[Japan Travel]: Kagoshima - Day 1
And here is already the next travel entry (^^')> ..... 
So after Nagasaki and Kumamoto I went further down to Southern Kyuushuu this time. I visited Kagoshima (鹿児島) and stayed there for 3 whole days.
Kagoshima - Day 1 (August 14th, 2008):
Right the first thing I saw when I got off my train was Atsuhime (篤姫) everywhere (x___X) .... XDDD
That's outside of the station. Right beside it (on the right) was a huge shopping departement (and a Starbucks XD).
As you can see it was still quite early, so I went to my hotel right away to check in and then went to get some information.
There was a tourist bus thingie available that brings you to the main spots, so I decided to do that for the day.
That was in front of the bus stop closest to my hotel. As you might have already guessed it was SUPER hot .. I mean it's August, it's Japan and it's SOUTHERN Kyuushuu ... what else should I say? XD
And that was right beside the statues from the photo above. On the other side of the road was a Catholic church.
Anyway after taking these photos I tried to find a spot with some shadow while waiting for the bus ... and I tried hard not to melt x___X
This is what the bus looked like. Cute. The ride to the place I wanted to go was quite long, but at least it was cold in the bus ... just too many people in there.
So first of all I went to see the huge Senganen Garden and took tons of photos as it was REALLY beautiful there (just too hot ... the whole day x__X ...)
The heat and walking around so much made me hungry and it was noon anyway, so I decided to look for a place in there to get some food :D
Up on a hill there was a huge restaurant with this nice view. In the background you can see the active volcano Sakurajima which is only a few minutes away by ferry (but more about that later).
The restaurant looked expensive, but I didn't care. I just needed some cool place and some food! XD
Before I entered the restaurant I had to take another photo of the awesome landscape there, though XD
And that was my (well deserved XD) lunch :D It was yummie (no need to mention it, I guess?)
While having my lunch I enjoyed the great view and took a photo out of the window of the restaurant.
I took that photo when I left the restaurant. Yah ... too many photos from the same spot, but I REALLY LOVED that view ^^;
Aaand ... one more *ahem* .. XD
Of course there were a lot of colorful and beautiful flowers, too. I wonder how they could survive in that kind of heat x___X .... XD
That Garden was really huge and there was so much to discover. I think I took the most photos on that day there (^^') ....
KYAH! And right there is the sea!! Can you see it? (*___*) ... Paradise (apart from the heat XD)
Luckily there were some souvenir shops and exhibitions at times, so I escaped the heat by going there and checking out everything :)
Some people kept asking me what kind of awesome camera I have and if those colors are REAL or not.
First of all .. I have a pretty old camera and it's already falling apart (literally -__-) ... it's a Sony Cybershot (5.1 Megapixels). I intend to buy a new one once the old one has fallen apart completely which won't take too long anymore I guess.
Anyway, yes the colors are real. Japanese nature sometimes is really awesome!!! I love the bright colors that change throughout the year and change more often than just every season.
The thing is .. that the colors were actually even more vivid and breathtaking ... I guess with a better camera I could show you ^^; ....
Actually I'm glad that I took so many photos that day, because it was so hot, that I couldn't fully enjoy everything :)
But apart from that devilish heat it really felt like paradise!
Is that really Japan! Yes! I love Kyuushuu (*___*)
God! Just look at those colors! Blue, green .... it was sooooo great being there (*____*)
By chance I came across some of these shields. They showed some scenes from Atsuhime and explained that they were shot right here and blah and ... yah .. I don't watch Atsuhime, so I didn't go into fangirl mode at all ^^; ...
And that bridge was definitely in Atsuhime (according to the shield above XD).
I had to wait a while until I could take this photo as there were some Japanese fangirls taking photos of themselves on that bridge XD
ADWERWFSG!!! How awesome is that???!!! A cat shrine???!!! KYAH! I want a cat shrine, too (*___*)
And that's the actual cat shrine. Small, but uber-cute. And YES there's Hello Kitty ... for real! XD
And yet another photo of Sakurajima. This time there was quite a lot of fume coming out of it ^^;;
Then, I was stupid enough to climb up to the highest spot ... it took like forever and I was sweating and literally melting and I thought I would never make it! Furthermore there were no people at all. I only came across two other people who were on their way down and that was it. But the view from up there was awesome!!! I'm not sure if it was worth it, because I was really melting and had a headache after that and had to drink about 3 litres of water, but yeah .. XDDDDD
After that I left the garden and went to the next tourist spot not too far away: Kagoshima Aquarium (YEAH!!)
