This trip occurred because the promotion for Krisflyer miles 15% discount was ending, and we wanted to use up our miles 😛 It was also our longest trip together ever, for we started our planning with great ambition to cover lots of places, before practicality set in, and we decided that we needed a relaxing trip instead, and decided to focus on Kyushu instead 🙂
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Kagoshima
日本 Japan 2017 Itinerary
Kyushu Rail, Tram, and Bus Passes
Generally, traveling in Japan can be quite a hassle-free experience if you do your homework beforehand 🙂 Because of their strict compliance to punctuality, all transport options depart and arrive on the dot and it becomes quite seamless to plan connections from one place to another.
And with websites such as hyperdia.com, you can get the train schedules for any day and can plan ahead with a few backup plans thrown in 🙂 Bus schedules are also easily obtainable from the operators’ websites or a simple Google.
There are quite a few transport passes available in Kyushu, and depending on your itinerary (and planning), they could prove to be money savers 🙂
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Cafes in Japan 2017 – Kagoshima
Oh, we walked past many times the Polar Bear cafe むじゃき Mujyaki located in Tenmonkan walking street (see banner picture) on our way back to our hotel. It created the 白熊 Shirokuma Shaved Ice during one summer and it went viral. So now you get long queues at the 4-storey cafe which also sells merchandises. No we didn’t went in. 🙂
Well, I guess we have to work harder to find nicer cafes in Kagoshima the next round… any recommendations?
Categories: Coffee/Tea Break, Japan, Kagoshima, Travel
Tags: cafe, cake, chai latte, flat white, latte, pancake
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元祖黒豚料理「あぢもり」 Adimori @Kagoshima, Japan
We actually attempted to walk in for lunch the previous day, but it was fully booked for lunch and dinner. Lunch today was fully booked too, so we were pretty glad that we managed to secure seats for tonight. We had already pre-ordered the 霧島コース Kirishima Course dinner set (¥14742 for 2 sets) at the point of booking, so we were led to our seats very promptly as we waited for the spread.
While we were waiting for the food to arrive, we were presented with both English and Chinese instructions on how to enjoy the 黒豚しゃぶしゃぶ Kurobuta Shabu Shabu. We gotta say, the Chinese instructions were much more comprehensive 😛
The food, from the appetisers, to the different cuts of meat, to the noodles and dessert, were simply awesome! If you could only splurge on one meal in Kagoshima, this would definitely be a good option 🙂
あぢもり Adimori (or Ajimori):
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Day trip to 指宿 Ibusuki
Our main to-do list in 鹿児島 Kagoshima included taking the pretty train to 指宿 Ibusuki, and to check out the 砂むし sand bath over there!
There are 3 return trains for Limited Express 指宿のたまて箱 Ibusuki-no-Tamatebako per day, so making reservations is a must!
The interior of the train is very pretty and there are seats that are facing the windows, so that passengers can enjoy the coastal scenery in its full glory. Unfortunately, those seats are extremely popular, and we did not manage to reserve them.
It was OK though, for everyone was busy walking within the train and standing up to take pictures during the 50-minute train ride. There was also a staff who provided some props and helped everyone take pictures 🙂 This was the most lively train ride we had so far 😀
膳 Zen @Kagoshima, Japan
We were exploring the area near our hotel after the bus tour, and it was rather late by the time our stomachs called out to us 😮
We had wandered to 天文館公園 Tenmonkan Park, and Google search showed us that there was an 居酒屋 Izakaya just opposite us! Despite being so near, it took us a little while to find the entrance 😛
We had to remove our shoes upon entering, and were pretty lucky to get the last table. Once we settled down, we were presented with a 100% Japanese menu without pictures or food models, haha!
We poured over the menu and had a fun time trying to decipher some of the items with our limited vocabulary. The friendly staff also tried his best to explain what some of the items were, and gave us some recommendations.
寿庵 Moze @Kagoshima, Japan
We were just roaming along the streets after the bus tours, and being way past lunch time, we just randomly popped into a building that looked like there might have some food options.
