My Great Solo Adventure: Kumamoto Day 1
I went on a short trip last weekend to Kumamoto City on Kyushu. I planned this trip a while ago because it was a long weekend and for the past couple years, the cherry blossoms had been in bloom. This trip was inspired originally too by the opening of the new Shinkansen line that would get me all the way from Kobe to Kumamoto by one train. But after contemplating the cost vs. the other option of using some of my ANA flight miles for a FREE FLIGHT, I decided to skip the train. Most of the Kyushu route is tunnels anyway that hurt my ears.
I worked on a Sunday in January for the prefecture debate contest so that gave me a day of daikyu to use for my trip. I had three full days planned of what should have been sakura-filled fun, but as the trip got closer my cherry blossom hopes were being crushed. The trees are extremely LATE this year. And in other sad news? All three of my vacation days had RAIN in the forecast. Darnit.
The first day of my trip was spent at Huis Ten Bosch. I picked to go there first because the first day of my trip looked to be the nicest, and luckily for me the forecast turned out right. The weather was beautiful and the day was great! My next two days were spent fluttering around a rainy Kumamoto City with an extreme lack of blooming cherry blossom trees.
My first stop was Kumamoto Castle. I bought the Castle Loop bus pass that would get me unlimited rides for a flat one-time fee of 300 yen. I decided to take the streetcar to the castle, though, because I wasn't sure where to get the bus and I wanted to ride the streetcar. The castle sits high up in the central part of the city so you can see it from far away as you approach. It's really beautiful at night, especially, because of how it glows with lights shining on it. But on this gloomy day, it was not glowing. Kumamoto castle is DARK, black to be exact, but still it's quite an impressive castle. The ticket guy was really nice and spoke to me in English and gave me a handy English Kumamoto City tour map. Thank you, ticket guy!! Once I got up to the top of the grounds, I took a rest in the little rest house to have breakfast and some matcha au lait. Most foreigners I know flip their lids over how great matcha is, but I just don't care for the stuff except in this matcha au lait form. It's a bit sweeter and quite tasty that way!
I went into the castle then as it was just starting to rain. Lots of people at the castle this day. I went around each floor pretty quickly looking at everything on display and got to the top where I took a few pictures of the view. By the time I left the castle, it was kind of a heavy mist outside so I needed my umbrella. I picked up some souvenirs in the shop before catching the bus to the Hosokawa House.
The Hosokawa House once belonged to a samurai family. When I read about this house, I expected to see cool samurai stuff... whatever that is. The house turned out to be a rather peaceful place, and quite large too. Lots of tatami rooms inside to explore. The rooms were set-up as they were when the family lived in this house, so it gives you a glimpse of the life of a samurai.
I wasn't sure where to go next and was looking at my city guide wondering if this city loop bus pass was really worth it. I took the bus to a couple stops down where there was a small museum art gallery. It was the annex of the city's actual art museum so there were a few small exhibits inside. This gave me something to do on a rainy day, and also got me away from the screaming child on the bus. By the time I got out, there was a light rain. I decided to put off my trip to the park for the next day, when I would be starting off my day in a much better mood no matter what the weather. I got the bus back to Kumamoto Station where my hotel was right across the street. The station is a pretty cool place. It's HUGE and in a tall gray building. It's a bit confusing because the train platforms are all over the place. The day before, I needed help finding the train that would get me to Huis Ten Bosch. Turned out the ticket gate I needed was on the other side of the station by the Shinkansen tracks. Even weirder to me? Not only does this station have a Platform 0... ZERO...but there are two: Platforms 0A and 0B. o_O
I popped into the hotel lobby to use the computer there and look up shopping centers with movie theaters since there are a couple movies I've been wanting to see. I found a YouMe mall in nearby Kikuyo (love that name) that also had a Toho Cinemas showing the movie True Grit in about 3 hours. Score! I looked up the train times and went on my way. This is when I discovered Platform 0B because that's where my train left from.
>What I saw of Kikuyo was a really cool. The sidewalk leading from the train station to the mall wasn't cement nor brick, it was SQUISHY. What a pleasant sidewalk to walk on, especially in the rain. The squishy blocks absorbed the water so there were no puddles and it wasn't slippery. I love this sidewalk! I had trouble finding the actual entrance to the mall and got annoyed as I was standing there in the rain and looking at an entrance all the way around on the other side of the street, but luckily I found one much closer. Didn't want to walk in the rain anymore. This rainy day in Kumamoto was starting to end well. I love going to the movies and browsing shopping malls. I went upstairs to get my movie ticket right away and then that gave me time to check out the mall. The first thing I discovered was a jewelery store. It was one of those types that sells all types of beads and stones. I looked around forever and kind of sad at the fact that this jewelery, while good quality and beautiful, is a bit expensive. I decided to think about it and walked around the mall some more, but I eventually made my way back to the stone shop. Had to get one of those bracelets! I picked one out that has blue and turquoise and crushed clear beads. I love my bracelet! I picked up a pesto shrimp sandwich to go and went back up to the movie theater, where I also got some of my favorite curry popcorn and the Rapunzel souvenir drink cup. Why yes, I was going to see True Grit and not Tangled with my Rapunzel cup! True Grit turned out to be a pretty good movie, the young girl actress was great, but some disturbing scenes spring up on you before you know what's happening. People suddenly getting shot and one guy randomly getting his fingers cut off. I was prepared for the snakebite scene since I read about it. I'll stop talking about that stuff now.
So now it was almost time to go. I checked the train schedule on my phone and had some time to pop into the grocery store where YES I found some crackers and Pepsi with the Snoopy charm prizes.
