While it was raining cats and dogs at Hiroshima, Fukuoka (other name Hakata), sky was only half covered with clouds. Looking back on that day – the 7th of December when I left for Fukuoka, I have to admit I was a pretty lucky beggar. Hiroshima railway station is only about 4km away from the youth hostel, so I had decided to walk there. It was only raining slightly at about 9am when I started walking and I bought a loaf of bread as breakfast. After about 40 minutes, Hiroshima station was in sight. And the rain was now pouring down. Fortunately, I got to Hiroshima station before my backpack and I were completely soaked. Talk about luck!

To get to Fukuoka I had chosen one of the most expensive means of transportation - the bullet train. I got on at (exactly) 10.32am. It was one of the most comfortable trains which I have ever took. It didn't shake, didn't accelerate very rapidly and was so quiet. I heard people say that you could put a cigarette upright on a table and it wouldn't fall. Now I do truly believe that. The bullet train travelled so fast that I didn't even notice that I had crossed the sea that separates Honshu (the largest island of Japan) and Kyushu (the southern island). I arrived at the Hakata terminus before midday. After a short visit to the information centre, I headed towards my HOTEL. That's right: hotel - by the time I got to Fukuoka, all I had left was 5000 yen. Staying at a hotel cost at least 4500 yen a night, and I would need to stay at Fukuoka for two nights. Luckily, I had booked my accommodation months ahead and this had definitely been a wise decision.
With the lonely planet guide and map in one hand, the camera bag around my right wrist and a small backpack on my back, I walked to Tenjin station and took a local train to a place called Dazaifu. I had been introduced to that place by a group of University students I had met in Hiroshima. Dazaifu was a place full of history. There were lots of temples and shines. I visited a couple of them (Temman-gu, Kanzeon-ji and Kaidan-in) and also had a good look at the so-called Tofuro ruin.
It was 5pm when I got back to Fukuoka. I unloaded all my gear, sat down on my bed and started watching TV. Interestingly enough, there were no English channels in the selection of 8 TV stations. I watched some health related programme and learned that some young Japanese girls would make themselves vomit and could get high by doing so. They would also increase their daily intake dramatically and in response increase the number of vomitting. Some serious patient would eat 10 times as much as a normal person and vomit up to 3 times per day! I don't know what you think about this but I think it is really terrible. If there were any untrue statements concerning this programme, I am really sorry for having misguided you. But the above paragraph was what I could understand and what I can remember. Noted that they were talking in Japanese!!!
It should have been around 7pm when I left my hotel once more. I headed to Canal city for a ramen shop, Ichiran. It was an interesting shop. Its outside wall was full of autographs from 'famous' people (I knew absolutely no one there). I walked in and sat down. The waiter handed me a form. It was a form for requesting precisely how I wanted my noodles to be prepared. I could choose the noodle tenderness, flavour strength, quantity of 'secret source' and garlic content. I chose the recommended flavour for the first-timer. And MAN! It was good. I couldn't believe how good this ramen was. It was so good that I ordered another bowl despite the fact that it cost 650 yen. I highly recommend Ichiran to the people who like ramen and I also want to thank Mai's boyfriend for such a good recommendation!
Afterwards I went to an Internet bar and met John. And that was basically how my wild night out began. For the people who want to know what happened to me on 7th December 2002 at Fukuoka, please read 'Getting drunk in Japan'.
I woke up on 8th December 2002 at around 12.30pm with one of the worst hangovers I had ever experienced. I can tell you, I was basically still drunk when I woke up. To picture it: I stumbled into the bathroom, got into the shower and basically sat in the bath tube naked for 20 minutes. I then realized that I had to take a cold shower to wake myself up. I dressed up and, with a massive headache caused by the dehydration overnight, I left the hotel. The first thing I noticed was that I was very hungry. I walked to Canal city and tried to find a shop that accepted credit card (I had got no cash with me). But I wasn't very lucky on a shop that prepared cheap food. So I walked into an Indian restaurant and ate a meal which cost 1995 yen. Man, I must have been drunk when I walked in that restaurant! It was too expensive for lunch.
With food in my stomach, my brain started to function: Fukuoka city's attractions all charge entry fees. For a completely broke backpacker nature and walking was the only choice left. I walked north to the harbour and finally found myself situated at a place I quoted in my travel note as a 'very under maintained sea-side park'. Luckily, I somehow found this indoor snowboard park. It was so bloody cold. If I had had some more suitable pants, I would have jumped onto the slope and snowboard for a while.
The first thing I heard after stepping outside the snowboard park was a very familiar sound of plastic wheels rolling on rough concrete ground, wood board grinding against metal rail and then, the crashing sound of wood board against the concrete ground. You know what I am talking about? Yeah, that's right. Skateboarding. Japanese do skate. But from what I saw at that time, they suck! I gave them 10 more minutes to pull out their tricks but I could see none.
Some people say: 'Friends are all around you, it is a matter of fact that you just have to be at the right place at the right time to meet them. And of course, you have to have the courage to say "hi".' As to me, maybe it was my unbeatable luck while I was in Japan, maybe it was soccer. After I had left the skate park, I was really bored. I was sick and tired of walking (I think it must have been my hangover). I found I could no longer stand the loneliness. As I was desperately trying to pull myself together, I walked across a high school. And there, they were - a group of students playing soccer. I went to the hard clay soccer field, stood beside the goal and asked the goalie in English if I could join them and flicked my finger as if I wanted to shoot the ball. With everyone rushing towards me, and a lot of body language, as well as a fairly simple conversation, consisting of only a few English words, I joined them and started playing soccer (my second time in Japan).
Getting a massive doze of adrenaline rushing through my body was exactly what I needed. My lower back didn't ache anymore. My morals improved dramatically because of these sudden human interactions. I really don't know how to thank soccer. If there was no such game on earth, my life in Fukuoka would have been much less fun. And I would have been just walking around in Fukuoka with my hangover.