Kumamoto - Aso Volcano & Temple 熊本阿蘇山と阿蘇神社(27th May 2015)

Aso Volcano is one of the most famous spots in Kumamto. It's a live volcano in Aso area and I have heard that you can ride on a cable car which go pass the top of the volcano so that you can take a look from the sky at the volcano!

Because it takes 1 hour and 45 mins to go from Kumamoto station to Aso station, we had a big breakfast before we set off!  

Ramen shops usually opens at about 11 oclock so most of them were​​ closed >< But because we are in Kyushu which is extremely famous for Ramen, we were determined to find one in the morning! 

 

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This ramen was good but I prefer the Kaogshima flavour better because the soup was thicker and has heavier taste than this one.

 This restaurant opens 24 hours~​​

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Then we set off! The train ticket was quite expensive, costing 1110 yen.

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Arriving at the Aso station, you will see the stop seeing the modern buildings you saw in Kumamoto city. 

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Instead you will see this very relaxing view with very fresh air! There isn't much in front of the station so people normally then heads to the Asosan - volcano! 

To continue please click here: 

http://twinkieruby.wix.com/engulfingmyway#!Kumamoto-Aso-Volcano-Temple-熊本阿蘇山と阿蘇神社27th-May-2015/c112t/566fe09f0cf2fb0fe5aed70b

Kumamoto Aso Akaushi roasted on hot plate~熊本阿蘇 あか牛篇 (27th May 2015)

 Meat is one of my favourites and beef is definitely on my top list.

Last time I have tried the Kagoshima beef, and now I just can't let the Akaushi which means red beef escape! 

Unfortunately, we were running out of time after travelling to the Aso Mountain. Therefore, not a lot of restaurant were still opened in Aso area. Therefore, we travelled back to Kumamoto station and tried to find bbq restaurants that will sell that!

The one we found close by was inside the Sakura no Kouji (next to the Kumamoto Castle)  - please see my last entry for that.

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This restaurant is called Asoyamami and it sells very traditional sets of Japanese meals.

The interior of the restaurant is very a traditional wooden one and there are set seats where you have to take off your shoes and kneel to sit.

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I ordered this Akaushi Don set - which is simply grilled beef on the top of Japanese rice + tofu soup

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This set costed 1600 yen. Yeah it's very expensive. But I think this is because this restaurant is located in the very main tourist area, that's why... If I went back to the shopping street, the price might be lower.

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But this beef was very soft and melted inside my mouth! It was medium rare and so you can really taste the juicy beef + a bit of blood. But it was very appetizing and I didn't feel it was enough. (As you see the bowl size isn't big)

As it was nearly the last night of being in Kumamoto, I wanted to eat horse meat one more time ^^ So I ordered this:

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You can order separate Akaushi meat! I think it was 1500 yen.

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Then you will grill it on a thick metal plate!! 

It was really soft and tender that it melts in your mouth! Oh and you don't need any sauce when you eat it!!! Cos it's so delicious as it is already!

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My friends also ordered horse meat! It costed 1000yen - a lot cheaper than the Akaushi beef!

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The thing I love about grilling it yourself is that you can choose how it is done! Rare to medium rare is my favourite btw!! 

The horse meat was cut into very thin layers so it's not tough and easy to chew!

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And at the end, they sold this Cremia ice-cream! costed 500yen. Like I said before, this was the best ice-cream I have ever tried in my life that I have eaten it over 4 times in a month! (Basically if I see one, I will buy one ^^)

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The cone is a bisuit crepe which is quite sweet but matches the super creamy and milky ice-cream!!! It's too rich to describe but you will feel like you are in heaven!! I swear it's better than Ben and Jerry and haagen-dazs or any other brand!

It's made of 25% Raw cream and it doesn't taste too sweet! 

If you are a cream and milk person, you really better should try one!! I hope this is coming to HK soon!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kumamoto sakuranokouji 熊本桜の小路(26th May)

As being a typical Japanese tourist place, right next to the Kumamoto Castle, there is this area like a food/souvenir street where you can find the local famous food and restaurant, and buy souvenirs that will remind you of the memories you had there.

