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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Kumamoto
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 – Kumamoto
Because of the recent earthquake, the 2 most famous landmarks of Kumamoto, Mt Aso and Kumamoto Castle, were out of bounds to tourists. Hence we spent most of our time here on trains, checking out the beautiful and casual rides throughout the countryside. So very few cafe hoppings in Kumamoto. 🙂
While we only tried 2 cafes in Kumamoto, we were very impressed by the coffee and desserts both times 🙂
Categories: Coffee/Tea Break, Japan, Kumamoto, Travel
Tags: cafe, cake, chai latte, cheesecake, flat white, latte
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菅乃屋 Suganoya @Kumamoto, Japan
While we did try horse meat at the Izakaya the day before, this was a planned lunch at this popular and famous chain that specializes in horse cuisines, which we requested the hotel to help us make reservations for.
Ordering was easy, because the menu came in various languages, and we opted for a 石焼ランチ Stone Grilled Lunch Set (¥2600), and an 馬握りランチ Assorted Horse Meat Sushi Lunch Set (¥3000).
The sets also came with 馬刺し Basashi Sashimi, so through this meal (and the ones the day before), we had satisfied our curiosity of Japanese horse meat cuisine 😛
While horse meat did taste a bit like beef, we still preferred beef 🙂 However, given the food quality of this restaurant, we still think it is worthwhile to come here for a good sampling of horse meat cuisine :).
Click here to view the locations of all outlets.
菅乃屋 上通店 Suganoya Kamidori Branch:
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Day trip in 熊本市 Kumamoto City, Japan
Today was meant to be a relaxing day in our itinerary, and we wanted to spend the day exploring 熊本市 Kumamoto City.
As 熊本城 Kumamoto Castle suffered serious damages during the earthquake in April 2016, it was closed to public, and we could only view it from outside.
However, there were signboards to guide you to various locations for viewing and also to provide more information regarding the castle.
We ended our walking tour at 城彩苑 Josaien Castle Town, located at 桜の馬場 Sakura no Baba, near the foot of Kumamoto Castle.
黑亭 Kokutei @Kumamoto, Japan
After a day of train-riding, and after dropping our luggage at our hotel, we went in search for dinner. Google suggested a popular Kumamoto ramen restaurant near 熊本駅 Kumamoto Station, so off we went looking for 黑亭 Kokutei in the light drizzle.
Though it was dinner time, there wasn’t much of a queue, and we got into the restaurant after about 10 minutes of waiting. While waiting, there was an English menu available for us to browse.
玉子入りラーメン (Tamago Iri Ramen) Ramen with Egg
豚そぼろ丼 (Buta Soboro Don) Rice Bowl with Pork and Vegetables
特製ギョーザ Special Gyoza
We shared a Ramen Set (¥1290) consisting of 玉子入りラーメン (Tamago Iri Ramen) Ramen with Egg, 豚そぼろ丼 (Buta Soboro Don) Rice Bowl with Pork and Vegetables, and 特製ギョーザ Special Gyoza. We thought the food was pretty decent 🙂
Note that there are 2 outlets, and you can check its website for the locations.
熊本ラーメン黒亭本店 Kokutei Main Store:
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Day trip to 人吉 Hitoyoshi @Kumamoto, Japan
This was a trip with quite a few train rides, and the one from 熊本 Kumamoto to 人吉 Hitoyoshi was with a very special coal-powered SL 人吉 SL (Steam Locomotive) Hitoyoshi.
We hopped onto the 8:02am Shinkansen MIZUHO 602 from 鹿児島中央 Kagoshima-Chuo for a 45-min train ride to 熊本 Kumamoto.
Upon reaching 熊本 Kumamoto Station, we dropped our luggage at the locker (¥600) and went hunting for some snacks to eat within the station. We got ourselves some yummy れんこんボール Lotus Root Balls (¥380), before we went searching for the train.
While SL 人吉 Hitoyoshi was scheduled to depart at 9:45am, it was already at the tracks waiting, at least 20 minutes earlier. This gave everyone plenty of time to get some pictures, even if you did not manage to get tickets for the ride.
Eat.Eat.Walk.Walk . 吃吃走走 