Kyushu 2023 - Kunisaki Kumano Magaibutsu

 

Kyushu 2023 - Yufuin No Mori Train to Yufuin

 

So the highly anticipated train that we going to take was Yufuin no Mori, which literally translate to Forrest of Yufuin. And true to it's name, it's kinda forest themed with beautiful green and brown inside and out. The ticket for this train was bought outside of our JR Pass. 

Above is what the train looked like. When I saw it on the internet the first time, I just knew I wanted to get on this train. It just looked so whimsical. The train takes us directly to Yufuin Village, and most of the track goes through the beautiful forest and landscape of Kyushu on the way there.

Inside the train, beautifully decorated with the train's poster, as well as commemorable date.

Here is our ticket! Paid a special booking fees online to get this. The fee was around 1000yen per ticket. When you're working like mad with no time to spend your money, you don't really mind spending on things that you really really life. And so I did!

On the train, you could also get free postcard at the cafe carriage. Look how pretty it is with the backdrop of the sceneries going by! How green!

At the back of the postcard there is a place for you to get a special chop which is only available on the train. So of course I have to get one! As all these are only available at the cafe and retail carriage, you should not just remain in your seat on this train ride! Luckily we learned this quickly, so now whenever I take a special themed train, I always walk around to explore the train. There are always cute corner or small details around the train that makes the trip so special. 

This is what the cafe carriage looked like. I am actually quite surprised there are still so many postcard left! To the right is the special chop with green ink pad too! You could also purchase other gifts, or even food and drink from this carriage, My husband actually got us a bento box from here. I didn't want to get one since it was kinda overpriced. At times like this, I am glad my husband is with me, cause he is the spend drift among us, and thanks to him I also get to enjoy the experience of eating a bento in this beautiful train!

The small eating carriage was pretty crowded. But most people were kind enough to vacant the seat once they are done drinking of eating.

Love that the seatings all have great view of the landscape outside! The natural sun light shinning in, with the natural green of the fields and hills were really something! Since we went a bit late, we stayed longer to enjoy your lunch since there were less people by then. Awesome experience. 

The view of the villages we went pass.

At some remote station, there were people who came out to wave at us! I always find this so heart warming. Imagine, waving at total strangers and never seeing them again. It is something you just do without getting anything back in return except the thought that you've cheered someone up with your friendly wave :) 

Pristine clean stream running though the landscape. It makes me wonder, why can't the river or streams in Malaysia ever look clean? It's one of my pain point when I am travelling around my own country. The sore sight of trash really gets to me. 

We also went pass a small waterfall. Before reaching the waterfall, the train made an announcement for passengers to be prepared for what is coming up. And when it neared the waterfall, it actually slowed down and stopped so that passengers can take nice photos of the fall. I thought that was just wonderful! It almost felt like we were on a private chattered train!

After almost 2 hours, we finally arrived at our station. Above that's me next to the train. Note that this wasn't the terminating station for the train, so make sure you remember to alight when you reach Yufuin station! We were going to be spending 2 days and 1 night in Yufuin.

Kyushu 2023 - Breakfast and Train Watching at Hakata Station

Next morning we were checking out from Fukuoka to head to our next destination. But first, breakfast. I had a Kansai flavoured udon cup noodle, cause it's cheaper to eat these kinda food here than at home. THe cup noodle came with some yuzu flavoured chilli flakes too. I love stuff like these. Free green tea curtesy of the hotel.

For some reason, I needed a dessert for my breakfast too, so I had an apple flavoured canele. These snacks are rather cheap as compared to the real thing sold in bakeries. I don't understand why I can't find these anywhere else outside of Japan. It's just a small luxury that makes your day better. 

As a thank you to the hotel and the room cleaner, we left some snacks for them. For some reason, I have resorted to leaving local snacks from where I came from as a thank you gift to almost everywhere I stay in Japan. Usually it's one snack from Malaysia (Popo muruku from Penang), and one snack from Singapore (Sweet and spicy tapioca) since my husband is from Singapore. I have to be politically correct, lol. Even when I gift people bak kut teh spice, it has to be one from each country. And I like to follow up later which one is nicer for them. It's just a small fun gesture, and it often bring smiles to people if I gave them directly. But these days, I just left them in the hotel room with a thank you note.

