Kyoho Winery, Fukuoka

When thinking about Japan, in terms of drinks, we usually think of sake, and or shochu. I had no idea that Japan had their own wineries around town…lucky, there’s one relatively close in Fukuoka. A friend and I decided to do a day trip to the winery!

Kyoho Winery

It took us a little more than an hour and a half to train out to the country, and then a 5 minute taxi ride to the winery. As soon as we crossed the parking lot, before even setting one foot onto cement pathway we were hit by a strong smell of brewing wine! The area was a bit smaller than we anticipated, but it was still a beautiful sight. We wandered down to the “Wine Cave”, where they had old wine making machines. Some imported from France, and others as old as 1975.

Kyoho Winery’s “Wine Cave”

Inside the Wine Cave, there were old memorabilia’s of wine making technology.

 

Corridor of aged wine.

Oldest bottle of wine in Japan

Kyoho Winery Restaurant

After walking through the cave we headed to the restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is small but cozy, so if anyone is planning to go here it would probably be best to check out the wait and put your name on the list before wandering around. Or, there are picnic spaces available, which is what many did.

We sat outside, as it was such a nice day. The view was absolutely gorgeous!

View from the restaurant

Kyoho Winery Wine Tasting

Next, we headed down to the store. We both anticipated that there would be some sort of a tour with wine tasting after wards. There was no tour, but there was tasting!

The shop had gorgeous rustic wine barrels set up as tables. On top were the different wines to sample, but where were the wine glasses we wondered? No wine glasses available unfortunately, but there were plastic shot glasses! There were some wines that you had to go to the staff counter to sample, and those were either the popular or expensive ones.

Wine Tasting Enjoyments

I really like sweet wines, and usually not that big of a fan for dry. But I have tasted some good dry wines before. The wines I enjoyed most was the Riesling and Satsuma Wine. Other wines that were most enjoyable were their Strawberry Wine, Sweet Blueberry Wine, and Blueberry Sparkling Wine. Next time I head back I’ll probably get some bottles of those…sigh…I really miss Elephant Island.

Wine tasting in the shop,

Nokonoshima

Nokonoshima is a tiny island off Fukuoka that has beautiful flowers and plants throughout the year. Similar to Butchart Gardens, Victoria only this one is more recreational, and flowers are well thought out so that different flowers bloom for different seasons.

Going to Nokonoshima

At the ferry terminal there were a lot of people heading to Nokonoshima that day so we weren’t able to get on the ferry. Instead of waiting an hour for the next ferry we decided to take a taxi express – someone with a speed boat…It was ridiculous fast, and a bit scary. But fun! No life jacket, traveling across the water at what felt like 90km/hr. Fun memories to start the day.

Express Ferry to Nokonoshima

 

Nokonoshima Flowers

Different seasons have different blooms. This time of the year Cosmos are in full bloom until November. The landscape was gorgeous. Though the temperature has cooled off a bit, Fukuoka it is still relatively warm. Another girl and I walked around in our tank tops for most of the trip, which was funny because being Fall, people wouldn’t think to see others in tank tops. Don’t worry my dear onlookers! I am from Vancouver! This temperature right now is comparatively comfortable to a Vancouver summer 🙂

Cosmo Flowers

Other flower that I’m not sure of the name.

Interestingly enough, this park also offers interesting stuff to do… like recreational opportunities in certain areas of the garden, volley ball and basketball nets, and in another section there’s an open space with soccer nets. People were play catch, badminton and frisbee. Now if only Butchart Gardens could allow people to enjoy the flowers and nature together like this 😀

People playing a game of volleyball.

Salsa Dancing In Fukuoka

My first Saturday-nightlife experience in Fukuoka! A friend took me over to TIEMPO in Tenjin (full name: Tiempo Iberoamericano). It’s a latin-learning culture school, specializing in all kinds of latin dancing, art and teaching Spanish.
(**2013 Update: They now offer belly dancing lessons!)

The class schedule varies throughout the week, but every Saturday night everyone is invited to come together for some dancing fun! Admission is ¥500, drinks (alcohol & non) and snacks are available to order at the bar.

