Mojiko And Shimonoseki Trip Part Three

 Third post and I'm still on the first day.

We took so many photos and videos that it's taking a long time to sort them out!

After the Kyushu Railway Museum, we walked back to the hotel to check in.

We were on the fifth floor with a nice view of the seafront.

But as we turned the corner from the elevator, this is what we saw.

The corridor to our room.

I haven't watched the movie The Shining, but I've seen clips, and that was what I thought of when I saw this corridor!

The room was comfortable, nothing fancy.

Our room for two nights.

I liked the little table by the window. In the evenings and mornings, it was a nice place to sit and have a cup of tea, watching the people on the seafront and the views across the strait to Shinomoseki.

The view from our room.

After we had refreshed ourselves and had a little rest, we went to the Mojiko Observation Tower.

The tower is 103 meters tall (337 feet). The observation deck is on the 31st floor. The elevator up is an express one; it doesn't stop at any other floors and was rather fast going up.

It was so fast I felt dizzy as I stepped off.

The views were spectacular!

The sun was just setting.

The last building is Mojiko Station.

I took some photos of Hannah.

The signs say where you are.

There's a cafe up there, so we had a drink. 

Coffee latte for Hannah, Matcha latte for me.

Of course, we took a selfie.

I never know where to look when taking selfies.

On the way down, I noticed this on the outside of the elevator.

It's the panel showing where the elevator is, but it's in the shape of the building.

After that, we walked back to the station to find a convenience store to buy something for breakfast. As it was getting dark, the lights were coming on, which made everything feel very different.

At the station, we found that even the restrooms had displays of how they would have been.

In front of the station was a little fountain. When we arrived, it wasn't turned on.

A little fountain in front of the station.

We made our way back to the hotel to have dinner.

Obento for dinner.

Hannah found a microwave oven on the floor below us, so we could warm up the obento.

We ate while enjoying the evening view.

That was our first day.

Really great but very long and exhausting. But it was that good kind of exhaustion!

Mojiko And Shimonoseki Trip Part Two

 A couple of photos I forgot to post yesterday.

Hannah at the restaurant

The sign for the restaurant

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.

The exterior of the train

Sleeper train

Lovely view outside the museum.

After that, we went to check in.

But that will have to wait until tomorrow!