Wesley's Tool-Box

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.

With the sale of iPhone 6 series, some accessories were on sale at the Apple Store Fukuoka Tenjin. This included basic screen protectors (all in anti-fingerprint type, sadly) and Apple's own cases, as you see here. They looked nice and durable, but I prefer something transparent, so I decided against buying one.


After spending about an hour at the Apple Store, it was now around 6PM. I moved to Canal City Hakata for dinner. I would have to be back to the airport by 8PM, and it takes nearly an hour at worst to make it there from Tenjin / Hakata area. So I couldn't make a stop at anywhere else.

On the early afternoon of September 19, 2014, the first launch day of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, I was catching a plane to Fukuoka, Japan. All because those phones wouldn't officially launch for another month or more in Korea.

So why Japan? It used to be that Japanese iPhones were locked to the local carriers, but SIM-free version is now offered after some changes to the telecom policy. Also, pre-ordering in Japan doesn't require a national ID like what Hong Kong asks. Lastly, it's right next to Korea. And so, with my pre-order successful on the afternoon of September 12, all I needed to do left was picking it up at the store.


The airplane left sunny Incheon, flew for about an hour, and landed on rainy Fukuoka. I forgot to bring an umbrella, so I got one at a convenience store eventually. It had been more than 6 years since I set foot there.