Sakuranokouji means a small pathway~

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As you go up the slopes, Sakuranokouji is on the left and if you continue to the right, it's the Kumamoto castle.

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Near the entrance, you can see Japanese traditional buildings and decorations such as the pretty umbrellas~

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To continue please go to this site!
http://twinkieruby.wix.com/engulfingmyway#!Kumamoto-sakuranokouji-熊本桜の小路26th-May/c112t/566cda660cf2beecdd8551aa

Kumamoto Castle 熊本城 (25th May 2015)

When you talk about Kumamoto, except for the Kumamon (the character that represents Kumamoto - can be found in my last Kumamoto entry), the Kumamotojyo - which means castle is definitely one that cannot be ignored!

But then being one of the city girls, I am not quite so into the history of the castle so surely I wouldn't want to pay to get to see the inside of the castle! So this entry might disappoint you that it will give you no information whatsoever about the paid area of the Kumamoto Castle.

<----Walking towards the castle entrance.

Before you get to the main entrance of the castle, you will have to walk pass these ancient doors

But then if you are interest in entering inside. Here is the ticket info:

1 adult = 500 yen

child (primary and secondary school) = 200 yen 

This is the main entrance where you will be buying the ticket from. Once you enter that wooden door, you will have to pay!

But you know what? Inside must be stuffed with people so we stayed outside and get all views by ourselves and took our own special photo album!

Actually, walking around the outside wall of the castle is also a big walk. But seeming the weather is so nice and the grass are so green, it was an enjoyable walk!

Japanese people are always very nice and will ask us whether we want to take a photo together! <3 thx so muchXD

And this lake/ river that is also located outside the castle! Next time if I go there again, I will definitely do a picnic there!

Homepage of the castle: http://www.manyou-kumamoto.jp/castle/

Sorry for being such a short entry, next time I will be talking about the more exciting sakuranobaba street which is located just next door to the castle. It's like a shopping street with lots of food and things to see! 

Kumamoto 熊本 ~ Raw horse meat 馬刺し+BBQ horse! (25th May 2015)

Maybe horse meat is very common in the Europe side e.g. France. But in Asian countries, it's not so...

Although horse meat can be common for Westerners, raw ones that can be eaten just like that might not be so! This time we went to look for the famous horse meat in Kumamoto!

Like I said in my last blog, I was staying in a public bath/ sauna place so we are actually inside the shopping street!

photo guide provided by the website

There is one horse meat restaurant that is very catchy when you walked passed it, so we decided to go there after we met up with the 2 new joiners of this graduation trip! It's called Kumamoto Baniku Yokocho (meaning Horse meat in one of the side streets)

As we are eating quite late, we didn't order too much (but still bbq is quite heavy for night snacks)

Raw Horse meat that can be eaten just like that.

We weren't really sure whether we will like it, so we ordered the smallest size!

Basashi (Raw Horse meat) is quite expensive to eat: For 1 person = 1200 yen. 2 persons: 2400yen etc. (please visit the website menu here http://kumamotobaniku.com/menu.php)

I must say it's tougher than raw beef and taste quite raw in the sense that you know you are eating horse? It's not too hard to chew but you have to make an effort. It doesn't have a strong taste by itself so adding sauce is definitely a good choice.

But if you ask me to choose, I will definitely choose the bbq horse meat over this. Or I will choose raw fish instead.

Horse meat f or bbq  for 2persons

As we didn't know which part of the horse will taste the best, we ordered the "Total Horse Meat Combination" set. (though if you are expert on eating this, you can order parts separately)

This set combination price is: - 1 person: 1600 yen; 2 persons 3200 yen, 3 persons 4800 yen; 4 persons 6400 yen (all excluded tax). We ordered a 2 persons one.

