Autumn in Japan #6

Day 6

This was a pretty relaxing day compared to the previous more hectic ones. Basically we were just travelling from Kurokawa Onsen to the next city, Kagoshima. Not much that we did along the way... except stop by a rest point for a yummy lunch of curry rice.

Here are more photos of the gorgeous ryokan we stayed at.





Quaint little garden inside the Ryokan grounds.





View from the window.



I LOVED this mid-century style chair in the room. I can imagine being an old lady ensconced on this grand old chair by the open window watching the changing colours of the leaves outside…then dozing off granny-style.





Our breakfast feast. You never get hungry around here.



Best part of the ryokan? Listening to the gentle gurgling of the steam outside that ran through the woods in the quiet, otherwise still depths of the night. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and hearing it... and just feeling so amazed by the sounds of nature.



Pretty much my favourite Autumn scene from the entire trip! This was taken at the road a bit of a drive out from the Ryokan. SIGHHH.

Ok short post this time with the photos doing all the talking. More next time.

xoxo

Autumn in Japan #5

Day 5

This was the day of fantastic chance encounters. :D



It started off with us making our way toward Mount Aso, one of the largest active volcanoes in Japan, in Kumamoto Prefecture. FYI, there are 5 peaks to the volcano's central cone and one of its craters has been active for the past 70 years. You can totally see these immense volcanic plumes misting upwards into the clear blue skies even from a distance.



Seiffener Tippel, is a gorgeous German cafe that we stumbled upon while making our way up the long winding road to Mount Aso. It was incredibly surreal. There we were in our little trusty Daihatsu (who we affectionately named Daikon) slowly inching our way up the slopes when all of a sudden we see these beautiful European 'cottages' along the side of the road, in a completely anachronistic fashion. It felt like we had driven into a quaint German village in the middle of nowhere. So of course, we had to stop and take a look.



Everything about this place was just surreal. After chatting a bit with the owner, turns out that they had lived in a part of Germany for about 10 years (couldn't quite catch whereabouts though). The owner said that he still couldn't speak much German despite having lived there because all he really needed for his business were catalogs that he could point at to indicate the products he wanted.



Nothing like a delicious hot mug of cocoa with a generous dollop of whipped cream to start off a cold Autumn day! :D



One of the best parts of the cafe? HOME-MADE BAUMKUCHEN. They literally had their own Baumkuchen machine that's usually seen in those department stores where they bake it on the spot. This one was in a home! OHH the never ending wafts of deliciously fragrant butter and sugar and milk coming together… a veritable slice of heaven.

Check out their website here or their facebook page here and do go to have a sip of warm coffee and munch on some yummy home-made Baumkuchen. I guarantee you will not be sorry! X) It was one of the most memorable parts of the entire trip.



After that, we carried along driving up towards the Mountain. Along the way, Donald decided it would be cool to just get off the road to explore the surrounding meadow...cow-style. So we parked Daikon (our little Daihatsu car) by the side of the road and trudged through some really tall reeds into what literally was the middle of nowhere. It wasn't the first thing that came to mind when I thought of 'fun' but weeell... YOLO? And actually, I must admit that the weather could not have been better. Occasionally, a beautiful breeze would blow by through the reeds, making it all the more picturesque. I couldn't help but feel we were in the process of making some outdoor clothing catalog for an artsy magazine. ;)







I love those endless cloudless Japanese skies…

After awhile we reached the peak observatory point where it was pretty crowded with the occasional tour bus unloading its passengers. If you walk down a somewhat steep, stepped path, you'll end up at the tourist center which also happens to have a horse ranch where you can go horseback riding along the plains!







Incredibly randomly, on the way down the mountain, we spotted a bunch of cows grazing in a field by the road and decided to stop to say hello. The cows were cute but… HUGE.



Managed to get some shots of them but then when they started advancing… I wasn't too sure they would take to a friendly pat by a stranger.



This is about when I started to run…



Somewhere up in the mountains. :D

Next, we headed on to our ryokan in the heart of Kurokawa Onsen, a really gorgeous hot spring town with some beautiful autumn foliage. It's good that we drove because it's one of those places that would've taken quite a long bus ride from the station to get to.

