November 3

When I woke up on Friday morning I decided to do another Day in the Life of Kirsten. I was traveling over to Kitakyushu to give a presentation at a conference and figured it would be as good a day as any to do it. I intended taking a photo every hour during my day. I missed both the noon and midnight hours, so my day isn’t really complete. Between noon and one I likely would have taken a pic of the bus ride into Kitakyushu from the airport. However, I had to put my bag under the bus so I was unable to snap anything. Between midnight and one…well…I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.

5:55 am. I grabbed my camera, rolled out of bed, and snapped this from my balcony.

At 6:40 am I was showered, packed, and ready to go.

7:45 am. I’m sitting outside Tully’s drinking coffee waiting for the 8 am bus to Haneda.

On the airport bus at 8:23 am.

Sitting at the gate at 9:30 am. The man in the foreground is watching a tv.

10:54 am. The plane has been in the air for about 20 minutes. If you look closely at the picture you can see the red destination circle. That’s Kitakyushu.

At 11:38 am I wandered into the lavatory.

1:37 pm. The basket of hotel snacks.

I had a late lunch. At 2:19 pm I’m about to dive into a tasty bowl of spicy sesame ramen. This region of Japan is quite famous for its pork-based ramen.

3:38 pm. Looking at a map to orient myself.

Back in the hotel at 4:51 pm for a rest. This is the view from my room.

At 5:20 pm I’m watching CNN (American news with Japanese commercials).

By 6:45 pm I’ve left the hotel and am headed out to meet friends.

7:14 pm. Does this look like a Caesar salad to you?

We’ve finished dinner by 8:12 pm.

9:21 pm. Bobby Vinton would have been a better photo. To be fair, this place has lots of Elvis paraphernalia on the walls.

10:07 pm. A woman made from disco ball bits.

By 11:27 pm we’ve moved on to dance and make faces.

Kokura Station is completely empty at 1:12 am. However, the am/pm down at the end is open and has a nice selection of Haagen Daaz ice cream bars (my favorite is the green tea and kuromitsu [caramel] crunchy ice cream sandwich).

When I look over the photos I've uploaded, it seems like such an ordinary day...long but ordinary. I think that means it's time for me to come back!