Day 1 - Settling In Fukuoka

Now I'm sitting in the studio typing away. Quite a surreal feeling really, being in a Japanese art studio, with traditional Japanese houses surrounding me (I'm staying in one actually) and a rice field just behind me. It's day two here but since I do not have wifi at my house, I can only come into the studio today to post this up. :)

Before reaching Fukuoka:

Before departure: <3

<3 you guys!

Transit - Bangkok Airport

Chilling at Starbucks while waiting

Fukuoka Airport

@ Fukuoka Airport

@ Fukuoka Airport

Hiro-san's car

Hiro brought me to the house which I will be residing in. I know this sounds super cliche, but it's true. It's really very very different back home where I'm used to city landscapes. Here, it's mountains, rice fields and traditional Japanese houses/buildings everywhere. Get a load of that fresh air!

Some photos of the awesome house that I stay in

It's kinda cool in a way that I'm in a foreign country and staying in a place where locals live in, instead of being in a hotel!

Like Japanese 'heartland-ish' style.

The entrance to the house is on the right of this picture.

The kitchen - took this photo at night:
after I have finished scrubbing the white pot, water kettle etc.

The dining table. Will talk about my experience buying groceries later.

Toilet

The toilet is kinda.. strange. Basically it's just a hole dug into the ground and a toilet bowl is placed on top. I think I won't be able to get used to it even after a month.
But thank God there's a more modernised toilet at the studio, so you betcha I'm going to be spending more time at the studio.

There were two rooms to choose from - one upstairs and one downstairs.

And because people can basically see into the house at ground level, I obviously chose..

the one upstairs.

I LUGGED MY HEAVY LUGGAGE UP THE STAIRS - STEP BY STEP.
*beams in triumph!*

My cosy upstairs room (after I have unpacked)

Great view #1

Great view #2

Grocery trip
The first time I went was with Hiro-san. He drove me to the supermarket and I bought about 5-6 bags of stuff! I wouldn't be able to buy so many things if not for his car - mostly food stuff.

And then, after surveying the house a little, I realise that I actually needed to get more stuff. I didn't want to trouble Hiro-san anymore, so I borrowed a bicycle to cycle to the supermarket. (about 2km away = 20min of cycling for noob cyclist me).

The food here looks really great - fresh and really Japanese. Haha. Of course, there's the sushi/sashimi/ready-to-eat Japanese food. There's Japanese bread, candy, drinks etc. And the prices are actually very reasonable! The only thing was that EVERYTHING was in Japanese! It took me forever to find Oyster sauce, and I had to ask Hiro-san (the first time I was there) in the end, who in turn,  had to ask one of the staff.

The staff are very very polite as well, even though I had no clue what they were talking about. I could only mutter a short "Arigato" after making payment. Lol. Which was ok.. I mean, what can I expect right? I don't expect this place to be filled with tourists in the first place.

Gorgeous pink bike!

Just to prove to you that I actually cycled.
That's the supermarket in the background.

Bike + scenery

Some scenery while cycling.

A ramen shop (maybe I'll go try it today)

Green fields

And more fields

This is how the outside of my house looks like.

It's kinda doesn't look like a house - because I was told that this used to be a shop (selling snacks I think). So the huge orange block that's upstairs would have been the shop's sign.

The pathway into Studio Kura
(which is at the left of the corner - cannot be seen in photo)

And yes, I'm finally here at Studio Kura!