Travel tip: If you're staying at a ryokan, try to arrive just in time for check in! Which is usually around 3pm. Because usually all the ryokans with in-house onsens will have some sort of deal going on where you can by a pass to obtain entry into a number of different onsens in the various ryokans in the vicinity. We arrived a little late at about 5pm since we'd spent quite a while at Mt Aso, only to be greeted by the sight of a huge group of middle aged Japanese ladies heading OUT of the ryokan in their yukata and wooden clogs, presumably off onsen-hopping. It's also something you might want to do in the autumn/winter time since the sun sets earlier and there ain't much to do in a ryokan after hours.



Dinner was such a feast! This one was really superb. We had our own private room with a dedicated server who would introduce the courses to us as they came.



Isn't the presentation just incredible? There's so much artistry that goes into the cooking and presentation of each dish.

Psst. Right: Doesn't that look like a piece of steak? It's actually a piece of Daikon (radish) covered in a sweet sauce. UHHMAZZZING.







The famous Basashi (or horse sashimi) that Kyushu's famous for. I didn't try any but Donald did and said it was nice but… gamey. As expected.

It's funny how some bits of our dinner were rather awkward because of the language barrier (my Japanese reaaaally needs a lot more work) but our server was a lovely, sincere lady (aren't they all??), Suzuki-san, who noticed that our Yukatas needed a bit of work and proceeded to give us a hands on session on how to adjust/wear our Yukatas the right way… in the middle of the meal. But I do love it when they go the extra mile to make things special for you.

After all that food, we settled in to a night restful night of slumber.

xoxo

Autumn in Japan #4

(To continue on with the account of my trip to Japan last year after a little hiatus. Gosh, the year end just came and went didn't it?! Can't believe it's nearing the end of January already!)

Day 4

I must say that we were so blessed with such INCREDIBLY good weather in Kyushu! Just, wherever we went, there was a fantastic cool temperature of about 15 deg C and clear, glorious blue skies. It was the perfect day for our drive down to Kumamoto. Along the way, we stopped by a town called Akizuki (literally, Autumn Moon) which was really soooo lovely! :) It's quite a touristy place, known for its beautiful Autumn colors but it was also not exceedingly crowded which has become quite an important factor in allowing one to really enjoy a place.

We stopped by only for an hour or so but I would definitely dedicate maybe an afternoon for a proper exploration of the town and its scenic spots. Some of the photos were taken with iPhone and I decided to include them in to let you guys see a little more of the town.

To start this off…some beautiful Autumn foliage! :D





Left: Yakimochi. Pretty much the BEST Autumn/cold-weather/I-need-a-hot-chocolate-now snack but beware of the immense heat that's wrapped up in that innocuous looking little thing because I stuffed in a big portion into my mouth and in about 2s I realised if I didn't take it out the roof of my mouth was gonna get burnt. Sure adds to that awesome kick though.

Right: Ok it's not just me right? This guy was totally modelling for the shot. ;)



Beautiful round mochi!! Sigh.



I still have no idea what these fruits are! Are they seasonal or something? They certainly were present in quite a lot of the places we went to.



Tri-coloured cooking pastes! Well, the yellow one was definitely yuzu but I'm not too sure what the other two were…



Cutie obasan at her vegetable stall. :D



Left: I just love how quaint her stall was!

Right: We sat down to the perfect afternoon refresher of a bowl of hot matcha accompanied by the lightest almond cookies. It was a little stall outside the shrine run by a group of very enterprising ladies who would make the matcha inside a makeshift kitchen area and deliver it to waiting customers outside.



Hi there cutie. ;)



We also happened to meet this really cute Obasan called Baba Yoshiko who happens to be a veritable Jack of All Trades! I happened to strike up a halting conversation with her when I was snapping a photo of her beautiful fruits and veggies when she asked, "What are you taking a photo of?" I tried telling her that everything was so beautiful when she gestured to a basket of baby chilies, saying 'THESE are beautiful!". I couldn't help but agree. XD



THE baby chillies.