I've already been to the one in Osaka and was curious about this one! I really love Japanese aquariums :D
Right next to the Aquarium is the Ferry Terminal which allows you to go Sakurajima within ~10-15 minutes for only 105Yen (or something). While on my way to the entrance of the aquarium I took some photos of the Ferry Terminal ^^;
And finally in the Aquarium. First thing you see is this fancy escalator (*__*)
Okay ... you know the thing with aquariums, right? You're not allowed to use flash and then fish are moving all the time and ... what I want to say is that the quality of the following photos might not be the best, but I want to share them nevertheless (^^') ....
Actually this was a really huge aquarium thingie with tons of different types of fishies (*__*) I stood there for quite a while and just observed them. It was quite relaxing.
As you can see I was not the only person observing the fish (^^') ....
I love rays (*___*) ... they are so interesting <3
Awesome colors! Look at those shining blue fish (*__*)
And once again .. I found NEMO!!! XDDDD (Sorry, I can't resist XD)
Did I already mention that I love these colors? (*__*)
Uhm ... I really don't want to hurt this fish's feelings, but he looks a little bit ... brainless?! ^^; ....
And this one looks hyper and cute ^^;
Again awesome colors (*___*)
There was a small exhibition of photos or whatever so I took some photos of that, too ^^
I can't remember what these were, but they reminded me of the black thingies in Spirited Away ^^; (if you know what I'm talking about o_O?!)
Random, funny fish ^^;
Uhm .. squid (?) anyone?
You know .. seeing all of that really makes me want to go sea diving ^^;
BUT ... when I see this on the other hand .. uhm ... *runs away*
That was inside of the Aquarium. Nice view ^-^ .... It seems that Sakurajima is just everywhere XD
This really looks like some Southern European country or California or whatever, but I swear it's Japan XD
I LOVE this photo. Period.
Starfishes (*__*)
Jellyfish (x__X) ... I love to observe them .. when I'm safe that is XD
Lazy liguana (?) ... but cute somehow ^^
And then .... and then!!! .. I managed to see my FIRST dolphin show EVER!!! (*___*)
I came late so no free seats and there were quite a few people standing in front of me, but luckily most Japanese people are not so tall XD ....
It was soooo cute and I enjoyed it a lot :)
KYAH!! I wanna touch them (*__*)
Anyway after the dolphin show I left the aquarium and went to the Ferry Terminal to go to Sakurajima (and return when it's getting dark).
That was already taken when I was on a ferry. Good-bye Kagoshima, good-bye Ferry Terminal XD
And Hello Sakurajima. It was really a short ride :D
Here I come! XD
I didn't have any plans, so I just sat into the next bus (the only option you'll have without a car there) and left the bus a few stops later. I was in nowhereland ... I had no idea where I was, but the scenery was absolutely beautiful.
I took some photos and just enjoyed the scenery for a while, while waiting for the next bus to return back to the terminal.
I had to wait for quite a while, but I didn't care at all. Just look at this photo and you'll know why ;)
I guess it would be awesome to live there, but then again ... there's this active volcano and all ... too dangerous (and too hot XD).
Back at the terminal it was still not completely dark, so I decided to walk around a bit more. I ended up at this shrine. That's when my body gave up. I started shivering, had a headache and was hungry like woah.
I just sat down, ate a cookie (that was all I had at that time) and took a rest until my condition became better again (^^') ....
From up there you also could see Sakurajima quite clearly, so I took a photo again ^^;
Finally back on the ferry, the sun was setting and I took this awesome photo (*__*)
Back in Kagoshima I decided to go to bed right away. My body was kind of tired of all that travelling and then THAT heat, so I decided to take a break the next day and do nothing but relax. Meaning I would only walk around a bit without running from one tourist spot to the next. Nevertheless day 2 in Kagoshima was quite interesting, too.
