16/12/2015
Kyushu round island trip
清水竹灯り aka Bamboo light festival is an annual event in Ogi , Saga. Every year from 15Nov to 23rd Nov it will be held. This is my first time seeing Bamboo light up and was very amazed by how it's done. Not because they did the carving on the bamboos , but to light up so many candles every night for this event is a huge task, Yes it's not electric light bulbs but candles like those use in aromatherapy , there must be at least 1000s of it. and the grand finale is the light up at the waterfall. The other thing about visiting events like this in Japan is that , transport is well taken care of to prevent traffic jams. They provided free shuttle bus services at 2 different carparks to the event place.
12/12/2015
Ureshii! Ureshino (嬉野) – top three be…
Beauty - no longer a daily-topic just for the ladies, men too, are getting more receptive towards grooming.
If you are going to Kyushu and would like to indulge into a holistic retreat (be it as a solo or a family trip), you will never choose to miss going to:
Ureshino Onsen Town in Saga 佐賀Prefecture (northwest part of Kyushu Island): 1 of the top 3 beauty onsen in Japan!!!
I did a day-trip from Hakata ward of Fukuoka Prefecture/ City (so simple! so convenient to a gaikokujin/foreigner who doesn't know Japanese language) and it will not take you more than 100 minutes to reach the onsen town from Hakata.
So what is so happy and wonderful/ureshii about Ureshino? Ladies and gentlemen, vain or not, read on!
27/11/2015
Unforgettable Kyushu with my mom
Konnichiwa, everybody. I’m Tan from Bangkok. This is the first time in my life to travel with my mom in a foreign country. My mom has visited Japan a couple of times before. Specifically, she has been to Tokyo and Osaka with tour agents. I, myself, have traveled with friends to several cities in Japan during the past few years. But, for both of us, this is our first visit to Kyushu.
My mom was very impressed with Kyushu because of her last experienced in Japan mostly with tour agents and travelling in the big city but actually she really like country-side more than city-side.
Thanks to the nature of Kyushu that make her very happy. She said to me, “This is like the first time that I can feel really Japan.”
26/11/2015
My Second Kyushu Trip
I visited Kyushu again during 13-19 November 2015. My first time in Kyushu was in the same month of last year. Why Kyushu? The answer is because of the beautiful scenery of many perfectures and of course because of hot springs.
This year I've been to Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Saga and Oita Perfectures. With the rented car, I could go to many attractions. Kikuchi Keikoku Valley was also one of my destinations.
26/12/2014
The Smell of Kyushu is August
When some people think of Kyushu they think “Nagasaki Peace Park,” “Hakata Ramen,” “Kurokawa Onsen,” or “Mt. Aso and Sakurajima.” Of course, those are all wonderful experiences, but when I think of Kyushu, I think “nature.” I think long country roads, gushing waterfalls, rice-fields among forested mountains, and power spots.
I took a solo-road trip once through Kagoshima and Kumamoto. I had nothing by time, a car with a broken air-conditioner in the middle of a hot summer, and list of places I wanted to go, mostly a variety of waterfalls with a few other spots thrown in. I've been all over the world, but this trip holds a special place in my heart. Never in my life have I felt so at peace and happy. Nature brings happiness. Kyushu brings happiness.
I started out my tour with the beautiful Ryumontaki, a waterfall only about an hour drive away, hidden under the expressway and around a few tight corners. I reached it eventually and was so glad I did. It was summer vacation, but early enough in the day that the local kids hadn’t come out to play, or maybe they actually heeded the signs warning against swimming. I followed a gentle river to the bottom of the biggest waterfall I’d seen in Japan yet, and I love waterfalls, so I’ve seen a lot. The water gushed out from an alcove of giant rocks, forming a deep and enticing pool. Did I mention it was hot? I mean, really hot. It was easily 100F (38C) and more humid than any human should have to withstand and the air-conditioner in my little car didn’t work. With sweat dripping down my face just sitting in my car, relaxing next to a raging waterfall felt like heaven on Earth. Being alone, I heeded the warning signs and only went so far as to climb barefoot around the rocks and dip my feet into the cool, clear water; I wouldn’t want to be pulled into the depths with no one around to call to for help. After my refreshing half-dip, I followed a map to a path that I assumed would take me to the top of the waterfall, so I could gain a new perspective of the height and grandeur of the scene. Instead it led me through a forest filled with mosquitoes that sucked more of my blood than when I donated to the Red Cross a few years back. Spider webs crossed the path to the extent that if I was in any other country, I would think the path had been abandoned for months, but summer on Kyushu just has so many spiders that the webs are endless. The top of the path was confusing and overgrown. I could hear the waterfall clearly, but it remained hidden and out of reach. It was too hot for this, so I headed back down, hopped rocks back over the river and took my car up the mountain where other signs promised more waterfalls.
23/12/2014
Ceramics, Hikes, and Local Stories
KAMI-ARITA
Arita is a picturesque old town, surrounded by mountains, known for its ceramic kilns and pottery shops. The Kami-Arita train station is in the midst of the historic old section of Arita, where you can see tombei walls, made of bits of pottery and bricks from abandoned kilns. The main road between the Kami-Arita train station and the Arita train station is lined with pottery shops in historic buildings.
30/11/2014
Mifune-yama Rakuen : Saga
Mifune-yama Rakuen is a park which sprawls out on the western foot of Mt. Karafune, in Takeo city, Saga. The park hosts a variety of events such as tea parties and photography sessions. Once I came to Mifune-yama Rakuen is on early autumn.
23/11/2014
Japanese Kindness
I've been to Yutoku Inari shrine, Hizen kashima, Kyushu ,Japan in last two weeks, 15 November 2012.
We, I and my friends, have got a very impressive experience from tourist information center there.
We almost missed the train from Hizen kashima to Nagasaki. The train would arrived about 13.50 and we have only 15 minutes from the shrine to the station.
So, we decided to go to the tourist information, we've seen on the road just infront of the shrine, to ask them call us some taxi.
They are four persons there. A very kind female call a taxi for me. In the same time we show them the train tickets.
And when they knew the time we have to get to the train station, they seemed very excitied.
The first time they told the taxi to hurry up.
Next, they told taxi not to come, but a man there will take us to the station by tourist information car!
THEY ALL ARE VERY KIND!
We've reached the station 3 minutes before the train come.
We're so excited that we just say thank you to him many times.
We can continue our trip as we planned.
And we feel very impressed to japanese kindness.