9 days in fukuoka (and a side trip to yufuin's ghibli village!)

Thank you.

wow look at that 360. we've just arrived in fukuoka dropped off our bags we'll do a room tour later because right now we're gonna go get a hot bowl of ramen

We're going to hit up different Christmas markets over the next few days and the first one is at Hakata Station.

This is so romantic!

so

We're still hungry so we're gonna head out to Vitos for some ramen.

This one's like very savory.

There we go.

I really think that I would eat this one.

... ... ... ... ... ...

Is that for you or for me?

Both of us.

Terrier, this is something that I feel like I'm...

The station at the Zaifu is very cute.

Vic got a pork belly sandwich which looks very Chinese without bun.

Thank you.

We went from Foodland Street to Starbucks.

Music playing

She's in the middle of that one.

These are crazy

We've actually spent a Christmas in Fukuoka a few years ago with Victor's family and we stayed at the Grand Hyatt which is also located at Canal City.

I missed out on the Loewe collaboration, but this is very cute.

For Christmas 2023, they have a calcifer candle.

Thank you.

Cold tea.

Okay, this is our order for tonight.

Should be enough right?

I'm gonna give you guys a quick room tour of our hotel.

This is the first hotel out of the three that will be staying in the city.

This one is called the Basics Fukuoka.

I'm currently standing in the bathroom and it is very spacious, kind of like a traditional Japanese bathroom, but there's a lot of counter space.

And then right by the entrance, we have a little area to hang clothes.

And from the entrance, we have the bedroom.

This is a very atypical hotel because there's so much space that we can just literally just put our suitcases out and still have room to walk.

So our bedroom actually faces the other side of the hotel, which is a C shape.

And then we have our mini bar and TV.

This is our bedroom and it has the book wallpaper that echoes the main entrance with the library.

I mainly chose this hotel because of the aesthetics of the library atrium and also it's a three-minute walk to Fuglen, very close by to Hakata Station where all the malls are.

Hi, dessert from Lawson.

This is a collaboration with Godiva and it's part of their December dessert menu.

Can I have some?

You can ask your personal trainer.

So this one is a chocolate mousse with a almond praline.

How's it?

Just chocolate tasting.

That's what it is.

It's a chocolate cake.

Bye.

so so

Bye.

Bye.

Finally we have some blue skies!

Alright, Sam found this store called Standard Manual.

Let's check it out.

Thank you.

It's been a long time since I've been here.

It's been a long time.

Three, two, one.

tonight we are trying nisu matsunabe which is beef intestines hot pot i think this is very famous in fukuoka after doing a lot of research on restaurants

If you're a solo traveler, you can nave in peace.

Oh, it's lace now.

Thank you.

This hotel.

New York, New York, New York, New York, New York.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Kids can also dress up like the captains in the dining car.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just arrived in Yuzuin by train.

Now we're heading over to our onsen ryokan which is a 15 minute walk from the train station.

Thank you.

It's omakase dinner is brought to you by Chef Lawson and Chef 7-Eleven.

First up we have the Kyushu inspired ramen complete with a soft boiled egg and then over here we have some fried chicken complete with a side salad and waffle sauce.

Moving on over here we have a slow cooked oyakodon that has been in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Oh my god.

Good morning!

We are walking over to the Yufin Floral Village which is about a 10-minute walk from our onsen hotel we already checked out.

Originally I was going to rent a car but I wanted to take the Yufin Nomori train so that's why we decided to buy the three-day Kyushu railway pass.

But unfortunately because it is the winter I totally forgot that there's potentially snow so not sure if this was the best idea but maybe we'll rent a car next time.

so so

Oh, my God.

Thank you very much.

We're gonna hide away at Brett Espresso, get some hot coffee and get warm before we continue exploring the village.

snowman review.

I'll get it.

We just finished at the Miffy shop and Snoopy cafe and now we're heading off to the art museum that we bought tickets for.

This reminds me of Nezio Museum in Tokyo.

Our last stop before heading back to Hakata is a coffee shop.

Bye.

The spice level goes from mild to crazy real quick.

Wow!

they gave me a little plastic bag to carry my mug home so I can wash it and keep it

Here we are standing in the Japanese toilet, exact same layout as the Tokyo one.

At the entrance we have the classic washer dryer, the microwave, the kettle, and then

Victor's Pen Press.

Moving into our main bedroom.

This one is exactly like the Tokyo Stay in Ginza, except the finishes are a lot nicer and more modern.

As you can see, there's a lot more ambient lighting.

And we even have a little coffee table.

And then a desk with this very chic lamp.

And we also have the view of the city below, which you'll see tomorrow morning.

Today's plan is first to get some breakfast and then we're going to do some cafe hopping and shopping in the Tenjin area we're restaying at.

Unbelievable, there is no queue.

Here we go, spiking jazz.

It's a whale!

Vic is trying on this women's wear corduroy jacket but it fits him perfectly and I like this color.

Okay, which way?

Okay, which way?

Okay, which way?

Okay, which way?

Seek fun.

There's not a lot of restaurants that open early in Japan, but this one opens at 7 and there's already a queue of people.

