Wesley's Tool-Box

Mere 4 days after I dropped off my 1st generation Apple Watch at the Fukuoka Tenjin Apple Store, I was told by an e-mail that the repaired device was now in the store for pickup. The mail also said that I should come visit in one week unless I give the store a call to reschedule. Looking at the travel options to Fukuoka, it seemed to be better to make the trip sooner rather than later both in terms of cost and availability because of the various holidays in May and June. So I booked a single-day round trip for that weekend, returning to Fukuoka just one week since I left.

Considering the check-in time at the Hakata Port, I now had less than three hours' time for sightseeing, including transit time. It was still more than enough for me to visit a museum, take a train back to Fukuoka, have lunch, and walk back to the port.

After a walking around Fukuoka for so long during the day, me and my feet needed some rest. Because this trip was originally about visiting the Apple Store and coming back, I wanted to minimize the extra costs and a capsule hotel seemed to be a good fit. So I reserved a bed at one of such hotels, Well Cabin Nakasu, which nominally cost JPY 3,800 for the weekend stay. I applied some discounts via online reservation site, so it cost me less than that. I never stayed in this kind of hotel before, but it didn't take very long to get used to it.

Having gone through the wharves and big parks, I headed northwest, walking about 20 minutes more towards Fukuoka Tower. More big things were ahead, including the very reason I was in this city in the first place.

My first generation Apple Watch's 24-month AppleCare+ had less than a month's coverage left and I needed to use it to repair the failing screen at an offline Apple Store. First one in Korea won't appear until the end of the year, so the closest ones were still in Japan. Luckily, I was able to get a discounted round-trip ticket for a hydrofoil service between Busan, Korea and Fukuoka, Japan, enabling a two-day trip over the weekend. It quickly became a journey on foot for visiting major landmarks of Fukuoka. After all, a stop at an Apple Store doesn't take all day. I have a lot of photos to show you, so I'll spare the comments unless it's necessary.

I had about four and a half hours to go around Osaka once I bought my iPhone 7. That's not much of a time to see this city, but since I've been here quite a few times before, I didn't have a specific place I wanted to go to. So instead I decided to see if I could reach most of the major areas and take snapshots as some sort of a time-limited challenge. First, I started off from the Namba Station at the Minami ("South") area, where this started and ended.


Walking up a bit north, I reached Dotonbori, the flashy shopping and entertainment district along the namesake canal. This place is quite a sight to see in the night, but I didn't have the luxury of staying that late this time.

Visiting Japan to buy the new iPhone on the launch day seems like it's become a regular thing, but a lot of luck is needed to make it happen Thankfully, I was still fortunate enough to make a quick visit to Osaka for an in-store pick-up. As my family was visiting Ulsan for the Chuseok holidays, I rode on the plane that departed from the nearby Busan Gimhae International Airport.


A 75-minute flight later, I was at the Kansai International Airport. I moved quickly to ride on the Airport Express serviced by Nankai Railway because I had to make it to the Apple Store downtown before the reserved time was over.