Current location:	Woburn
Current mood:	tired
Current music:	roar of freeway outside
Entry tags:	dinner, ibusuki, izakaya, kagoshima, party, waffle

Woburn-out
I have just wrapped up a whirlwind tour of the American Southwest, starting in the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe, on it, around it, then through the 89 via Bishop and 395 to Lone Pine, then across Death Valley to Las Vegas (tossing in some Blue Man), then onwards via Hoover Dam to Grand Canyon, then back across to Palm Desert/Springs back to LA.

What a trip, and my dear wife is just about landing in Kumamoto by now... while I'm stuck in Massachusetts preparing for the hectic weeks ahead.

It was great to see many of you! Once my fate is more certain, we shall arrange for more external suspension!!

==
So, where was I?

Back in early October, I went to the "Mizu-akari" festival in Kumamoto City for the second time. This time, however, I wasn't alone. :) Midori came with me, and we also got to see the usual gang in town. Although it was nothing spectacular, it was a good excuse to go out.

The next day, dythim had a waffle party, again with most of the usual gang. It also turned out that we had a break in our busy-ness that weekend, so after the waffle party, we headed out to Kagoshima (鹿児島), which we've been talking about for a long time.

Since we got a bit of a late start, we got there in the early evening, after making one stop at a highway rest-stop. Our first stop after checking in at the hotel was the sweet potato confectionery shop, 唐芋ワールド (Karaimo World) Kagoshima is famous for its sweet potato, and is one of the top producers thereof in Japan. After a taste test and looking through the sweet potato exhibits, we headed towards the Kagoshima Central Station (鹿児島中央) building. The building houses a decent-sized shopping mall in addition to the train station. (a common pattern in Japan) There, we had a dinner consisting of Kagoshima Black Pork (黒豚 and Red Chicken (赤鶏) dishes. I also had a cup of green tea boba drink and some other snacks. Having had our fill, we walked back to the hotel.

The second day was a busy day. We got an early start and headed out to Sakura-jima (桜島) via ferry. There was some trouble finding the ferry port, but we got there without much trouble after that. Touring of Sakura-jima mainly consists of driving around it and looking at the various volcanic formations and the plants that grow on it. The visitor's center provides the background and history of the island (now connected to rest of Kyushu). After checking out the visitor's center and the view of the Kagoshima Bay, we started driving around the island. Midori took a turn at the wheel until more tourists started filling the roads.

Some of the specialties of the Sakura-jima island are Sakura-jima Daikon [best described as daikon of unusual size] and Mikan (Satsuma Mandarin Oranges). After circling the island, we checked out the gift shops and had lunch at a "rest stop" of sorts. There, we were able to try mikan soba, specialty ramen (wish I remembered what was special about it), and mikan soft serve. All good.

Once back on mainland Kyushyu, we headed south to Ibusuki (指宿), stopping at every interesting looking spot on the way. It was mostly food that caused us to stop and take a look on the way (cream puffs, sweet potato soft serve, etc.) We made it to Ibusuki in the late afternoon. The main point of going there was Ibusuki-onsen (hot spring), which is right on the beach. The hot earth causes the sand on the beach to be hot, and people go there to be buried in the hot sand, sort of like a sauna.

After we were done trying that, it was almost getting dark. We headed back up north and rushed to the old samurai homes district (武家屋敷) in Chiran-town. (知覧町) Apparently, it had already closed to the public by the time we got there, but we were able to take a peek as the light was fading. We wandered about trying to find the place where they were collecting the entrance fee, but we never found it, and we didn't really get to see the gardens anyways. (There are still people living in the houses, apparently.)

Throughout the trip sough to Ibusuki and back, the navigation system kept on steering us away from the toll road that runs through the middle of Kagoshima. I thought the toll road would be faster (closed to pedestrian traffic, no intersections, etc.) and was wondering why it was doing that. On the way back, we wanted to get home quickly, so I decided to take the toll road (Ibusuki Skyline). It turned out to be not much different from most country roads in Japan. It only had one lane in each direction and was very curvy up and down the mountains. I think the only thing it offered was better views of the mountain, but that did no good in the dark. Oh well, it teaches me to ignore the navigation system.

Once we were on the regular expressway, it was a quick trip back to Kumamoto.
It was a good trip, and makes another notch on our belt. We have visited significant locations in 6 of the 7 prefectures on Kyushu now. (We still need to hit Saga)

==
Other minor happenings include dinner in town with Miki, Yuko, Akiko, Dythim and us in town. Miki initially planned it as a sendoff for Dan, but Dan couldn't make it, and we decided to go out and eat anyways. It was a good Izakaya kalled Ishikawa. Apparently, there are two in town and we went to the wrong one before being set straight. Midori was wearing her heels and this caused her a bit of pain as we had to walk all the way up from shimo-toori to kami-toori. Then, one of the waiters spilled sauce on Midori's favorite sweater and handbag. Agh. Fortunately, the stains came out on the sweater, and the restaurant paid for the cleaning on the hand bag.

==
So there's the update on those things. I think I've already put the pictures up last time, I think.

Now, I've added the TG/US trip to the list of things to cover.