I got the geisha blend latte and it's bomb because it doesn't taste just like milk and some dark espresso.

It's very bright, citrusy and I highly recommend it.

I feel like I'm in Pottery Barn, Japanese edition.

Hey, they have the Rinka plates here.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

this coffee shop is VIXX colors purple and green

Thank you.

Thank you.

This is our last two nights at the hotels Hakata and this is their Harashige branch.

We have a toilet that is separate from the showers and then the entrance walkway leads to two twin beds once again.

Sam's over there, our dining table.

The view is of the streets but it's covered a little bit by some wooden slabs.

On the left, we have your typical coffee machine, mini fridge, water boiler and a random sink.

Moving on to the showers, there is a compartment that covers the sink area and then it's quite tight but very clean and very minimal.

The tiles are black and the sink is right here.

It's a rainy Christmas eve so we're gonna do some shopping.

What are we eating for dinner tonight?

Something nice.

Are you from Hong Kong?

Yes.

Do you know?

I can tell.

They have the store from Tokyo that I saw, too.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

It's been a while since I've been here, so I'm looking forward to it.

This illumination reminds me of Blue Grotto in Shinjuku.

This place is really famous for the mentaiko so we're going to try it because the queue is very short.

I heard during the day you can queue for about an hour and a half just to get inside.

Look at all these hands.

Look at the ceiling of this underground mall.

Looks like wrought iron.

It's really sunny on our last day here

currently on our way to coffee shop that's recommended by a follower that lives in Fukuoka.

Hopefully it's good and then tonight we have booked ourselves omakase for our Christmas dinner.

So I've been trying to find this vest for the longest time

It's a Japanese brand called Taion.

I wanted the vest version because it also has a zipper on the side.

We wanted this since Tokyo, but couldn't find it there.

They have it.

What does that mean?

That's the place we're going to.

no medium

Good morning.

We are leaving this afternoon back to Hong Kong.

So I found this really cute pancake spot for breakfast because they open at 8am.

Hey guys we are back from Fukuoka and you guys already know the drill but we're gonna do a very quick shopping haul.

As you guys know we love our coffee records, sneakers, and vintage shopping so the categories will be very similar to Tokyo and we'll start off with coffee.

First up is coffee beans from REC coffee.

We actually had this coffee shop included in our cafe reel from Tokyo on Instagram.

If you didn't know, they're actually from Pococo themselves, and so we got a couple beans from them.

The reason why we keep buying beans from Japan is because they're a lot cheaper than Hong Kong, almost half the price.

And they also really like light roasted beans, which we also like as well.

This is their classic Hakata blend.

We got two of these, and then this is their geisha, which is also really good.

We tried it in the coffee shop.

And then this is their Ethiopian blend, and then also the holiday blend.

All these beans are from coffee shops in Fukuoka.

This is from Anka Coffee.

This one's from Coffee County.

And the last one is from White Glass Coffee.

We went to this coffee shop called Little Stan and Vic tried their iced Americano and he wanted to buy the beans but unfortunately the barista said they were sold out.

He sourced them from a place called Honey Coffee Roasters in Fukuoka where he used to work and we just stumbled upon the roaster in one of the department stores and we ended up copying two bags of these.

You can't visit Phuc without going to Phuc Lend.

This is a classic coffee shop you guys already know from Tokyo.

This is the classic Geisha blend.

And this is one we already have called Danche Organic.

So this is going to be a gift for our friends.

Also got these drip coffee bags for our friends that don't have a coffee machine at home.

Heads up, if you buy from Honey Coffee Roaster or Rec Coffee, they also give you a free cup of coffee with every purchase of 200 grams of beans.

The next category is homeware slash Daiso slash stationery.

We got this at a homeware department store in Fukuoka, and I need a new poppy spoon.

Now I have three coffee canisters that I can carry my beans in, so I need one more spoon that I can scoop my beans out.

And this one's a very nice classic color of wood, and made in Japan.

As you guys know, I love documenting my baking here on the vlogs and I wanted to get some glass bowls so it's easier to shoot and highlight the ingredients.

The first one is from Three Coins and I like actually how light it is but it's got a bit of depth so I can still shoot.

The second one is from the cafe slash shop called Kurasukoto and I just like how this one has a really nice lip so I can, you know, do some nice pores for the vlogs.

Super random, I got these little Ziploc bags from Daiso because they have little strawberries and strawberry shortcake on there for Valentine's Day.

Next up, I also got this green umbrella.

I'm going through a really weird phase of being obsessed with olive green.

So this actually has a quick release button and you push it again, it can also retract it easily.

And it's also from Daiso.

These next few items are from the brand called Hightide.

As you guys know, we are obsessed with this brand that we discovered in Miyashita Park in Tokyo.

However, the store itself was a little disappointing compared to the Tokyo one.

Actually, if you're in Tokyo, you should go to that one.

Last time I was at Hightide, I bought some packing cubes.

This time, I just got a couple of stickers that are Kissaten inspired, which I'm going to stick on my suitcase.

I got a storage container, which is also olive green.

And then also a measuring tape, which is also olive green.

Lastly, a tape dispenser, which is also in the color of...

Guess.

From Robles.