寿庵 Moze attracted us over with the yummy-looking pork. After all, one should always check out 黒豚 Kurobuta while in 鹿児島 Kagoshima 😀
We were surprised to be led to a private room 😮 Having browsed the menu outside the restaurant earlier, we quickly settled for the 黒豚しゃぶしゃぶランチ Kurobuta Shabu Shabu Lunch Set (¥2484) and 鹿児島グルメMOZEランチ Kagoshima Gourmet Lunch Set (¥1944). We did not have to wait too long in the cosy room before our food arrived.
黒豚居酒屋 辰己亭 Tatsumitei @Kagoshima, Japan
It seemed rather difficult to find a breakfast place near our hotel in 天文館 Tenmonkan area early in the morning, so we just randomly went into a place that was opened.
This Izakaya was either just opened, or had yet to close 😛 because the chefs looked “just-woken-up”.
We were the only customers, and opted to seat at the counter area to share a 黒豚キムチチーズ お好み焼き Kurobuta Kimchi Cheese Okonomiyaki (¥1200), which turned out to be really literal when the description mentioned “black (pork)”.
As the “chef” was rather busy with other stuff as well, (and at one point, we were wondering if she had indeed forgotten that there was “a piece of thing” on the frying pan) we ended up with a rather black okonomiyaki…
This was the worst meal in our entire 2 weeks in Japan… And we only blogged about it so that readers would not make the same mistake as us…
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黒かつ亭 Kurokatsutei @Kaogoshima, Japan
After visiting 桜島 Sakurajima, we returned to 鹿児島 Kagoshima in search of the famous and popular 黒かつ亭 中央駅本店 Kurokatsutei Kagoshima-Chuo Eki Honten for some delicious とんかつ Tonkatsu Deep Fried Pork Cutlet for dinner (they have another branch 黒かつ亭天文館店 Kurokatsutei Tenmonkan Branch in Kagoshima and one branch 黒かつ亭東京駅店 Kurokatsutei Tokyo Eki Branch in Tokyo Station).
黒豚 (Kurobuta) “Black Pork” refers to the skin colour of the animal, and are Berkshire pork that were originally imported to Kagoshima about 400 years ago.
We opted for the 上ロースかつ定食 Premium Loin Set (¥1,560) and 黒かつ亭定食 Loin & Fillet Set (¥1,380).
While the meat was juicy and had a good bite, we found the breaded crust to be a tad too oily. However, the generous amount of cabbage certainly helped to give it a refreshing lift. Surprisingly, we both felt that the simple カツカレー Curry Rice with Pork Cutlet that we found at 霧島神宮 Kirishima Jingu to be far more delicious. Perhaps the curry rice far exceeded our low expectations because it was relatively away from Kagoshima; while we had much higher expectations of the pork cuisine by restaurants located right in Kagoshima.
黒かつ亭 中央駅本店 Kurokatsutei Kagoshima-Chuo Eki Honten (Main Store):
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Categories: Dinner, Japan, Kagoshima, Travel
Tags: Japanese, katsu, pork cutlet, restaurant
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Half day trip to 桜島 Sakurajima @Kagoshima, Japan
From 高千穂 Takachiho, we took a bus to 延岡 Nobeoka, and then train to 宮崎 Miyazaki (to collect our luggage), and then continuing on to 鹿児島 Kagoshima. It was already close to 3pm by the time we reached our hotel to drop our luggage (and we started at 6am!).
Since the weather looked good, we thought we should cover 桜島 Sakurajima today, otherwise the whole day would seemed like it’s just taking different transport from Point A to Point B. 🙂
We had purchased the Kagoshima Welcome Cute Pass (¥1,500) (when we got off the train at 鹿児島中央駅 Kagoshima-Chuo Station), and so after checking-in and dropping our luggage, we rushed to take the tram (aka streetcar) from our hotel to Kagoshima Port. Through brisk walking, we made it in time to catch the 15:40 ferry to 桜島 Sakurajima, and arrived at the volcanic island a short 15 minutes later. 🙂
Eat.Eat.Walk.Walk . 吃吃走走 