Rainy Day`s Out : Fail Treatment, Window Shopping and Precious Lesson

Hi my future grandchild...

Spring is coming in Fukuoka..yeayy...it could be correlated  with the Plum (ume) blossom. Plum blossom ? is it different with Cherry blossom ?...absolutely dear, but i won`t share about that topic now.

Lately, the rain suddenly pour from the sky without considering whether I  (hohoho... who am I ? ) have a bunch activities as today. Actually i only had two appointments, first is with the beauty clinic and second is to pick up the free ticket for baseball match. Both of that places are located in two different central business district (CBD) of Fukuoka which are Hakata and Tenjin. However, it`s not a problem at all since this city (and most of big cities in developed countries, i believe) has a very cool yet convenient transportation system.

I started my journey from Kaizuka Station around 10am  and the first destination is beauty clinic in front of  Hakata Station. Considering the effectiveness of my journey today, i decided go there by subway and buy ` ichi nichi kippu` or one day ticket which is cost 600 JPY  (weekdays price, during weekend the price is only 500 JPY) and you may use it a whole day for all subway line in the city.

ichi nichi kippu / one day ticket for subway

When i  reached the  beauty clinic, MI chan my lab mates already done with her treatment and she couldn`t stay longer  because of another business. The officer doubt to do the treatment for me, their English is not that fluent that`s why they asked Mi chan to accompany me everytime. Luckily on that day there`s a new officer who can speak English (she had spent several months in Canada for English course) so they let Mi chan leaved me alone.

if you guys wondering what kind of  beauty clinic and what kind of treatment ?  here`s..I share you the link http://musee-pla.com/about/belief  and please take a look by yourself (hohoho it`s a Japanese web, dear).

in a treatment room of the clinic

some stuffs, chemical, cream and sun glasses (to cover the eyes during lighting process) for treatment purpose

a lighting machine

This treatment based on the officer, is quite safe (material and method that they use ) but the costumer should obey some rules for their own good. In my case the rules are : put lotion regularly and do shaving at least three days before come to the clinic. Well...i noticed that I`m not a good costumer when the officer started to put lotion on my body  but suddenly she just left me without saying anything. What..what`s up??? then in the next 3 minutes the Japanese girl who speaks English came to my room and informed that my skin is tooooooooooooo dry so they couldn`t continue it. Yeah..actually i felt pain but i tried to kept quite because i already skipped two months since the first treatment. They told me , i should put body lotion twice in a day for my skin moisture. Ok..ok..ok..i admitted that I didn`t pay attention for the hidden part of my body..See you in the next 24 days (as they set up the schedule for me).

Hereinafter i rushed for the next destination , Accross building in Tenjin. However, the big logo of Tokyu Hands ,which is exactly next to the Hakata station main entrance, teasing me to stopped by there...

the tagline is ``Creative Life  Store``

I`m not a `window shopping` person but Tokyu Hands has a lot of unique things also has a branded reputation ``When you visit, you find what you want`` . It was established in 1976 and obtained a high ranking for retail + service reputation (a survey by Nikkei Research, 2009). The largest branch of Tokyu Hands provides around 30.000 various items. I think Hakata branch is not the one, only few things we could find here...

the things that you can buy here

Tokyu Hands Logo

NOw let`S explore Tokyu Hands...(and kept reminding myself  ``this is just a window shopping, no need to buy!``) ..i will only post the things that i like ;)

Counters at the left side of Logo

 I observed the left side of this shop first, which i found many kinds of snacks, toys and treatment stuffs.

CHOC-O-LAIT

Yuhuuuuu...felt like found a treasure when i saw this product and  thought it`s a chocolate candy stick but i was wrong. Spent about 10 minutes watched on their display then i got what the product is. It`s a chocolate for drink, dear. This product originally from Belgium then a Japanese, Sadaharu Aoki developed  the recipe into several flavors such as matcha (milk + ocha/ green tea), yuzu (citrun) and ginger. One stick  of choc-o-lait cost 380 JPY.

Let`s take a look on how to make it (http://www.choc-o-lait.jp/)  ...

First step is of course you should buy the choc-o-lait ;P ... prepare a cup of hot milk (160 cc which is in 80 degrees celcius) then put a choco stick in the hot milk.

