Me and my sister are no strangers to Japan. Both of us have been to Japan many times visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima etc But this is our first time travelling to Kyushu in November 2014. Hence, we planned for a 2 weeks trip to give us enough time to take in all the sights and attractions that we have researched on. In this article, we will give some highlights and insights on those that left a deep impression on us as we travelled through Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Oita, Miyazaki.

First up is an idyllic getaway on Nokonoshima Island (Fukuoka).

Nokonoshima Island is about 10-15 minutes by ferry from Meinohama. It's a very small, tranquil and scenic island to explore. You can rent a bicycle to cycle around the island, like what we did. There's hourly rental and full day rental. We rented 2 bikes for 2 hours. It's very cheap and convenient to rent a bike. The bike rental kiosk is right in front of the Noko Ferry Passenger Terminal.

Free dolphin show @ Fukuoka. This is simply not to be missed as it's free and and a public area. There are a few dolphin shows a day and you can get a very good view of the dolphin performing tricks right before you eyes. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Fukuoka Tower
Although we didn't go up the Fukuoka Tower (the symbolic building of Fukuoka's western subcenter of 234m tall), we had a fun time taking picture with the Fukuoka Tower at this special photo spot. You can place your mobile phone on a designated spot at the kiosk to get a fantastic photo of yourself with the Fukuoka Tower.

Nagasaki’s splendid night view at Mount Inasa
The view is simply spectacular. With Nagasaki port at the center, mountains loom on three sides. Homes and city lights populate the slopes, their lights mingling with the twinkling stars in the sky. The best way to enjoy this view is to take the glass-paneled gondola ropeway up to Mt. Inasa.

At the World Night View Summit in 2012, Nagasaki was recognized as one of the 3 cities with the most spectacular night views in the world.

I recommend you to take the gondola ropeway up just before sunset so that you can enjoy the beautiful sun set right in front of your eyes and also see the contrast between the day and the night view.

Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium
There are 18 types of penguins around the world and you can see 8 types, 155 penguins here in Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium. More than half of them were born in Nagasaki.

The admission fee for adult is a mere ¥500 and you can buy a bucket of 5 fishes to feed the penguin at ¥100.

My favourite is the King penguin.

Takachiho Gorge (Miyazaki)
The Takachiho Gorge was designated a National Scenic and Natural Monument in 1934. The spectacular steep walls of the Takachiho Gorge were formed by “columnar jointing”, caused by rapid cooling of an ancient lava flow that filled the narrow valley of the Gokase River Mt. Aso erupted.

You can rent a rowing boat and sail along under the waterfalls to get a good view of Takachiho Gorge. We highly recommend it. It's a fabulous experience. Moreover, you can get an up-close view of the mandarin ducks swimming at the river.

Cost per boat: ¥2000 for 30 minutes
Boat capacity: 3 people per boat
Boat rental hours: 8:30 ~ 16:30 daily

Also, not to be missed is to try out the Somen Nagashi, which is a very thin wheat noodles placed in a bamboo trough and doused with boiling water. This style of noodle cooking originated in Takachiho.

Hot Sand Bath at Beppu (Oita Prefecture)
What sets Beppu apart from other onsen resorts is not only its abundance of thermal waters, but also the wide range of bath types that can be enjoyed there. One of which is the sand baths, where bathers are buried in naturally heated sand. It's not advisable to stay buried for more than 10mins. It was quite an experience for me and my sister and totally a novelty for us.

We did our hot sand bath at Ibusuki Sand Bath. Entry to the sand baths costs ¥1000 which includes a towel – yours to keep – and yukata (robe) rental.

Kyushu Natural Zoological Park, African Safari at Oita Prefecture.
The African Safari Park is a few miles outside of Beppu and it employs a very different concept. Usually, the animals are the ones in the enclosure. But over here, the visitors are the ones who have to stay in the small enclosures (in a Jungle Bus) while the animals roam freely (well, to a certain degree).

In an extensive area of about 115ha, 1300 animals of 70 different kinds such as giraffes, tigers and lions are living.

There are two ways to visit the park. Either to drive your own car or take the Jungle Bus provided by the park. We choose the latter which took us around the park and from which we can feed the animals directly with our long tongs. You can see the food tray given to us when we board the Jungle Bus. It contains stuff like meats and fruits where we fed to the animals. To me, this Safari Park is a must go for anyone who visits Kyushu. The experience is simply exhilarating.

Takasakiyama Monkey Park at Beppu
This is a natural habitat to more than 1500 wild Japanese monkeys. The monkeys are fed regularly by park wardens in order to keep them on the mountain and prevent conflicts with farmers and residents in the neighborhood. To be frank, we have never seen that many monkeys in our life. But good thing is the monkeys here are very well behaved and do not attack the visitors. In fact, they couldn't be bothered about us. They just go about their own business. But being our first time so up-close with so many monkeys, it was quite a treat. We took many many pictures of the red buttock monkeys here. ha ha ha.....

On this trip, we took many mode of transport - buses, taxi, trams / streetcars, Shinkansen, and especially the local trains. The most unique to us is the Limited express Yufuin No Mori, which is a highland resort express train which operates between Hakata (Fukuoka) and Yufuin, one of the most popular hot spring resorts in Kyushu.

When the train passes a scenic area, announcements will be made in English and Japanese and the train slows down around the view spots.

Kumamoto Castle is one of the most impressive castles in Japan. With large castle grounds and a variety of buildings, Kumamoto Castle offers its visitors one of the most complete castle experiences in Japan. Only a few structures have survived the centuries since the castle's construction in 1607 intact.

Beppu Ropeway
You can experience a walk in the air from the height of 503 meters to the top of Tsurumi mountain which is 1300 meters. On a sunny day, you can see Shikoku, and even Chugoku area of Japan.

It cost ¥1600 for a round trip.

This is a view from the top. Beautiful isn't it.

Finally, let me conclude my article with the food of Japan. We had our best Yakitori sticks and Tonkotsu Ramen at Kurume. Thanks to the Tourist Bureau at the Kurume station who introduced us to the best restaurants around Kurume station. Tonkotsu Ramen originates from Kurume we were told. We also had the best Unagi Don in our life. We were honoured to be invited to the kitchen to observe how the chef kill the live eel and put it on the grill to become food for us. We also tried sashimi, Kurobuta, Kuroushi, tako-yaki, grilled Ika (Squid), etc. Not to forget Choya and the numerous green tea ice-cream that i take as well.

This time round, our only regret is not able to do a white water rafting at Kumamoto River. We hope to be back in a different season to do the rafting.