ORD Black Book: Day 3: Fukuoka / Kumamoto

Woke up late....

( picture taken at 07/03/2013 1030h)

Did not have the heart to force them to wake up, so I went exploring and taking pictures of the ryokan.
A view of the mini-garden just outside our room

A curious little guy, I do not know what he symbolize.

A hidden room with more futons.....we can fit a fifth person here. However, how long have these futons been stored here without being aired out. begs to be questioned.

A room being aired by room service after the guest just checked out. Yap, room service already finished for most of the other rooms, yet we are still sleeping. We made them wait quite long everyday.

A separate set of slippers to change into when going toilet.

A bigger garden at the center of the ryokan, complete with a shrine.

Hey, it's the receptionist. She's changing the water ( or sake? ), arranging the leaves of the inari altar. When done, clasped her hands together in prayer, bowed twice, clapped twice, bowed again, before leaving.
And there was a separate set of slippers for the garden as well. Lol.

Nicely hidden behind the leaves is a mirror at the back of the altar. Had to twist myself at a awkward angle to finally see it.

Back to the station for our Shinkansen ride to Kumamoto

The train schedule is available on the platform. Arranged in a chronological manner, with details on which train and when, it was easy to comprehend and highly accurate, due to Japanese's emphasis on punctuality.

This time, we never reserve any seats, go we had to line up at the non-reserved seats portion of the Shinkansen.
Note: Most of the carriages of the Shinkansen is for reservations only, but there will be 1-3 carriages that do not need reservations, but we need to queue up for it, and it is subjected to availability. Fortunately, it wasn't rush hour, so all of us managed to get on the first train heading to Kumamoto.

Notice the short skirts. Despite the cold weather, this is a very very common sight. Japanese girls have bionic legs.

We have arrived shortly, since it was only one train stop away from Hakata. And this is the lobby. Slacked off her for a while.
Also, There were some brochures on the places of interest available at Kumamoto. It was in Japanese though, but the simple map was slightly helpful.

Behind the praying mantis hunting the cicada, lurks the sparrow

And there was some bear-y interesting souvenirs for sale at the station.

Japanese Hina dolls left on display after the recent Hina Festival ( 3 Apr )

Random wallpaper at a underpass, very cute.

And school ended around that time as well, plenty of students walking past us. However, failed to take a good photograph of cute Japanese schoolgirls (another one of my fetish). And Si Rui keeps scolding me for that.

Kumamoto is a very sparse city as compared to Fukuoka or Tokyo.

Our tram to the Kumamoto Castle was pretty small, cramped and crowded

Random tram stop

Something we found. A very 'wu liao' place in a very 'wu liao' (secluded) alley

The city that LOVES its mascot, or so I think.....
(Its almost everywhere, even on welcome mats and vending machines)

As usual, our first agenda shall always be FOOD! Today, we patronised the ' original ' Ajisen Ramen. (It is Japanese food in Japan after all)

Food Ticket Machine!

There were even hangers available for customers' jackets. Service orientation level: Japan.

Mine

Lee Hoe

Si Rui

The food was heavenly. You either be in a state of euphoria....

...or go plain crazy.

I had my fill here, mainly because Hui Jun couldn't finish hers, so me and Lee Hoe shared the remaining half. Actually, for the rest of the trip, Hui Jun never really finish her food most of the time. More food for me. Yay!
Budget advice #37: Always travel with someone who eat light.

And we arrived at the outskirts of the the famed Kumamoto Castle.

And then some rich guy just decided to protect his castle with a freaking enormous koi pond. Oh come on! Where are the Crocodiles? Sharks? Piranhas? Winged monkeys?

And there was a shrine just outside the friendly neighborhood fortress.

And a sanctified transformer. (Is it a robot in disguise?)

Admission price. 500yen per adult. That's about SGD$8.

And just pass the entrance, there's a beautiful garden.

OOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

AAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

OOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo. KNNBCCB. Coming just after winter, wrong timing. Phew.

And this is approximately how high most of the walls that fortify the castle's interior can be.

And this, is probably a shithole.

And I am prepared to infiltrate it, Johnny English Style.

How I look from a friend's point of view: How I look to the other tourists:

And they grew trees on the castle walls. Japanese pioneered green architecture way before McDonald did it at Jurong Park.

And to service the visitors better, they build a small section of proper, concrete staircase for the convenience of tourist who choose not to risk on its worn-out stone counterpart.

Still so far away from the castle. (Technically, we are in castle grounds already, but I will only recognize a castle as a ridiculously tall building)

And we drowned ourselves in cold embrace of the lovely plum blossoms, as consolation for the sight of the wondrous Sakura that shall never be within our reach.

不经一番寒彻骨，怎得梅花扑鼻香

English meaning here: http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/92948267.html

As the Chinese saying goes, If you are not willing to brave the bone chilling cold, you will not be able to enjoy the lovely scent of the plum blossoms.

And it is actually worth it, though it is actually not that cold then, the smell is very inviting.

