Japan 2020 (Part 1)

A few months ago, sometime around the last quarter, an office mate of mine said she has plans in going to Fukuoka. I joined in for a very simple reason, I missed Japan! We were able to get nice flights around November and finalized lodging and IT around January. 

Days ticked by and it brought us too much anxiety if ever our trip would be cancelled. NCOV / COVID2019 is still very much peaking as of writing (a week after we came back), Manila is even now in lock down. Each day before Feb 29 I was already nervous that we wake up and our travel to be cancelled due to bans, or even cut short*. But then the day came, and we've clearly noticed the number of people has lessened. Our flight is at 3pm, we were there around 10 and Terminal 3 is almost deserted.

The flight going to was a bit weird in my opinion, there were a few vacant seats and it was dominated by foreigners. I never thought they'd see CebPac as an option to fly. There weren't too many delays in our flight, we even arrived earlier than expected which was good because Fukuoka's International terminal is a bus away to Domestic where the the subway train is connected to. We arrived at our hostel before 9PM. 

+ WeBase Hakata +

Being with the bf most of the time in travelling we always choose hotels but for the first time I'm going to experience a hostel which was a preference of the one I'm travelling with. I was ready to be disappointed but as my first experience with a hostel, it's actually really good. I loved that we have privacy even with a bunk bed, the showers are clean, the communal area is excellent. Each floor has it's communal toilets, and some even have communal powder rooms. They also have a laundry room (200JPY per wash, 100JPY per hr of drying) and a locker room (100JPY to rent for a lock) to which you can leave your bags temporarily.

The bunk beds are equipped with their own light, have a tiny space to put your phone in and a privacy curtain. There's small lockers and a space underneath the bed for luggage (although Large size does not fit). The showers at the 2nd floor are clean and private. I don't have photos because I forgot to take some but you can check it at the website if needed. I liked that the shower is easy to control and the water pressure is nice. They have a huge bottle of body soap, shampoo and conditioner. They also have a dressing area immediately after the shower which is nice so you don't have to ride up to your room to properly dress. 

The kitchen/communal area at the 9th floor is very clean and have ample space for eating or just hanging out. They are complete in everything for you to be able to cook (grocery is walking distance, look for Rega net cute) and store purchases that needed to be in the ref. There's also a smoking area (although with curfew) next to it in case you have the vice. 

There is no breakfast but you could get bread from reception in the mornings. You can simply take it to the kitchen upstairs and fix yourself a coffee or tea available for mixing.

It's unfortunate they don't have hotel like rooms where you get your own shower and toilet because I would like to stay here with the boyfriend someday when we get to visit Fukuoka. WeBase has an excellent location and is in walking distance with almost everything, the train station (Nakasu-Kawabata), two konbinis, a grocery and even a Mega Donki!!!

+ Goodnight! +

Since it's the first day and it's already late in the evening we just walked around and looked for something to eat. We eventually settled at Hotto Motto which we found near Kawabata Shopping Arcade. Throughout our stay we found out it to be a popular chain because we kept on seeing it everywhere. 

*I read somewhere that they were at Taiwan and had to leave on the 2nd day when the Philippines announced a sudden travel ban, to which they've recanted a few days later due to backlash.