Kyushu Day 4-7
One of my biggest concerns while travelling was not getting enough fiber
and vitamins. Besides yogurt, I was also obsessed with finding
affordable fruits to carry with me from place to place. I settled on
kiwi (because it takes time to ripe) and bananas (comes with its own protection). I
felt super accomplished when I bought a bunch of 5 bananas for
only 150 yen! It was 100yen per banana back in Fukuoka.
On the fourth day of my Kyushu trip, we went to the Seaside Momochi area for several attractions including the beach, Fukuoka Citizen Disaster Preparation Centre, Robosquare. We were still in Fukuoka City. It was drizzling but that didn't dampen our moods.
 |
| Spotted a fat cat fast asleep |
 |
Hello Kitty responds to you if you say something from a set of Japanese phrases shown
|
 |
Forgot what tower this is
|
 |
Motsunabe dinner! Cow innards soup for the uninitiated
|
 |
| On the fifth day, we woke early and took a highway bus to Kumamoto. There, we visited Kumamoto Castle. |
 |
Trying to capture the sakura
|
 |
| Travel gang! |
 |
View atop Matsumoto Castle
|
We spent quite a long time here, before realising we had to catch a Buddhist Temple + Park before the sun set. However, we reached too late and missed the last entry timing. The street right in front of it was still interesting to shop though only a few shops were open. ~4.30pm and it was closing time already...
Omiyage (souvenirs) at Kumamoto Station
 |
Dinner was my first bowl of Gyudon in Japan
|
 |
View of Kumamoto Station from the Toyoko Inn room
|
 |
Free breakfast~~ not bad at all. Freshly prepared
|
 |
I really like the design of the station :)
|
 |
Day six was one of my favourites. In the morning, we picked up the rental car and drove to Kikuchi Valley.
|
 |
Poor wild boar that had fallen to its death
|
 |
Our rental car
|
After hiking at Kikuchi Valley and having lunch in the car, we drove to Kusasenri (草千里). It's literally a huge grass plains resembling those from Mongolia, and it is located near Mount Aso. I had my doubts at first about trying the horse meat skewer, but after stealing a bite from Klinsen's skewer, I decided to buy my own. I think I got the 500yen larger and juicier version. Definitely give it a try if you go to Kusasenri.
 |
The huge grassy plain (probably much greener in Summer or late Spring)
|
 |
Home of the horse meat skewer and more omiyage shops
|
 |
Horse bombs
|
 |
Love the pink shade on this bread car
|
 |
Look, it even has a cute bunny logo
|
 |
I
knew I wanted to try one of those Kumamon-yaki even before dinner at
the fast food outlet "Lotteria" located just behind this stall.
|
 |
Close-up of the sakura and mochi filling. SOOO YUMMEH
|
On day seven, we caught the highway bus to Miyazaki Station. We did a shrine tour of Udo, Eda, and Miyazaki, plus the Heiwadai Gardens.
 |
Miyazaki Station
|
Area mascots (no clue what animal they are) & my awesome 3-day bus pass
Le famed chicken Nanban for lunch. Was alright, similar to salad chicken
I think Aoshima Shrine was meant for the next day but some of us had to leave Kyushu early (if I recall correctly) so we squeezed it into the same day. There was LOTS of walking... oh gawd. But it was worth it.
Devil's washboard or something like that
 |
When
it was time to go home, and we were so scared of missing the train...
Look, there was not a single soul on stand-by at the station. Even the
gantries were wide open. Super inaka.
|
 |
So
how they charge you for the fare is by showing this ticket (obtained
upon boarding at the doors) to the station staff at your destination
|
Looks like food of the future, but friends told me it was not flavourful. Still have not tried to this day.
Tried this however, such a scam. From the picture it looked like a chocolate-ish bar, but it was just a cookie. It was alright.