She was totally a born saleswoman! After introducing us to some hand made pastes (yuzu paste seemed to be something that Kyushu was famous for as well) which we fell for and bought, she showed us the ceramic bowls and plates at the back of the stall which she apparently made herself as well. What a talent. I love how they are usually so multi-talented in so many things in the rural area because they pretty much have to do everything themselves there eh?






This beautiful beautiful tiny little brook. :) Bathed in that really gorgeous Japanese golden light (i swear it has to do with their immense clear blue cloudless skies).

So after that we headed on to Kumamoto, which really is quite a small city. At least the major city center area was extremely walkable. We went to one of the famous ramen restaurants called Daikoku Ramen which is known for its garlic tonkotsu broth but while it definitely had a strong garlicky taste which I liked… it lacked the punch of a really good broth. (I definitely prefer Nantsutei which we have in SG) It's easy to get around Kumamoto using their tram system because it's so small and the names of the stops flash by on an electronic board in the tram. But then again if you miss a stop they're probably so close to each other you could just walk. Didn't seem to have particularly a lot going on at night so one night was more than enough in my opinion.

One great thing though? A mega Tsutaya (huge bookstore with outlets in pretty much every major city) which opened late! If you ask me, every city should have a 24 hour bookstore/library. What better place for sleepless souls to wander? Sure beats a 24 hour arcade/internet cafe/casino though there are so many more of those around. 

More real soon! Only halfway through. 
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On a side note, Happy New Year everyone! Did the new year just sort of roll on by or what? I think I did give some thought to my new year's resolutions but then again, I always comfort myself with the thought that there's Chinese New Year coming up eventually as well so maybe I can have a little more time to reflect on the past year while moving forward. All the CNY decorations are already being sold in grocery stores and soon there will be the incessant blasting of those familiar CNY tunes every dang where. Ahh so comforting (then it turns annoying). ;p

Hope you're having a great weekend!
xoxo 

Autumn in Japan #3

Day 3.

I remember when we first got off the plane and arrived at the airport in Fukuoka, it was the surprising cacophony of car honking that greeted us when we stepped out of the building to head towards the subway station. Perhaps it had come from cab drivers but WOAH there was some really aggressive honking that I didn't think was possible from Japanese drivers! ;) On hindsight, it definitely fits in with my impression now of Fukuoka-ians (if they can be called that) as being friendly, straightforward and extremely warm. Everyone we came across happened to be really friendly and of course, openly inquisitive about where we'd come from.

On our first night, we arrived at sometime past 9pm, kinda tired out from a whole day of walking around in Tokyo and mainly just hoping to come across some ramen place to fill our bellies but the options at the airport were limited. But as we walked from the station to the hotel, there weren't any restaurants we passed by and I remember thinking, oh man this is going to be a night of Lawson's random bento/onigiri takeaways (which wouldn't be a bad thing, really; given how yummy their convenience store food can be). BUT then, as luck would have it, 2 minutes into our search for food around the hotel, we came across a warm, cozy, busy Izakaya that was OPEN! I would highly recommend this place to anyone visiting Fukuoka. It's called Ten Sui An and is actually about a 5-10 minute walk away from the Hakata Station, unobtrusively tucked away in a quiet alleyway (as most great restaurants in Japan are, it seems). The staff were really friendly, the restaurant was brimming with that boisterous (maybe drunken), festive ambience and best of all, it was open till late at night.



Every dish we had was SO GOOD. Of course if helped that we were starving but seriously, the dishes were so super tasty. I loved the thin, crispy pieces of vegetable tempura. And since it was autumn, they included sweet potato which was delish!

Looking at the trip advisor photos, looks like the restaurant could be famous for its chicken mizutaki which is a famous dish in Kyushu.



I'm not too sure if that was one of the Mizutaki dishes because initially I had wanted something vegetables, so I ordered something in the menu that looked like it said Veggie Stew. Only I didn't notice the word Chicken right at the front. -_- Tasty broth nonetheless!



THIS. WAS. SO. GOOD. If you don't think much about what it really is and just eat it based on the taste, you'll definitely want to have more of it. I loved how crispy it was on the outside yet soft, mushy, rich on the inside. Of course, it's none other than Shirako (or fish *cough* sperm…) done tempura style. Moar please.

