We still had a few hours before checking into the hotel, so we walked around the Mojiko Retro Area.
Mojiko Port was one of the three major ports during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) to the early Showa Era (1926-1989). There are many lovely buildings from that period that have been restored. It was so nice just to stroll around. The weather was perfect, sunny, warm, with a nice breeze off the sea.
The Dalian Friendship Memorial building with the Observation Tower behind.
I love the contrast between the old and new buildings.
Information on the Dalion Friendship Memorial
The old customs house
This is where I was starting to feel a bit tired! So I had a sit-down while Hannah went upstairs.
Yep, that's me!
The view!
I'm not sure what these show; the photos are from Hannah.
The sign says "Let's take a photo", so we did.
We then went back toward the hotel on the waterfront. To get to that area, you can cross a small bridge, called the Blue Wing Bridge. Just as we were going to cross it, there was an announcement that it was going to open, so we had to wait. Apparently, it opens 6 times a day.
After it closed, we could walk across. But we had to wait because there was a wedding party taking photos on the bridge, it's a popular place for wedding photos!
The bridge fully open.
We came across a few interesting sights as we walked around.
yellow post box, they are usually red!
colourful manhole covers
Banana Man
Mojiko was one of the main ports through which bananas were imported from Taiwan. There are a lot of references to this trade throughout the area.
After this, we went to the Kyushu Railway Museum. Google Maps was very useful, helping us to find places, but I didn't realise that the museum was uphill from the waterfront.
It wasn't too far, but I was rather hot, and my legs were aching already (and this was just the first day).
On the way, we passed some other older buildings.
We stopped in the gardens of this building. Even though there was construction going on outside, the gardens were nice and peaceful. I can't think what the name of this building is, I'll ask Hannah later!
The entrance to the Kyushu Railway Museum
An old sign for Moji, but it's written as Mozi.
Some of the trains that you can explore.
These were the only photos we could take inside the museum.
The man with the box is selling obentos.
The museum was very interesting. I'm not into trains, but even I found the development of the train system fascinating. The first line that was laid in Kyushu went from Hakata in Fukuoka to Kurume. It was laid in Meiji 20, 1887.
There were a few different trains outside that we could see and take photos of.
Information on the trains was displayed, but only in Japanese.
Maybe an express service train
This is where I gave up trying to walk, so Hannah continued on by herself. She took a lot of photos!
There are locks on the lights to open and change the lights.
Mikey dropped Hannah and me off at the station to get the 9:08 train to Mojiko. We wanted to get an early train, but we also wanted to avoid the crowds; standing on a train is not fun. We got the train from the first station, which was a good decision.
One problem was that the train was a commuter train, usually used for short trips. The seats were bench-like, facing each other. We had fun trying to stop the suitcase from rolling all over the place.
Our train
We arrived at Mojiko at 11:46, a long train ride.
Hannah took a little video from the train.
I love how things change as the train goes through different towns.
Mojiko Station is a historical building. It's the last station on the line. Stepping onto the platform felt different, slower somehow.
A little video of the platform.
Looking down the platform.
Fare adjustment machine.
The ticket gates to exit the platform.
After going through the ticket gates, you are in the main area of the station, a really beautiful building.
The interior of the station.
Tourist Information Center.
I wonder what's up the stairs?
Opposite the Tourist Information Center is a Starbucks cafe.
The outside is also very beautiful. The station is near the seafront, making it feel very special, at least for me!
Mojiko Station
We walked to the hotel along the seafront. This time, Google Maps and Hannah got it right, just a few minutes' walk!
Lloyds, I was surprised to see this sign.
We dropped our luggage at the hotel; check-in wasn't until 3 o'clock, so we went in search of lunch.
Hannah found what looked like a nice little restaurant about a 10-minute walk away. We set off. I was starting to feel a little peckish, also desperate for a drink. It wasn't that hot, but I tend to get hot very easily and dehydrated!
After what felt like more than 10 minutes' walk, but probably wasn't, we found the restaurant, only to find that it was closed! So we went back toward the hotel.
Says Mojiko, but I couldn't get all the letters in.
Near the hotel was a row of restaurants and small gift shops. We found a nice restaurant for lunch there. The speciality dish in Mojiko is baked curry. This restaurant had it on the menu, I thought about having it; it smelled very spicy. I like spicy food, but I can't eat it when I'm out. Sometimes the spice makes me cough, and it can get to be rather embarrassing!
I had hayashi sauce over omurice. Hayashi is a stew of beef, onions and mushrooms in a rich demi glace sauce. It's usually served over plain rice, but this dish was served over rice that had a lovely soft omelette over it. Very tasty and filling. Hannah had Yaki Udon. Yaki means to fry, so fried udon. Both were very good.
Hannah's lunch
Mine.
One thing I liked about this restaurant was that it had waitresses. No iPad to order from, no robots bringing your meals, just people!
Nice, old-fashioned service.
After lunch, we had a walk around the retro area.
But that will be the next post.
I need to sort out the videos we took.
Also, I'm still recovering. Does anyone else do this? Have a holiday, but then need to recover from it?
