Japan Trip Day 3: Kumamoto Castle & だん炭火烧肉 @ Kumamoto
For full itinerary, check out my Japan Trip 2014: 9D8N Hiroshima & Kyushu Area
Real journey started today!!!
Got so excited and we all obeyed the time and punctuality that set among us. First thing in the morning after breakfast was to walk all the way to Kumamoto Castle. The journey took about 15 minutes from our hotel.
Manholes in Japan are just too cute. Every corner is photogenic. Please spare more memory space while you are here in Japan.
Kato Kiyomasa Statue; seated in front of his Kumamoto Castle and dressed in kacchu battle armour and nagaeboshi helmet. The crafting of the statue is so lively like a real man!!!
Kumamoto Castle is one of the greatest castles in Japan, built by Kato Kiyomasa in 1607, within the circumference of 5.3km of the castle grounds, there used to be about 120 wells, 49 turrets, 18 turret gates and 29 castle gates. However, many of them were destroyed during the Seinan War of 1877. The present main castle tower was reconstructed in 1960. The stone walls surrounding the castle are called Mushagaeshi (repelling warriors) because of the acute angle and strength.
Try to get in from Hohoate Gomon (the main gate of Kumamoto Castle) and explore in sequence to cover all such as the Stone Carried with One’s Neck > Honmaru Goten Underground Passage > Shokun-no-ma > Tenshukaku Tower and the Gingko Trees > Kumamoto Castle Wells. But we made it the other way round and missed out some spots.
We entered from another gate. So… here are some exercise to do.
You are not allowed to take any photos inside the castle. Except this scenic view from the top floor.
Okay… picked up our rental car from Times Car Rental and went on for a road trip. Vrrroooommmm!!!
For you who do not know Japanese language (like me) but wish to go on for road trip, you really need to put efforts doing lots of homework. Jot down the coordinate and ask the staff to set it for you in the car GPS prior the road trip. English language is available too but… hmmm… maybe I just dunno how to function it. Oh yea… another thing you need before driving a car in Japan, the international license for foreigners.
First stop on the go… Yuuhoen Fruits Land 優峰園フルーツランド but ended up we did not enter to the fruit land for fruit plucking due to some delays and time wasting for lunch at だん炭火烧肉 and tea nearby.
You will just feel 幸せ with a simple hot piping fluffy origini here.
Beer also follows season in Japan. It was autumn then and they had the autumn flavour of beer.
Must have Mon’t Blanc on the chestnut season!
Homemade Ichigo Ice Cream
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Hello, Aso…
Next up, the most 幸せ stay throughout this trip. I will be sharing the onsen place I stayed, filled with 9 course dinner and the most 幸せ breakfast in my life… and it worth every cent spent.
