Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto Station Morning Walk

Next morning, after a nice hotel breakfast, we took a slow walk to Kumamoto JR Station.

 

Here is my breakfast for the day. I try to eat a little bit of everything. Even though I could cook probably everything here, it is still a luxury whenever I can just open my mouth and eat without having to put in any effort except paying :P

Walking to the station, we passed by a few interesting buildings and area in the city. I love this type of travelling, where you just wander around neighbourhood and see what life was like for the locals. 

At the station, Kumamon Station Master was there to greet us. Dressed up so smartly too!

He also worked at the post office! Hard working bear! I wonder if you post a letter from Kumamoto, do you get a Kumamon stamp on it..... Guess I'll never know now! I sometimes wonder why I stopped sending postcards to myself. Have I outgrown the wonders of post? It's almost sad when you realise yourself growing old.....

Back on the train platform. Where shall we go today? 

Got myself a hot Houjicha Coffee Latte for my train ride. Destination reveal in the next post!

Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto City and Izakaya Dinner

Kumamoto is famous for their red beef meat, as well as horse meat. My husband was not having any of those horse meat idea, so I guess I have to settle for beef. I've already travelled all the way here, got to find the courage to part with my hard earn money to experience local Japanese beef. What better place to do so than here, a not so touristy place as compared to Tokyo or Osaka or Kyoto! And so, I found us a beef place to try. An Izakaya.  

I haven't been splurging much, so here goes! Izakaya is scary. When drunk, you tend to over order. And since it's more like bar and pub food, everything is salty, so you need more beer....

Lovely personalised paper lantern. It was at a side alley, so hopefully it won't be too expensive! Bit the bullet Cordy! Die with zero! YOLO!

And soon we were seated inside, for an early dinner :) Lovely ambiance. 

A side dish of tofu was served. 

Husband ordered a chinese looking pork dish. Probably stew pork, which wasn't bad.

The serving was surprisingly large.

I saw this mustard lotus root and immediately ordered it. It was on my to-try list of food from Kumamoto. 

Here is what it looked like when served. I totally LOVE this dish. Mainly cause I love mustard. So anything with mustard is a LOVE for me. But the lotus root is also crunchy, and fried like a tempura. It made a great snack. I would order it again whenever I see this. Lovely!

This was their special red beef. So we ordered that too.

Not sure if it was lost in translation, or it was because it was an izakaya, we got two orders of beef served to our table instead. Instant over budget! Oh well. It was already served, what can we do? Eat lor. I did enjoyed it, although it wasn't as amazing as I imagine it to be. Still, it was an experience that I had to have. A path in my life's journey that I have to cross. 

The izakaya area where we ate. It was at the corner of the main road. 

On our way back, we got some beer to drink in the room. Lol. Looks nice. Taste bitter!

Still, it was a great experience in our travel! No regret!

Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto City and Lunch

 

Can't leave any tourist attractions in Kumamoto without seeing Kumamon! He is everywhere. Here's him standing randomly at the food area outside the grounds of Waku-Waku Museum. As the food around there was rather tourist price, we didn't really eat anything there.

We took a slow walk to town instead, enjoying the flowers that were blooming along the way.

There was a beautiful river running though town too, so we just follow the path and walk along it.

Finally cutting in to the city shopping area. The plan was to just wander around the area, and maybe find lunch and dinner before we head back to the hotel. I love these free and easy time planned into my travel. You never know what is going to happen!

Found some weird bookstore inside the shopping street. I mean, why is there a weird monkey man made of stone sitting inside like that? lol.

Saw the latest Murakami booked on sale here, and practically everywhere. Fun fact, it's 2025 now and I still haven't read this book, nor have I bought it. Why is that? Maybe it's time to dive into the world of surrealism again? Been reading so much books recently now that I can afford the time to. 

Lunch was decided by the husband, and he has to pick the cheesiest Japanese looking shop to eat in :P I mean, just by looking at the exterior, it just screams tourist trap! But he defended his choice because they serve fish there.

Inside the shop. Looks like a drinking place. Strangely not many people (cause it's a tourist trap!)

He ordered a sashimi set which looked like the photo here.

And I ordered the grilled fish cause it was cheaper! 

Super filling and satisfying meal. Tourist trap or not, the food in Japanese is always (almost 99% of the time) satisfying! I could eat Japanese food everyday! Although after a period I may start having craving for a burger and fries. Luckily there is also Japamese Hamburg Meal!

Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto Castle Waku-Waku Museum

One of the places we got free entrance with our combination ticket was this Waku-Waku Museum. it looked more like a small amusement park than a museum. But since it's free, got to make our money worth and go in and explore!

It was super retro inside. Seems to have a lot of retro movie posters! I wasn't sure if these were actual real movies about Kumamoto Castle and it's emperor? But they sure did looked fun!

I really like the art work of the poster, as well as how they were displayed in this museum.

And the star of the place was no douht this Kato character, dressed like a ninja at times. I didn't know you could turned an emperor into such a comical character! I found it super hilarious! And in some weird way, kinda made me like him a lot more cause now he was more relatable! 

Puppet dolls used for puppet show. They were also for sale.

Look at the way he walk! Hahahaha. Super cute.

Pupper doll version of him.

And some of the fox spirit too. 

Castle mascot. I think we did stayed to watch one performance at the museum before leaving. But I can't remember what it was about now. I just remember the theatre. And also the games you could play on the ground floor.

Lastly me and the castle mascot. 

Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto Castle Ground

After completing the main castle building, we went and explore around the castle ground. Actually, I think we got combination tickets, and that included a few other places where we could visit. It was slightly more expensive, but I was ok with it. For a cause! Anyway, the view of the castle from the castle ground was lovely.

There are also spots with market explaining why this was the best look out point. I think the tress and landscaping kinda helped play a part by framing the castle like it was part of a water colour painting. 

There were also more grounds with explanation on how the restoration were done.

Some parts were fenced off as active work was still being done around the castle. Interesting to see.

Another picture perfect framing of the castle in the backdrop. I thought the trees here were just beautiful!

I also found my wooden castle guest house! Lol. You can see the stone steps or wall have all been destroyed. Restoration in progress, and is expected to be completed by 2042. That's pretty ambitious! Please come and visit Kumamoto and support the city in their effort!

Can't get enough of the city view :P Gonna sneak one pix here. 

And also a wooden castle mascot I found, probably at one of the souvenir shop outside the castle :)

Kyushu 2023 - Kumamoto Castle Exhibition

 

As promised, one post on the cool exhibition in Kumamoto Castle. No explanation need, but it sure would helped if you read a bit of Japanese :)

Here is a section on warfare! Detailed illustration on how to hold a gun/canon in the olden days. Actually the illustration kinda reminded me of Cohen the Barbarian from Discworld novels, lol. Enjoy!