Olive green!

Help, help!

One random item I got from Muji is this Japanese New York curry, because I don't think I've ever seen this at the Muji in Hong Kong.

One cool thing that I found when I was researching on Fukuoka was that they have a collection of mugs for the Christmas season and they're sold at different Christmas markets around the area.

I got this one at the Tenjin Christmas Market.

So for 50 HKD, you can get a hot chocolate in this collectible mug and they give you a little plastic bag to wash it so you can bring it home.

If you know someone who's a Starbucks lover and loves collecting Starbucks mugs,

This souvenir is the perfect gift.

I got this mini snow globe and this one is the Japan theme one.

There's one for Fukuoka, Tokyo, Osaka, but this one won me over just because nothing beats Mount Fuji with a cookie moon on it.

I have a friend who is really obsessed with Miffy and had to create a little care package for her.

The first one is a Miffy wall hanging.

I got this for her because she's also pregnant with her first child.

So I thought this would look really cute in a nursery.

Also, I love how there's a little bell on it.

So it makes this like really soothing jingle sound.

Also, each store has its own exclusive items.

So I also bought her this mini plate that's exclusive to the shrine location.

At the Miffy Bakery store in Yufuen, I got this little pouch for her and it's got a Miffy bun bread face on it, which I thought was just really cute, as useless as it is.

shopping bag it does cost an extra i think 50 yen but i couldn't pass it up because the colors are so cute and i think it would look nice if i just shipped it off to her in one of these bags at the loft store i also got her a couple of red envelopes with miffy on it completely random but i just thought it would fit the miffy care package theme and to wrap up the stationery category i got this card from julia's letters that you've seen in the vlog and then this one is from 7-eleven

I just got this because I just like this cute, cozy cat illustration on it.

Moving on to vintage and clothes, I got this women's corduroy jacket from a brand called Appleseeds at Flamingo.

I love the color lilac.

It's a typical shacket.

The texture is very nice, and the only thing is that the buttons are on the wrong side.

It's not wrong side, it's wrong for you.

The only thing is that the buttons are on the opposite side of what I'm used to, so it'll take some time to get used to opening and closing the jacket up.

Welcome to my world.

I've been trying to find this vest, especially this brand vest, called Taeyon.

It's a Japanese brand.

I've been trying to find it in Tokyo for the longest time, couldn't find it anywhere, not even in Beams, not even at... Chips.

Chips or anywhere else.

Freak Store.

and free store.

But finally, I walked into a Beauty and Youth in Fukuoka while Sam was waiting for a tax refund.

And I found my dream olive green vest.

This is probably my favorite purchase of this trip.

It is from a brand called Gelato Pique.

It is a Japanese pajama and loungewear brand.

We were passing by the store and this piece caught my eye in the window display.

It is from their holiday collection.

It's a fleece cardigan with a Christmas theme to it.

You see it's got the bear, Christmas tree, and the logo splashed all over the front and the back.

It also came in cream but that one sold out by the time I revisit the store.

Even though there's a very limited time I can wear it, it's perfect for now since it's very cold in Hong Kong and no one's gonna see it anyway so I'll be wearing Christmas trees until March.

Super cozy, super warm, I love the oversized buttons and then a nice little detail are the sleeves which are double rolled, double folded so they're extra comfy and you can snuggle in it.

I got this military crossbody bag from a store called Freak Store.

Nice bag.

The color is also olive green.

I really like it because it's really big.

It can fit my cameras and tripods in a very stylish way.

We discovered this record store while walking at Daimyo after a coffee at Little Sand.

And this was probably one of our favourite finds of this trip.

Each of these records cost 250 yen, which is about HKD $15 only, which is USD 3 bucks.

And these are some pretty decent jazz artists.

The next category is shoes.

The React is very comfortable because they have a brand new sole that you can walk long durations in.

I actually have a few of these already that I bought from Tokyo.

This is my third pair.

Next up is a brand Onitsuka Tiger that we've never purchased from before, but we thought it was time to try out a pair of shoes.

So Victor got a pair in this white leather and black.

And then I purchased a pair of Mexico 66 in the silver color.

Really been into silver lately.

Maybe it's just a holiday thing, but I think they're really cute and they kind of remind me of the early 2000s.

And lastly, we have a bag unboxing.

I helped my friend purchase this from Iwataya, which is affiliated with Isuten and the Mitsukushi family.

So without further ado, let's open it.

Originally, when I went to the store, I asked the sales associate if they had this colorway.

Originally, they said they didn't, but then after checking the app and on the backend, they found one in this color.

So here we have the Yves Saint Laurent Cinq Asset

hobo bag in this beautiful burgundy patent leather.

And I like how this looks so nice for like a festive holiday season and it's got this brushed gold hardware with it.

I'll just show you a quick comparison with my own Saint Cassette bag.

Here is mine in the croc edition and here's my friends in the patent leather.

I mentioned this before in my Tokyo shopping haul, but if you get the issaten guest card, you can get an additional 5% off on all your purchases with the majority of brands.

So this bag, I managed to get 10% tax back with the 5% off guest card and I saved her about 4,000 HKD compared to retail here in Hong Kong.