Camera used:
Sony Cybershot DSC-W1
I hope you'll be looking forward to more Kagoshima, Sakurajima pics XDDD
Bye~chu!~
So after Nagasaki and Kumamoto I went further down to Southern Kyuushuu this time. I visited Kagoshima (鹿児島) and stayed there for 3 whole days.
Kagoshima - Day 1 (August 14th, 2008):
Right the first thing I saw when I got off my train was Atsuhime (篤姫) everywhere (x___X) .... XDDD
That's outside of the station. Right beside it (on the right) was a huge shopping departement (and a Starbucks XD).
As you can see it was still quite early, so I went to my hotel right away to check in and then went to get some information.
There was a tourist bus thingie available that brings you to the main spots, so I decided to do that for the day.
That was in front of the bus stop closest to my hotel. As you might have already guessed it was SUPER hot .. I mean it's August, it's Japan and it's SOUTHERN Kyuushuu ... what else should I say? XD
And that was right beside the statues from the photo above. On the other side of the road was a Catholic church.
Anyway after taking these photos I tried to find a spot with some shadow while waiting for the bus ... and I tried hard not to melt x___X
This is what the bus looked like. Cute. The ride to the place I wanted to go was quite long, but at least it was cold in the bus ... just too many people in there.
So first of all I went to see the huge Senganen Garden and took tons of photos as it was REALLY beautiful there (just too hot ... the whole day x__X ...)
The heat and walking around so much made me hungry and it was noon anyway, so I decided to look for a place in there to get some food :D
Up on a hill there was a huge restaurant with this nice view. In the background you can see the active volcano Sakurajima which is only a few minutes away by ferry (but more about that later).
The restaurant looked expensive, but I didn't care. I just needed some cool place and some food! XD
Before I entered the restaurant I had to take another photo of the awesome landscape there, though XD
And that was my (well deserved XD) lunch :D It was yummie (no need to mention it, I guess?)
While having my lunch I enjoyed the great view and took a photo out of the window of the restaurant.
I took that photo when I left the restaurant. Yah ... too many photos from the same spot, but I REALLY LOVED that view ^^;
Aaand ... one more *ahem* .. XD
Of course there were a lot of colorful and beautiful flowers, too. I wonder how they could survive in that kind of heat x___X .... XD
That Garden was really huge and there was so much to discover. I think I took the most photos on that day there (^^') ....
KYAH! And right there is the sea!! Can you see it? (*___*) ... Paradise (apart from the heat XD)
Luckily there were some souvenir shops and exhibitions at times, so I escaped the heat by going there and checking out everything :)
Some people kept asking me what kind of awesome camera I have and if those colors are REAL or not.
First of all .. I have a pretty old camera and it's already falling apart (literally -__-) ... it's a Sony Cybershot (5.1 Megapixels). I intend to buy a new one once the old one has fallen apart completely which won't take too long anymore I guess.
Anyway, yes the colors are real. Japanese nature sometimes is really awesome!!! I love the bright colors that change throughout the year and change more often than just every season.
The thing is .. that the colors were actually even more vivid and breathtaking ... I guess with a better camera I could show you ^^; ....
Actually I'm glad that I took so many photos that day, because it was so hot, that I couldn't fully enjoy everything :)
But apart from that devilish heat it really felt like paradise!
Is that really Japan! Yes! I love Kyuushuu (*___*)
God! Just look at those colors! Blue, green .... it was sooooo great being there (*____*)
By chance I came across some of these shields. They showed some scenes from Atsuhime and explained that they were shot right here and blah and ... yah .. I don't watch Atsuhime, so I didn't go into fangirl mode at all ^^; ...
And that bridge was definitely in Atsuhime (according to the shield above XD).
I had to wait a while until I could take this photo as there were some Japanese fangirls taking photos of themselves on that bridge XD
ADWERWFSG!!! How awesome is that???!!! A cat shrine???!!! KYAH! I want a cat shrine, too (*___*)
And that's the actual cat shrine. Small, but uber-cute. And YES there's Hello Kitty ... for real! XD
And yet another photo of Sakurajima. This time there was quite a lot of fume coming out of it ^^;;
Then, I was stupid enough to climb up to the highest spot ... it took like forever and I was sweating and literally melting and I thought I would never make it! Furthermore there were no people at all. I only came across two other people who were on their way down and that was it. But the view from up there was awesome!!! I'm not sure if it was worth it, because I was really melting and had a headache after that and had to drink about 3 litres of water, but yeah .. XDDDDD
After that I left the garden and went to the next tourist spot not too far away: Kagoshima Aquarium (YEAH!!)
