Fukuoka

Part of our decision to stay in Himeji was to break up the trip from Kyoto into two smaller trips. An unintended consequence was that Himeji is really only a sight-seeing stop-over between Kyoto and elsewhere and we weren't able to get a seat on a train until much later than we planned. We did not arrive in Fukuoka until later in the afternoon, which was too late to buy general admission tickets. Instead, we watched the first day back at our hotel room, in high definition, with instant replay and commentary.

Statue in front of Hakata Station

 

 

Our first few days in Fukuoka mostly revolved around getting settled in the city. We selected a hotel near Hakata station, familiarized ourselves with the walk and transit options to the sumo stadium, and then stocked up on some sundry items like diapers.

The first couple days were cold and blustery in Fukuoka. We spent those days at the sumo stadium, cheering for our wrestlers while Locutus charmed the ladies. Locutus enjoys the sumo but he enjoys being the center of attention even more.

When not at sumo we've spent our time visiting the local shrines, or browsing the local shopping arcades. But this isn't a post about Fukuoka, or the many stories therein. This is a post about Bing Weather.

Bing Weather is a feature in Windows 8. It ties local weather forecasts directly into your Windows Experience. Bing Weather sucks.

On our first full day in Fukuoka, Bing Weather called for cloudy with possible light showers. We were caught in a thunderstorm and torrential rains several blocks from our hotel. We went to sumo and when we came out, hours and hours later, the storm was raging on.

So when Bing guaranteed rain the following day, we decided we'd spend the day indoors watching more sumo. And beams of golden sunshine bathed the stadium interior with a gauzy, gilded light.
Clear with a mild chance of sprinkles turned out to mean blustery windstorm accompanied by brief deluges.

As I wandered Kumamoto Castle in shorts and t-shirt weather (forecast: 80% chance of rain, highs around 14C) I began to suspect that Bing Weather is really, really bad at its job.