Mon 17 Jan HAKATA (FUKUOKA PREFECTURE)
We arrived in Fukuoka at about 6.30am-ish after like an 8hr bus ride from Sannomiya. Made our way to the ryokan and managed to get our room before 3pm (luckily). Checked out our room. Very Japanese style. nice spacious kotatsu in the middle of the main tatami room. Napped a bit. Some boilolo pics were taken.
Then we headed towards a shrine that was nearby because it had an old ginkgo tree. Then on the other side of the shrine was an entrance to Canal City, which is a shopping centre that is supposed to have a 'canal' flow through it, but they were doing maintenance at the time =[
had some tonkotsu ramen, which is what kyushu is famous for. the difference was that they use pork bone for the soup instead of the usual miso or shoyu soup base back in osaka. it was CHOU OISHIKATTA. the place we went to was awesome. you could choose how you wanted your ramen: if you wanted spring onion, chashu meat, level of spiciness, how much fat/oil, whether you want your ramen soft or hard, etc. bloody awesome!
then we walked around the shopping complex. pokemon centre, body shop, played taiko, had some ice cream, etc. then we went upstairs to taito station thinking that there would be the [gundam] pods, but there wasnt. BUT evelyn and i did some cosplay for purikura (since it was girls only). we did matching goth loli teehee lol. then rushed to the cinemas next door for Tron in 3D. After watching Tron we had more ramen in Ramen Stadium on the same floor, before going home. tried to work on my political economy essay that was due 11.30am that day, but got freaked out being by myself in the cold lobby downstairs.
Tue 18 Jan MT ASO (KUMAMOTO PREFECTURE)
We went to see MT ASO!!! aka active volcano in Kumamoto prefecture.=]
it took a bloody long time to get there.
Travel advice for kyushu: Travel in groups of 4 --> the way to get discounts on your transportation
For some odd reason it makes quite a difference travelling in a group of 4 in Kyushu. Travel discounts apply for groups of 4. We took a train from Hakata to Kumamoto station (1.5hrs), then another train from kumamoto to aso station (express is about an hour, normal train is 1hr 45min), and then we took a bus (30min) to get to mt aso where the ropeway was.
paid 1000yen for return on the ropeway (i got jipped!) which took like 5min to get to the top. and it was just white everywhere. it didn't smell like we heard but it was goddamn cold at -6 degrees celsius. me being the genius that i am didn't wear enough clothing to sustain the cold. me and my chucks, pair of jeans, tee with a jacket was obviously adequate to withstand the cold.
i couldn't hold it out longer so i gave up while the others continued to walk to the peak of the crater. so i walked back (alone). saw some korean tourists so decided to follow them cos they were obviously trying to get back inside some building. turned out that by the time i reached the end of the path/ saw a building it was the bloody foot of the ropeway so wasted 500yen for going on nothing, and waited for the others to come back.
we then made the long trek home to our cosy ryokan. watched a pokemon movie on darkrai, enjoyed a freezing cold shower, then had our little pudding with baileys party before going to sleep. another failed attempt to work on my now overdued essay.
Wed 19 Jan NAGASAKI (NAGASAKI PREFECTURE)
Woot! 3rd prefecture in 3 days. Checked out of the ryokan, left our stuff there and then commuted to Nagasaki by JR train again (2.5hrs). Ate some Champon then caught a tram to check out a cathedral, saw the bombed Mary, then walked to the peace park to check out the big statue, some more statues promoting peace, the fountain of peace, and then made our way to the hypocentre.
then we hopped on a tram back towards .... somewhere where we took a long diagonally moving lift to the lookout point. took photos of the scenery before rushing back down to the tram station. took a taxi back to nagasaki station to make in time for the train back so that we (prob more because of me > < gomen) could have enough time to get our stuff before catching our buses. tried to work on my essay again during the long train ride but fell asleep at some point.
rushed back to the ryokan, picked up my stuff before heading back to Hakata Station for the lonely bus ride back to Kobe. [the others went to shikoku]
Thu 20 Jan
Arrived in Sannomiya at about 6am. Went home and just rested up, did laundry, etc
Fri 21 Jan NAGANO TRIP
finally finished my now grossly overdued political economy essay (fingers crossed its still accepted). then packed for Nagano trip with host mum.
Sat 22 Jan ZENKOJI
We arrived in Nagano city at about 6.30am. first thing i noticed was snow. SNOW SNOW SNOW EVERYWHERE!!! caught a taxi to my host mum's daughter's place. met up with the rest of her family again. had some breakfast and then napped.
Woke up and left to visit Rika-chan's primary school because it was like an open day.
then masao-san picked us up to take us to the restaurant for lunch. then host mum and remi-san took me to zenkoji, which is absolutely beautiful. went into the dark corridor downstairs (where there's absolutely no light) upon which you're supposed to find a key in the wall and if you touch it you will receive enlightment. well managed to touch something that felt like a metal chess pawn attached to the wall so i guess that was it. =S
rubbed a wooden buddha looking statue upon which the body part that you touch will be protected or won't have any injury happen or something.
the buddhas inside remind me of the temples i saw in hong kong and back home in sydney.
then had some soba flavoured soft serve as well as miso flavoured soft serve. tried some shochu (japanese wine) and amazake (sweet wine). before going home for dinner and bed.
Sun 23 Jan SKIING
went to a ski-jo to go skiing. but because im scared about my weak knee i chickened out from the skiing and went on the sled numerous times on the gentle slope as well as making my first snow angels, and snowmen. chatted a bit with a young father and received a really cute small snowman from his 3 yr old.
after lunch with the family, we made a snow totoro. before going home at about 3 something since my host mum couldnt stand the cold any longer. stopped by a supermarket on the way home and finally found some konnyaku jelly.
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