The next day, we went to this island that apparently is not even really known to locals, called Ainoshima. The reason we went there? It's known to be a Cat Island. And Donald has this insane fetish with cats. -_- So, yeah. For me it's dogs > cats all the way (esp cute Lab retrievers and French Bulldogs!!) but hey, what's a girl gotta do? It was definitely an adventure though. ;)

BUT before that, we had an insanely delicious lunch of Chazuke at a random restaurant on one of the upper floors of the Hakata train station.



It was definitely one of the most memorable lunches I had on the entire trip because everything about it was fantastic. From the calm, elegant interiors of the restaurant, to the attentive service, to the sheer deliciousness of the dishes, to the speed at which the dishes came out to alleviate our hunger… Do try it. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but it should be easy enough to find once you reach the restaurant floor of the shopping mall above the train station. X) TEN OUT OF TEN, this place.



Beautiful. Deep fried Kakiage.



Heaaaavennnnnly.

After that, we started on our journey to Ainoshima. It really wasn't that long; maybe 1.5 hours in total to get to the island from Hakata train station. I would definitely recommend checking out this guy's blog post for a detailed explanation of how to get to the island. It definitely helped us loads and I'm amazed at the sheer amount of research he did along with the attention to detail.

BUT, we happened to discover an even shorter route on our way back.

In essence:

Using JR line,

Hakata Station - Fukkodaimae Station

There is actually a bus from Fukkodaimae Station that will take you directly to the ferry terminal.

But I have no idea what the bus number was. I'm sure it's possible to ask the staff at the station for advice though. It would be faster than going by this route which is the one given in his blog:

Using JR line,

Hakata Station - Chihaya Station

At Chihaya Station, walk to the other end of the station to take another line to go to -> Nishitetsu Shingu Station.

Bus from Nishitetsu Shingu Station will bring you to the ferry terminal.

If you are seriously considering going to this island and are confused about the directions, feel free to drop a line and I'll definitely do my best to help! ;) If you're a cat person, it's definitely an experience to have.

It just so happened that we missed the bus that would have taken us to the ferry terminal at Shingu. We were going to hop into a cab but as luck would have it, some random dude apparated out of nowhere and beat us to it. So we were thinking, dang, should we try to wait around for 1. the next bus 2. another cab to come along 3. walk to the ferry terminal based on the rather undetailed sketchy map of the island by the bus terminal? Guess which one we intrepid explorers picked. I suppose it's not so much intrepid as desperate. When you're whole day is about going to ONE place for ONE thing only... you do what it takes. So based on Donald's insanely accurate internal GPS, we started walking/running. And believe it or not, we made it to the port where the ferry happened to be waiting! It's about a 20 minute ride to Ainoshima and you can pay for your 2 way trip on the ride back (after buying your tickets from a machine in the tiny unmanned tourist information centre on the island).

        

It's a very quiet island but I think it's not to the extent that cats outnumber people.



The cats were rather cute, I must admit, especially this Charlie Chaplin one that didn't always cooperate when I wanted to take his photo.



Gotcha!



Monday afternoon chillin' on Ainoshima.



Of course, I guess EVERY cat island would have to have its resident Old Cat-Granny who feeds them daily. This was definitely her. And guess what they ate? Bread.





While Donald busied himself with all those cats, I decided to take a walk along the pier. It was nice to see kids around though there were only a few of them.





Heh. Cute little boy.



At night? Another random Izakaya near Hakata Station after a trip to Yodobashi Camera, which is a huge-ass store full of well, EVERYTHING. If you haven't been into one, you should. Because while it has Camera in its name, it's not just a camera store. It's your electronics haven + cosmetics + cameras + phones + home appliances +....clothing maybe? I wouldn't be surprised if there was a level of clothing that I missed out on because it's huge. And there are outlets in every major city it seems, so do go check out your nearest one in Japan. And yeah, more chazuke for dinner. I love it so much. This one had nice salty salmon flakes. MMM.

Can't believe it's been a month since coming back! Feels like the trip was a longgg time ago. For anyone who's still wanderlusting after Japan, I would definitely recommend watching some Begin Japanology on youtube for all things Japanese. ;)

xoxo