Next step is to blend the choco  and milk, you don`t need a spoon just use the stick as stirring tool.

Lastly...when the chocolate and milk already well mixed , enjoy it !







Let`s move on to another product

Massage stick

Maybe i`m the only one who think this massage stick is cute and unique it`s because i never seen before any massage stick has animal character such as bird, frog, etc...the price is 400 JPY.

Relaxation tool

This purple box contain a kind of  band in animal characters  namely Buru-Buru which has a vibration function. There are two types of  Buru2, for the foot and hand but has the same price, 1350 JPY. Recently, Tokyu hands promotes Buru2 as a present for White Day. What is White Day ? It`s a reverse of Valentine`s Day...in Japan, valentine is the moment of girl or women to express their feeling to men by presenting a gift (usually a chocolate). Later on , the boy or men who received the chocolate are expected to presenting gift for the girl at 14th March. The popular gift in Japan are jewelery, white chocolate or even white lingerie :P (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Day).

Now, explore the bag counters...

Ultra light Shopping bag

Mostly, the Japanese are really concern about environmental issue. This shopping bag supports their eco-friendly lifestyle from plastic bag dependency.

Foldable Trolley

Was so happy when i saw this bag, thought it`s a notebook cover (i`ve been looking for a cute cover for my notebook) but the fact it`s a ``fold able trolley` and the price is 3.465JPY . Seems it`s really helpful and practice when we do shopping or carrying a heavy burden. I should recommend it to Heba San, my lovely Egyptian friend who always bring heavy things in her bag :)

shape of the foldable trolley 

The next products are....

Goody bag for travelling

Another creation of  `friendly-used` stuffs...this goody bag looks like just an ordinary one but heyyy.. pay attention to this picture below

`Friendly used` goody bag

The goody bag has a pocket/hole at the backside which is fit to any suitcase holder. No need to get worries anymore, the bags would stick each others.


Move forward...it`s all about umbrella..ella..ella..

Umbrella for UV light protection




plenty colors of uv umbrella

umbrella for windy day or even typhoon, 3990 JPY 

cover for umbrella`s holder

Sticker for umbrella

Stand point for umbrella

a micro fiber umbrella case

Here in Japan, they produced several types of umbrella based on the season. During summer, a UV light protection`s umbrella is promoted. While in  rainy season you might see many people walk around holding a transparancy umbrella. The latest type is umbrella for high winds or typhoon which has a different shape compares to ordinary umbrella (see the picture above, red umbrella ). In addition, Tokyu Hands also provides accessories for umbrella such as cover holder, sticker , stand point and umbrella case.

Next products related to rainy season...

Shoes Wrap

Bag Wrap

 A heavy rainy day couldn`t stop you to wear the high heels and  a velvet`s bag as long as you cover it with those stuffs above ;)


Two hours strolling in Tokyu Hands was so exciting...OK, enough ! it`s time to go to the next destination in Tenjin : Acros.

ACROS Fukuoka (source www.city.fukuoka.lg.jp  )

                                              ACROS Fukuoka (source www.city.fukuoka.lg.jp  )

Only in five minutes by subway plus three minutes walk, i arrived in Acros. This building is one of Fukuoka City`s landmark, officially operated in 1995 as center for  international, cultural and information exchange. Categorized as a pioneer of ecological architecture, the exterior of Acros reveals a `green steps garden` which resembling a green mountain.

At the entrance, i saw this ....

It`s provided during rainy season... a kind of wiper for wet umbrella of the building visitors ...you need to close your umbrella then put into the blue area.

Kokusai Hiroba is the place where i should pick up the free ticket located in the 3rd floor. On my way to that place, i observed the interior and facilities of Acros. It`s a large atrium equipped with music hall, conference hall, art gallery, shop, restaurant and others. 

In few minutes, the officer of Kokusai Hiroba prepared the ticket and....yeayyyy!!  i got 5 tickets of  World Baseball Classic for free....I`m so lucky experiencing all of this wonderful things, alhamdulillah.... 

What a lovely rainy day..from the beginning of my activity  till the last one, i got soo many lessons..specially this one

Cleaning Service Officer

 Whatever your job... do it wholeheartedly without expecting any praise from others. Through her  seriousness wiping the escalator-handle, this lady taught me a precious lesson.