to avoid a confirmation and thereby hope to remain under the impression that I still was unsure of our destination. Not for long though; the announcement in the executive lounge gave it away and if that wasn’t enough, the flight announcement was.

The flight was short and sweet. I had just enough time to read the newspaper and sip some chai. It was the first time I had ever been seated on the second floor of a plane. Too bad they don’t have windshields; it’d be great to have a pilot’s view. From the time we landed to our hotel was less than thirty minutes.

When we got to the station, it was pouring buckets. We searched around and found an umbrella for 500 yen. The winds were howling through the streets but we managed to stay dry. Luckily, the hotel wasn’t much of a distance. As we approached, I commented on how nice it looked, but Tsugumi assured me that it was much too spendy for our budget. Next I knew, we had taken a right turn and were inside the lobby checking in! It was early yet, so we just left our bags and carried on.

We jumped on the 100 yen bus to the shopping district. From there, we thought about going to Nagasaki but didn’t want to sit on a bus for four hours each way- especially if the weather was going to remain as it was when we got there. Instead, we went took a self directed tour to the Dazaifu Tenmagu shrine, which included a nice hot ceramic cup of macha and a slice of soft mochi- one of my absolute favorite things to eat in Japan.

The shrine is located away from the city and due to the weather, had attracted few visitors that day. The pathway of shops leading to the gate was com- prised of all kinds. There were some great art stores, clothing shops, and places to eat. We made our way through, sampling much of what we were offered, and then some. Basically, we were biding our time in hopes that the rain would cease as it did now and then.

When our chance came, we took it. The rains started again but I had my trusty 500 yen umbrella to shield us. When we reached the main bridge, painted red and arching over the ponds, the sun broke though. What I noticed first was the size of the enormous trees. They were beautifully twisted with centuries of beatings from the rain and wind. Others were huge green monuments, towering above any building in view.

As we made our way around to the back of the shrine, there were some smaller structures on the hillside, sur-
rounded, much to my surprise, with blazing red maples. The trees in the Kansai have all lost their flaring colors. These were among the most spectacular I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. We took a short hike through the hills along paths carpeted red maple as if each leaf had been placed with great care.

As we were making our way down the other side, the rains again began to pour. We took shelter in a nice tatami café, set alongside the ponds. By this time, we were really happy that we’d come across it when we did. It was a cozy spot. As we sipped our hot ginger amasake the sun again broke through the clouds and the rains stopped.

As we were making our way back to the shop lined street, we noticed a place named Tsugumi. It was a quaint home décor shop with many handmade items.We browsed around but didn’t buy anything- quaint and expensive. I love these shops but seldom make a purchase. There was also a Zen temple nearby. I always admire the simplicity of the gardens often surrounding them. Set among the autumn landscape, it made for a very peaceful space.

On the way back through, we ate soba at the same place we had enjoyed the macha and mochi. Unfortunately, the soba was arranged on a plate with a false bottom so what we had hoped would be a nice portion turned into a meager serving. I suppose that’s what we get for eating at the same place twice, something we normally avoid.

That evening, back at the hotel, Tsugumi had made reservations for dinner. We enjoyed a really nice meal together. It was one of those dinners that crown a perfect day. By this time, it felt as though two days had already passed. It was really relaxing. After dinner, Tsugumi gave me my birthday package: a nice black v-neck sweater. We then received a knock at the door; room service served us birthday cake and hand shaken fruit seltzers; a perfect ending to our day.

The next morning we got up and enjoyed a buffet-style breakfast. As my Auntie pointed out, breakfast is the one meal that people from different cultures often cannot agree upon. Japanese breakfasts traditionally consist of rice and miso soup. Being a westerner, I suppose, soup for breakfast is just not appetizing in the least. Fortunately for me, our hotel offered two buffets: one Japanese, one quasi-western. It doesn’t matter all that much in the end because I am usually limited to fruit and bread at breakfast buffets anyway. This one had some potatoes that were pretty tasty. Preferring vegan and vegetarian buffets is extremely difficult to satisfy, regardless of place; that is, if I unless I want a Japanese breakfast.

After we finished up our morning meal, we took a subway to Ohori Koen. At one point this place had been a rather large royal complex, now only the ruins remain and are maintained as a park. At the highest point, there was a platform from which we had a great view. I prayed Asr, then we made our way down
to a lake nearby. The sun was shining but the winds gusts had returned, making for a chilly afternoon. In the center of the lake were a few islands, connected by a series of small bridges. As we walked along the path, the winds were so strong we felt we might be lifted off our feet at any given moment. In the background, someone practiced Jingle Bells on the sax.

We had a while yet, before our flight time. I had read about “Asia’s biggest fairs wheel,” (another pamphlet just said it was the biggest in Japan- who knows?) and wanted to take a ride. It was a jaunt though but we had the timeWhen we arrived, we couldn’t believe the height up this thing; it was BIG! We rushed to the ticket counter but were shut down when we learned that it was closed due to high winds. We decided to do the next best thing: window shop! Okay, not even a close second but we did anyway.

When we finished, we made our way to a bus stop. We had a 15 min wait. About 10 minutes into it, we noticed that the wheel was turning! Yes! But would we have enough time? We decided to take a chance. The next bus came at 17:15, an extra thirty five minutes. We rushed upstairs, back to the wheel. “Two tickets, please,” we asked. “Sorry, it won’t be open until five,” we were told. “Okay, well, how long does it take to go full circle?” we asked. “Twenty minutes.” Damn!! We had probably just missed our bus to get there and take this wheel, thereby risking missing our flight, only to find out that it wasn't to open for another fifteen minutes and that the ride would take twenty; five minutes too long! We broke for the bus. As we barreled down the stairs, we could see passengers boarding 200 meters ahead. Alas! We made it. As we left the wheel in the distance, we could almost hear its deep, sinister laugh, not unlike the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters.

We arrived back at the hotel with plenty of time to make our flight. After checking in our bags, we made our way to the lounge, where we kicked back and relaxed before our departure. It was a great way to begin another year of life. I am looking forward to all it has to bring and I am truly Blessed to have such a wonderful partner in my life to share it with. Al-humdulilah. I must be doing something right. Next phase: Fatherhood- but it’s still a ways off, insha’Allah.