I've already been to the one in Osaka and was curious about this one! I really love Japanese aquariums :D
Right next to the Aquarium is the Ferry Terminal which allows you to go Sakurajima within ~10-15 minutes for only 105Yen (or something). While on my way to the entrance of the aquarium I took some photos of the Ferry Terminal ^^;
And finally in the Aquarium. First thing you see is this fancy escalator (*__*)
Okay ... you know the thing with aquariums, right? You're not allowed to use flash and then fish are moving all the time and ... what I want to say is that the quality of the following photos might not be the best, but I want to share them nevertheless (^^') ....
Actually this was a really huge aquarium thingie with tons of different types of fishies (*__*) I stood there for quite a while and just observed them. It was quite relaxing.
As you can see I was not the only person observing the fish (^^') ....
I love rays (*___*) ... they are so interesting <3
Awesome colors! Look at those shining blue fish (*__*)
And once again .. I found NEMO!!! XDDDD (Sorry, I can't resist XD)
Did I already mention that I love these colors? (*__*)
Uhm ... I really don't want to hurt this fish's feelings, but he looks a little bit ... brainless?! ^^; ....
And this one looks hyper and cute ^^;
Again awesome colors (*___*)
There was a small exhibition of photos or whatever so I took some photos of that, too ^^
I can't remember what these were, but they reminded me of the black thingies in Spirited Away ^^; (if you know what I'm talking about o_O?!)
Random, funny fish ^^;
Uhm .. squid (?) anyone?
You know .. seeing all of that really makes me want to go sea diving ^^;
BUT ... when I see this on the other hand .. uhm ... *runs away*
That was inside of the Aquarium. Nice view ^-^ .... It seems that Sakurajima is just everywhere XD
This really looks like some Southern European country or California or whatever, but I swear it's Japan XD
I LOVE this photo. Period.
Starfishes (*__*)
Jellyfish (x__X) ... I love to observe them .. when I'm safe that is XD
Lazy liguana (?) ... but cute somehow ^^
And then .... and then!!! .. I managed to see my FIRST dolphin show EVER!!! (*___*)
I came late so no free seats and there were quite a few people standing in front of me, but luckily most Japanese people are not so tall XD ....
It was soooo cute and I enjoyed it a lot :)
KYAH!! I wanna touch them (*__*)
Anyway after the dolphin show I left the aquarium and went to the Ferry Terminal to go to Sakurajima (and return when it's getting dark).
That was already taken when I was on a ferry. Good-bye Kagoshima, good-bye Ferry Terminal XD
And Hello Sakurajima. It was really a short ride :D
Here I come! XD
I didn't have any plans, so I just sat into the next bus (the only option you'll have without a car there) and left the bus a few stops later. I was in nowhereland ... I had no idea where I was, but the scenery was absolutely beautiful.
I took some photos and just enjoyed the scenery for a while, while waiting for the next bus to return back to the terminal.
I had to wait for quite a while, but I didn't care at all. Just look at this photo and you'll know why ;)
I guess it would be awesome to live there, but then again ... there's this active volcano and all ... too dangerous (and too hot XD).
Back at the terminal it was still not completely dark, so I decided to walk around a bit more. I ended up at this shrine. That's when my body gave up. I started shivering, had a headache and was hungry like woah.
I just sat down, ate a cookie (that was all I had at that time) and took a rest until my condition became better again (^^') ....
From up there you also could see Sakurajima quite clearly, so I took a photo again ^^;
Finally back on the ferry, the sun was setting and I took this awesome photo (*__*)
Back in Kagoshima I decided to go to bed right away. My body was kind of tired of all that travelling and then THAT heat, so I decided to take a break the next day and do nothing but relax. Meaning I would only walk around a bit without running from one tourist spot to the next. Nevertheless day 2 in Kagoshima was quite interesting, too.
Camera used:
Sony Cybershot DSC-W1
I hope you'll be looking forward to more Kagoshima, Sakurajima pics XDDD
Bye~chu!~