After checking out, we head to Hakata Station. We were going to catch a train from here to a small town called Yufuin. As we were pretty early, we spend almost an hour inside the station just train watching. You might think this is super boring, but not for me! And especially not in Japan where there are just so many types of train to watch! I am always amazed how well  maintained trains are here, and how many unique type of trains there are. What a joy to travel around Japan in these.

So we managed to see this Discovery Kyushu train. I don't think this is the same as the Seven Star Kyushu sight seeing train though. It does look so classic. Later on I learned that the 7Star train tickets are ridiculously hard to get, relying even on a ballot or lottery system to get your hand on the tickets. It's a 7 days around Kyushu luxury train.

Although I wouldn't mind travelling on a luxury train once in my life, I think I would be quite happy to travelling on this classic black and gold one above.

There were also other more local looking train like this white one. Love the bird logo design on the train. 

Or this super bright blue coloured train pulling into the station. It looks like a local train too.

There are many trains in Japan, but some are just maybe 2 carriage long, and goes to some remote route. It's still fun. I can't wait to start using my Kyushu 7 days JR Pass which I've gotten for this trip. But I will save that for later. I've paid separately for the next train we were about to take, even paying a special booking fees from overseas just to ensure I got the tickets. The problem with me is, I value experience more than money, so I thought it was worth it to secure the ticket to this special train. Read more about it in the next upcoming post!

Kyushu 2023 - Fukuoka Tower and Momochi Beach Park

 

We made our way to visit the Fukuoka Tower. You can go inside, and I think you need to pay money to go to the top. We didn't bother. We just wander around and came out.

The view was just as beautiful outside, with all the trees lighted up in pink like cherry blossom. It was a very romantic place to be at. A lovely evening.

Inside the tower they also have their own mascot. Everything has a mascot in Japan!

The trees all light up outside. What a romantic place to walk!

Sazae-san cartoon characters <3

There was even a beach park nearby call the Momochi Beach Park. Too bad it was too dark by now to really see the ocean. I would love to come back again one day to spend a day here at the beach. Finger cross, I just entered a lucky draw to win a flight back here as the first prize.

The Beach Park was well equip with eating places. But since we've already eaten, we just went to take a look around. It kinda looked like a themed town to me though. 

There were also broadwalk on the sand where you can walk along. There was also a beautiful building nearby where you could have a seaside wedding at. Along the beach, there were food stalls seeing BBQ seafood which sells wonderful. For some reason, the scene above reminded me more of Korea than Japan. 

Eventually we had to say goodbye to our 1day bus pass as we took our final bus ride back to Hakata Station and walk back to our hotel. I had a light supper in the room of chestnut parfait and hot coffee. A perfect end to the day. We were checking out the next day.

Here is a selfie of me and Fukuoka Tower.

And me again with Fukuoka Tower again ! (the mascot)

Kyushu 2023 - Bus Ride to Fukuoka Tower

 

After dinner, we can't let our 1day bus pass go to waste since the sun was still up! So I decided to take the bus to go see Fukuoka Tower! I like collecting photos of towers around Japan, so let's not miss this chance to do so. It was around late evening that we made our way there. I love the above photo of us in the bus looking out at the highways of Fukuoka, with the Japanese van in focus, and a circle of light around it. I price myself in taking such photos. At first I thought it was skills, but actually it's just a reflection of my phone camera that  made the circle of light, lol.

On our way there, crossing some sea port and seeing some interesting tower.

Sunset view along the highway. Even the highway was fascinating, almost a few storey above ground.

The bus passed by the Fukuoka PayPay stadium. This is where concerts are held!

I snapped the above photo cause I thought it was nice, a red bicycle and a red Tesla. The contrast of the economy scale of transportation, lol. At this point in time, I was a new fan of Tesla. Fast forward to now 2025, I'm still a fan actually, just not of the founder, and definitely not of the cybertruck!

We got down just opposite of the tower. It was hard to miss!

The area was also famous for a cartoon family character which is features in the bus stop above called Sazae-san and family. It was fun hunting down their signs all over the place too.