Kumamoto

G'day again. Well it's been a while since the last update, and I've been pretty busy. Recently I spent 3 weeks in a city called Kumamoto, which is about 2 hours by bus from Sasebo. Kumamoto is a really cool city, had a lot of fun there.

So here are some photos from my time in Kumamoto city, which is in Kumamoto prefecture (state).


Kumamoto has really good nightlife compared to Sasebo, and I think we made the most of this opportunity that was presented to us. Many nights were spent exploring countless bars, and there were a few haunts that were regularly visited, which were popular with many gaijin (foreigners).

T.C. enjoying beers with some newly made Japanese friends. Y1,000 ($A11) nomehodai (all you can drink) for 3 hours!

We were pretty happy to find out that a bar was showing the Australia vs Greece game from the MCG, so we headed down and cheered the boys on to a great win. It was pretty funny watching the game with Japanese commentary, and their pronunciations of the Aussie players. There is a fair bit of interest in the Aussie team over hear for obvious reasons with Australia playing Japan in our respective opening World Cup games. I'll probably head up to Fukuoka to watch the game, it will be fun watching it in enemy territory.....let's hope the boys win and I get out alive!









The bartender jumps on the Socceroos bandwangon.

I had to take a photo of this fella, looking very pretty all in pink.

Hooking into some soup at an izakaya (kinda japanese pub).




Aso-San

I hired a car last week in Kumamoto and went for a cruise to have a look around Kumamoto prefecture, which has some great scenery. I had been there before when I went to Aso-san volcano last year, but it was good to have a car and see a fair bit more this time. Went to Aso-san again, as it looks a fair bit different at this time of year....a lot more greener.












On the rim of the volcano, with a green sulphur lake inside.











Luckily for me some of the road signs are in romaji (roman letters) so I can kind of understand. Although we did have a GPS system which constantly spoke to us in Japanese. I had to get the translations off Haruna.

Kurokawa

After Aso, we went onto Kurokawa, which is a famous town in Japan as it has some of the best natural hot springs on offer. Stayed in a ryoukan, which is a traditional Japanese styled accomodation. It was a great experience, having to don the yukata which is traditional dress in these places. The food was amazing and plentiful, and I cleaned up most of it, expect for the basashi (raw horse). We had a great private onsen (hot spring) which was very relaxing, a true Japanese experience all in all.




ryoukan based around the natural hot springs setting.

Me in a yukata.





Enjoying a feast.

The tastiest sashimi I've eaten. Snapper, Tuna and prawn.

Sometimes ya eat things and ya don't know what they are. Hence the fact that one time I had whale in my mouth without knowing it. Luckily I asked before i chewed it, and spat it out. Whale and horse are two things I can't eat. Here we have a prawn and raw sqiud, with some other food that I'm not sure of.

A tasty snack! Just pull them off the skewer and eat them head first, all of it. A bit crunchy, especially the bones, but not bad.

Kumamoto Castle

Standing prouder than 'a honeymooner's preverbial' in Kumamoto city is the aptly named Kumamoto Castle. It occupies a fairly substantial area and is a pretty interesting place to spend a couple of hours.

Kumamoto Delicacy: Basashi

A typical plate of sushi, although there is a special inclusion; basashi which as I said previously is raw horsemeat. It's to the right of the prawn, with the green topping. Not my idea of a meal but some people can literally say they could eat a horse. See below.

Yep T.C, who was in Kumamoto for a couple of weeks when I was there, sampled the local delight that is raw horse. It wasn't that long ago that he was cheering them on at the Caulfield Cup, now he prefers them on a plate with a little bit of spring onion and garlic for taste.

Suizenji Koen

This is a popular park (koen means park) in Kumamoto, showcasing a traditional japanese garden.

Well that's all the photos. Hopefully I'll be transferring to Fukuoka soon, the transfer was delayed because a couple of teachers suddenly quit without notice, so it was put on hold for a bit.....gotta love americans!

So that's news to now, hope to hear from you all soon.

By the way......Go Dees! Neita on fire!

Shutes.