Kyushu

Hello everyone,

sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Now I really have a lot to tell you.
Firstly about my work: I finally started on my first project. Of course I can't really give many details but it is a small team (4 people including me) and they are all very nice and help me out whenever I need it. I have been entrusted with the creation of manuals in english and it is actually something I am good at so it is fun.

After working for one week I finally had my first holidays! 9 days all in all. Of these 9 days I still have 3 days left and I plan on enjoying them. Unfortunately the weather turned rainy yesterday so I stay inside.

And now to what I did the first couple of days of my holidays: I went to Kyushu with my boyfriend for 4 days. And it was a really nice trip. We flew to Fukuoka on Sunday morning and from there took our rented car around the island. From Fukuoka we first went to the city of Dazaifu which was the administrative center of Kyushu for over 500 years (build in the 7th century). We went to Tenmangu Shrine and the small Komyozenji Tempel both very beautiful. Especially the old big trees at Tenmangu. Close to the Temple is a pedestrian area with nice shops and we ate a lot of different food there. There is actually more to see in the small city, but because we also wanted to have a look around in Fukuoka we went back relatively early.

Back in Fukuoka we checked into our hotel and after a short nap went to Fukuoka tower at the coast of the city. The view of the city was spectacular! Looking around made us hungry so we went to the Yatai (Food Stalls) in the center of the city. At these Food Stalls you can enjoy all the food Fukuoka is famous for. We chose Hakata Ramen and I have to say it was the best Ramen I have ever had! We had to wait in line for quite some time, because at each stall the seats are limited, but it was really worth it. And it was really part of the charm. With this our first day ended, we were tired and just wanted to sleep.

The next day we started late. After lunch we headed for Amakusa in Kumamoto prefecture. A couple of island with really nice atmosphere and scenery. We wanted to reach Jusanbutsu Park by sunset (which shouldn't have been a problem) but unfortunately the going was not only slow but incredibly slow and the time went by. It got darker and darker and we were about 5 km from our goal when we decided to just stop at the street and watch the sunset there. And it was magical. The sky was cloudless and in front of us was the big orange ball of light. In front the sea and some rocks sticking out of it. The pictures we took look nice but don't to the atmosphere any justice.
After the sun went town it was still bright enough so we went on to Jusanbutsu Park and looked around there for a bit before taking the long way to Kumamoto city.
We arrived there after 11 p.m. and were very hungry. The food Kumamoto is most famous for is Basashi (raw horse meat). So of course thats what we wanted to eat. Unfortunately all restaurants were full so instead we went to a steak bar which was introduced in our guide book. And it was delicious.

Day three we started early, since we hadn't yet seen anything of Kumamoto. So we went to the most iconic place of Komamoto, the castle. I have been to other castles in Japan (Osaka and Nagoya) and they are all similar but still very nice to visit. Afterwards we had lunch (Shabushabu) and had the chance to eat the famous raw horse meat, which by the way is really delicious. Then we made our way to Mount Aso an active volcano on the way to our next and last destination Beppu. Aso had just had a small eruption one week earlier and was still blowing fumes and smoke into the air, which is why we couldn't get very close. It was still very exciting to be so close to an active volcano. The nature around Aso was also very beautiful, everything was green with grass and trees and mountains. Really nice to look at.

Our way to Beppu was then a very short one without any delays and so we arrived before 6 p.m. We went and had lunch and afterwards went into the onsen (hot spring) of our ryokan (Japanese style hotel). Beppu is a very famous hot spring resort within Japan.

On our last day we went to the Jigoku, the hot springs that are very beautiful to look at. The water that emerges from the ground is up to 100 degrees hot and the fumes stink like rotten eggs but it is still magical. The different pools have different colors, from red to gray to blue or white.

 The hot ground is apparently very good for breeding crocodiles, so thats what they are doing. 

For lunch we had cold noodles and then we went back to Fukuoka to fly back home to Tokyo, both of us not really wanting to return, and just continue traveling for a couple more days.

When we get the chance we will definitely go traveling somewhere again, next time maybe outside of Japan. If only we didn't have work we would only be traveling!