Saturday Night Salsa

Similar to Robson Square Dance Series in Vancouver. Where Harbor Dance Studios teaches basic steps for free to the public, then the public gets to test it out. So much fun! Everyone was there to just dance and have a good time. It was a friendly atmosphere and most of the people there were students with the studio. There would be times of dancing, then surprise break outs from the instructors that would teach some new moves.

Never having danced Salsa before in my life, I was petrified through my wits. Hoping that I could go the whole night without being asked to dance. The closest dance I’ve learned that could come comparatively close to Salsa was Samba…and even then it was only a months worth of classes.

 

Great Dancers!

Everyone there was at various dance levels ranging from beginners to experts, so don’t worry about having two left feet ~ because I survived, and had the time of my life! In my many attempts to say in Japanese “No, I’m sorry I don’t know how!” One guy who seemed really pro took me out to the floor. First attempts to dance were embarrassing, so he patiently took me to the side and showed me the basic steps. When he saw that I got it we went back onto the floor.

Great dancers are said to be able to lead even the most inexperienced. I never knew how that was possible, and if that was even true. But I experienced it that night. He was a great teacher and led me pretty well though I spent most of my time looking down at my feet.

It was a lot of fun! I’m seriously considering this to be my new hobby, which is funny because originally I was intending to take up some sort of Japanese culture hobby.

Buenas noches!

 

Saturday Night Dancing @Tiempo Iberoamericano, Fukuoka

Octoberfest In Fukuoka

On Friday after work a few teachers and I went over to Bayern Fukuoka. A German sports bar downtown, and the only international German bar recognized by Germany itself. Well, the owner is German and married to a Japanese woman. Neither the teachers nor I have been, so we were all pretty excited. There are tons of stuff happening all around Fukuoka for Octoberfest though, this is just one of them.

Tabe-hodai & Nomi-hodai
Here in Japan they have this awesome thing called “Tabe-hodai” (all you can eat) and “Nomi-hodai” (all you can drink). Drinks include both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks 🙂
Prices are different wherever you go, but it’s probably the most interesting-est and coolest culture point about Japan.

Bayern & Octoberfest!

During the day, Bayern is a cafe style restaurant. There’s a menu, as well as bakery that takes up the left-side of the place, while the standing sports bar is in the back.

For Octoberfest, Bayern was offering Nomi-houdai & tabe-houdai for this event! Men were $40, and women were $30; plus, a $10 refundable deposit for a HUGE 1L drinking mug they give you. It felt like it was triple the size of those A&W mugs…Don’t lose it as that is your ticket to Nomi-hodai…but I was contemplating of just keeping the mug and not getting back my deposit. I didn’t know I could have done this until AFTER ><.

Armed with a colorful plastic wristband for the Tabe-hodai we headed in. It was slightly dim and a touch crowded by certain areas of the bar. Everyone was watching the soccer game Japan VS Argentina. The food was buffet style, and served in small portions.

Everything was delicious. The food was mainly German, with a few bits of Japanese options for the locals. It was delicious, and kept eating well into the night while my teachers had stopped after the first hour. I think my body missed Western food quite a bit.There was a huge drink menu for the Nomi-hodai, which included 6 German beers, a few Japanese alcoholic beverages, Western cocktails and highballs, non-alcoholic stuff, and more.

Bayern Fukuoka, International German Bar

Nijiikai – Shidax Karaoke

Usually with parties, there’s always an after party (or nijiikai). People head over to another place to drink, eat…and in many popular cases, Karaoke!

Shidax karaoke chain

After Bayern’s we went for a karaoke nijiikai! Shidax is one of the bigger karaoke chains, and really good in terms of song selection, cleanliness and services. Karaoke is quite cheap here, we got a deal of $10 for two hours. Sometimes you can get sets, like lunch & karaoke package.
The Shidax that I went to had an all you can drink (non-alcohol) station that hugged the side of the grand staircase, all guests were free to use this bar.

We sang for two hours, killed our throats and didn’t get home till 2:30am. The DD and I were both pretty awake considering we both had 2 cups of coffee at the bar. It was hard not to avoid going out for some late night ramen ~ sanjiikai!! (after-after party, or 3rd party).

Shidax’s main foyer & drink bar on the side

In case all the rooms are booked, guests can wait it out, and Karaoke in the waiting area until a room is available.