I got the train back and scurried up to my hotel where my green, muscat scented bath was waiting. Thank you, Toyoko Inn, for the free bath stuffs! :D
It's lunchtime here now and I'm hungry so I'll take a break on updating my vacation adventures and save Day 2 for later. In the meantime, here are my photos from the first day of my trip: http://pics.livejournal.com/brithla/gallery/0006y6k1.
I worked on a Sunday in January for the prefecture debate contest so that gave me a day of daikyu to use for my trip. I had three full days planned of what should have been sakura-filled fun, but as the trip got closer my cherry blossom hopes were being crushed. The trees are extremely LATE this year. And in other sad news? All three of my vacation days had RAIN in the forecast. Darnit.
The first day of my trip was spent at Huis Ten Bosch. I picked to go there first because the first day of my trip looked to be the nicest, and luckily for me the forecast turned out right. The weather was beautiful and the day was great! My next two days were spent fluttering around a rainy Kumamoto City with an extreme lack of blooming cherry blossom trees.
My first stop was Kumamoto Castle. I bought the Castle Loop bus pass that would get me unlimited rides for a flat one-time fee of 300 yen. I decided to take the streetcar to the castle, though, because I wasn't sure where to get the bus and I wanted to ride the streetcar. The castle sits high up in the central part of the city so you can see it from far away as you approach. It's really beautiful at night, especially, because of how it glows with lights shining on it. But on this gloomy day, it was not glowing. Kumamoto castle is DARK, black to be exact, but still it's quite an impressive castle. The ticket guy was really nice and spoke to me in English and gave me a handy English Kumamoto City tour map. Thank you, ticket guy!! Once I got up to the top of the grounds, I took a rest in the little rest house to have breakfast and some matcha au lait. Most foreigners I know flip their lids over how great matcha is, but I just don't care for the stuff except in this matcha au lait form. It's a bit sweeter and quite tasty that way!
I went into the castle then as it was just starting to rain. Lots of people at the castle this day. I went around each floor pretty quickly looking at everything on display and got to the top where I took a few pictures of the view. By the time I left the castle, it was kind of a heavy mist outside so I needed my umbrella. I picked up some souvenirs in the shop before catching the bus to the Hosokawa House.
The Hosokawa House once belonged to a samurai family. When I read about this house, I expected to see cool samurai stuff... whatever that is. The house turned out to be a rather peaceful place, and quite large too. Lots of tatami rooms inside to explore. The rooms were set-up as they were when the family lived in this house, so it gives you a glimpse of the life of a samurai.
I wasn't sure where to go next and was looking at my city guide wondering if this city loop bus pass was really worth it. I took the bus to a couple stops down where there was a small museum art gallery. It was the annex of the city's actual art museum so there were a few small exhibits inside. This gave me something to do on a rainy day, and also got me away from the screaming child on the bus. By the time I got out, there was a light rain. I decided to put off my trip to the park for the next day, when I would be starting off my day in a much better mood no matter what the weather. I got the bus back to Kumamoto Station where my hotel was right across the street. The station is a pretty cool place. It's HUGE and in a tall gray building. It's a bit confusing because the train platforms are all over the place. The day before, I needed help finding the train that would get me to Huis Ten Bosch. Turned out the ticket gate I needed was on the other side of the station by the Shinkansen tracks. Even weirder to me? Not only does this station have a Platform 0... ZERO...but there are two: Platforms 0A and 0B. o_O
I popped into the hotel lobby to use the computer there and look up shopping centers with movie theaters since there are a couple movies I've been wanting to see. I found a YouMe mall in nearby Kikuyo (love that name) that also had a Toho Cinemas showing the movie True Grit in about 3 hours. Score! I looked up the train times and went on my way. This is when I discovered Platform 0B because that's where my train left from.
>What I saw of Kikuyo was a really cool. The sidewalk leading from the train station to the mall wasn't cement nor brick, it was SQUISHY. What a pleasant sidewalk to walk on, especially in the rain. The squishy blocks absorbed the water so there were no puddles and it wasn't slippery. I love this sidewalk! I had trouble finding the actual entrance to the mall and got annoyed as I was standing there in the rain and looking at an entrance all the way around on the other side of the street, but luckily I found one much closer. Didn't want to walk in the rain anymore. This rainy day in Kumamoto was starting to end well. I love going to the movies and browsing shopping malls. I went upstairs to get my movie ticket right away and then that gave me time to check out the mall. The first thing I discovered was a jewelery store. It was one of those types that sells all types of beads and stones. I looked around forever and kind of sad at the fact that this jewelery, while good quality and beautiful, is a bit expensive. I decided to think about it and walked around the mall some more, but I eventually made my way back to the stone shop. Had to get one of those bracelets! I picked one out that has blue and turquoise and crushed clear beads. I love my bracelet! I picked up a pesto shrimp sandwich to go and went back up to the movie theater, where I also got some of my favorite curry popcorn and the Rapunzel souvenir drink cup. Why yes, I was going to see True Grit and not Tangled with my Rapunzel cup! True Grit turned out to be a pretty good movie, the young girl actress was great, but some disturbing scenes spring up on you before you know what's happening. People suddenly getting shot and one guy randomly getting his fingers cut off. I was prepared for the snakebite scene since I read about it. I'll stop talking about that stuff now.
So now it was almost time to go. I checked the train schedule on my phone and had some time to pop into the grocery store where YES I found some crackers and Pepsi with the Snoopy charm prizes.
I got the train back and scurried up to my hotel where my green, muscat scented bath was waiting. Thank you, Toyoko Inn, for the free bath stuffs! :D
It's lunchtime here now and I'm hungry so I'll take a break on updating my vacation adventures and save Day 2 for later. In the meantime, here are my photos from the first day of my trip: http://pics.livejournal.com/brithla/gallery/0006y6k1.