We were sitting on the seats where you have to take off your socks and sit on the wooden floor. ^^

The horse meat tasted delicious! After it's bbqed, it tasted completely different from the raw ones. It's tender and easy to eat and it tastes kind of like beef!! 

The oil made it super meaty and I will definitely go and retry!

Horse meat croquette 550yen

Croquette is one of my favourite Japanese food and I was sooooo excited to see a croquette that is made  specially of horse meat!! 

Like all other croquette, it tasted delicious! But you can't really taste the horse meat though.(shame) But still, if you also like harsh brown or fried sweet potato/ potato, you will definitely like it!! 

Homepage of this restaurant:  http://kumamotobaniku.com/shop.php

map

Please message me if you have any questions!

Kumamoto 熊本Day 1 ~ Staying near the Shopping Street~ (24th - 25th May 2015)

Taking the train from Oita to Kumamoto wasn't that expensive. There was a set price for two persons. I think it was about 3100 for 2 people?

So it's like 1500yen for one person. I bought this from the station - NOT THE MACHINE cos sometimes it's more expensive to buy from machine?

Japan is well-known for its expensive transportation so this isn't too bad.

It took about 3 hours to arrive and then we started to search for our hostel.

Because the street looks kind of the same to us, we got lost on the way. But then we met these nice Japanese people who guided us till we reached the building!! (I really do find Japanese people in Kyushu very nice because they always take you to where you want, instead of just pointing you to the direction)

The hostel is called ginza capsule hotel (http://the-ginza.jp/) and it's already the cheapest one I can find. It;s 2200yen per person per night but the room we are staying in is not a private room, nor a dormitory.

It is actually a public sauna/bath place where you can read manga, watch tv, take a hot public bath etc.

But if you are staying for more than 1 day it's not really recommended because the locket is not big enough to put your suitcase in and you will have to ask the lobby to take care of it.

outlook of the building

Moreover, we got told off by them that we shouldn't put our washed items to dry on their shelves. So although you can use their towel, clothes, toothbrush... try to keep it clean! (...not like us...I think we got blacklisted by them o.o''' We are really sorry though...)

public bath

Plus, people are free to enter that room at any time so you might be disturbed by other people while you are sleeping. 

But the equipments and baths are 24 hrs so that's a plus side.

This capsule hostel is at one of the side street of the lively shopping streets so it's very handy!!





For breakfast, we had soba set and tenpura (Fried prawn)

 After filling our tummy, we set off to look for things to do in Kumamoto! We found this tourist center near the Kumamoto castle!

This is the famous Kumamoto bear... It's the most famous out of all the representative characters of Japan

And Kumamoto is very famous for its fresh vegetables e.g. tomato, strawberries.


Here is freshly blend strawberry juice!

This was bought near the Kumamoto castle (I will be introducing this place in my next entry!)

This juice is no sugar added so it's not sweet but it's not sour either. It can definitely clear up the taste of whatever you were eating.










I know Kyushu is probably not the best place to find Fish market, but since I came to Japan, I was very determined to find one!!

And finally I found one on the internet! http://kumamoto-tasaki-ichiba.co.jp/
So we went looking for it!





But because we don't have a car, it takes a long time and it's quite hard to find! I think we were walking 30-45 mins to find it.







I have to say though, the weather is too good!! So we didn't really mind walking...


But then by the time we reached there, it's kind of all closed? >< So we went to find the nearest restaurant (since we came already!! We must find one!!!)


Then on one of the corner, we saw this sashima restaurant and there were quite a lot of people who were having their lunch hour off!


So we followed them and entered!

It's a shame that we couldn't get one of the traditional seats where you have to take off your shoes and sit on a tatami.

Then we ordered seafood!!

My favorite raw fish (sashimi) is prawn and Scallops! But since this was their recommended dish of the day, I ordered it!

It has squid, sea urchin, prawn, tuna, salmon, fish eggs etc

My friend's set

(sorry I can't get the photo the other way round...)

Please stay tuned for my next entry~!