And they actually have names, I think

Wa Lau, off angle already never tell me. ( > . < )

And concealed behind the serene orchard, lies a very curious structure, which hides a disturbing truth

(Actually, it's along the main walkway, we just sidetracked to the garden beside it. But it sounds more mysterious if I put it that way)

There was also a souvenir shop halfway up to the castle, selling many ninja/samurai/kumamoto castle trinkets. And just outside he shop, there was a coin venting machine. Here, Lee Hoe bought his 300 yen lucky coin, engraved with a picture of the castle, which we would come to rely on for many decisions in the later pat of the trip.

Nearby, there was a holy rock

Can you spot the a Buddha like figure?

Getting closer

Around Kumamoto castle, there was many actors in costumes as if they came straight out from a period drama.

And this guy seems to attract all the girls

A kunoichi (female ninja)......or is she a samurai? I don't know, but she's pretty, so I don't care

And this old bird probably worked here even before I was swimming in my father's body. He carrys this aura that suggests the unfathomable Sianx-ness emanating from the depths of his soul

And the girls are still following him. *sigh* What do I have to do to have such attractiveness?

Ambushed by a ninja along the way.

Another weird guy, who was very jovial, constantly talking in a futile attempt to attract some attention from girls. Unfortunately, he lacks the attractiveness of the other guy. He kept calling Hui Jun 'O-hime-sama' as we walked passed. Damn funny.

....and we finally reached the great big castle (Kumamoto Castle)!!!

(This is just the tip of the iceberg, this is just the tallest point of the castle, and I am already inside it, not outside)

Another cute girl!

Dear Visitors, you are suppose to take pictures with the actor, not ask them to take for you.

Another cosplayer! lol

I couldn't really believe it when they said this small tree that's just barely taller than me is 400 years old.

Then how old is this tree?

The other Japaneses were very interested in this tree, so I pretended to appreciate it as well.

REminded me of the Donnie Yen movie, Return of Chen Zhen

The castle has many floors

I asked a ruronin to take this picture for us.

This building is the restroom. I am impressed that they even build the toilet in the same olden style that fits into the surroundings. Or is that really what the people in the past used as well?

Got interested in the different logos on their backs

In a quiet corner near the castle, there was another building.

Gunports used for defending the castle.

How it looks like from outside the castle walls. Attacking this castle must be very tough.

more gun ports outside the turret

There was this wide open field just outside the castle. The place looked so comfortable, we were lured into laying down on the grass and slack

Watching the white fluffy clouds as if waiting for an unexpected enlightenment of mind, a sudden epiphany of the soul.

There were other people on the field, doing some actions that resembles the poses before a Masked Rider Transformation. HENSHIN!

Even the view from the toilet was scenic. I enjoyed watching the castle as I pee. Ahhhhh....the wonders of Japanese architecture.

And there was a professional car director, quite a common sight, just that there's not many vehicles on this road to direct.

And outside the park where the castle stood, there was a statue of a man in a funny hat.

Actually, He was the most famous owner of the castle. Besides what is written below, Wikipedia also stated that he is also a prosecutor of Christians. Christians weren't really liked in ancient Japan.

'Drinkable' water sprang forth in a nearby fountain/spring, which is said to be naturally purified by the soil. It was also advised not to try and drink the water, so it was kind of paradoxical.

Japanese Schoolgirls in sweatsuits! Yay!

With an address from a Lonely Planet guidebook, Si Rui took the lead and navigated us to a nearby shopping district, in a classic Singaporean attempt to find good food when overseas. I forgotten how he did it exactly.
There were more Hina Dolls on display along the street of the shopping district we went to.

Hui Jun just wanted to take a photo of this.

Chinese food for dinner. Even though it was recommended in the Lonely Planet book (2011 edition) Hui Xian loaned us, it wasn't really impressive. Wasted money here. Haix. Come to Japan, eat Chinese food. WTH?

After dinner, we immediately went back to take tram back home.

And Hui Jun instinctively posed for me, just so that I might have a reason to take a photo of a Japanese schoolgirl. (Note the girl sitting beside her)

Even though it was a short crossing, everyone lined up and waited for the green man to appear before crossing the road. It was surprising how nobody jaywalked even when it was the easier and time saving choice.

The station at night looked quite different than in the afternoon.

A random roadside shrine

Fuck Physics! Gravity doesn't apply to advanced Japanese products!

In an attempt to go to Canal City, we kind of got lost. However, as a consolation, we went to 'Carnal City' instead.

I wanna visit this!!!

The streets were devoid of visitors and littered with Men in Black (black suit and tie, earphone on one side attached to springy cord, some with impenetrable black shades) that just fits into your mental image of a Yakuza/Mafia. I wished I could have taken some photos but didn't, just so to avoid running into trouble these shady looking people. Actually, they kind of fit into the surrounding more than us, we were like some lost, clueless tourist that accidentally stumbled into the wrong street.

After the stunning experience, we need to take a breather and reclaim whatever left of our morality after walking through the streets filled with all sorts of 'promotional' posters and 'call centres' and being stared at by the Men in Black who have nothing else better to do since they know better than to solicit us.