Day #13, April 13th: Matsuyama

Friday the 13th would be a giant travel day.  We would be going from Hakata on the island of Kyushu to Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku.  This meant the train would be traveling through an underwater tunnel and a long bridge.

Dennis took this photo of the Toyoko Inn bed.  It was one of the thinnest mattresses we saw, but perfectly comfortable.  I have no idea why American mattresses have to be so thick these days.

The dining area was very crowded at the Toyoko Inn, but we got downstairs early and found a table.

There was a lovely selection of breakfast yummies at the Matsuyama Toyoko Inn.

The efficiency of the Japanese Shinkansen bullet trains is really incredible to see.  Politeness is seen everywhere.

Here, train attendants bow in farewell to the people on the brand new train.

It amazed us that in a city of so many people, it is a rule of thumb that civility, courtesy and cleanliness should be displayed everywhere.

Diagrams at the train boarding area explained what trains stopped there.  This diagram shows that if there are 8 cars, this would be where you could find car #7.

We passed a castle that we wished we could see.  There are twelve original castles in Japan.  We saw three of them on this trip.

I have to say the best thing about these shinkansen trains are the bathrooms.  They were definitely space age and took care of ANY need you might have.

If you need to smoke, there was an enclosed area where you could lock yourself in and keep the rest of the train smoke free.

We stopped in Okayama, sadly switched trains, bought box lunches, stamped our travel journals and continued on.

That's right!   Now I'm having to wear a mask!

I really enjoyed the lunch on the not as fancy train, but couldn't take a nap because of the Sudafed I took.  Doggone it!  Everybody else napped comfortably.

Sigh...

Unlike the new shinkansen trains, this one had the squat toilet.  Thank goodness for the handholds!

And yes, Western style toilets are also available.

We passed by this boat dock.

I noticed that on trains and everywhere else, green tea seems to be the beverage of choice.  There's not a whole lot of sugared drinks being consumed.

It was fun to notice all the cherry blossom trees still fanning delicately across the mountain sides.

It was raining in Matsuyama when we arrived there.  Here is the famous Botchan train.

It was certainly a day when our luck did not run out.  Our two suitcases had arrived safely from Kumamoto.

Reorganized again.

Mom and I needed to rest so we sent Dennis and Art out by themselves.

Ummm... Did I say this was Friday the 13th?

They got lost and returned very late.

Here they are at the famous clock that Miyazaki used in his animated film, Spirited Away.

They got to see the famous Dogo Onsen but didn't go in since it was too late and they were supposed to bring back our dinner. 

It's not like Art to get confused by the train system but somehow the two of them went round and round the city until they found their way back to the hotel.

By the time they found some food and returned to the hotel, it was 7:00.

Mom thought it was rather funny...hilarious actually!  She must have been convinced that they were helpless without her.

I don't know where they got their energy, but Dennis and Art did the laundry after all that.

That night.... I was really sick and stayed up coughing until 3:00 AM.

Not good.

Day #12, April 12th: Hakata

7:00 Free Toyoko Inn breakfast

We learned that it's a good idea to go just as they begin serving so you can get a good table and not have to wait in a long buffet line.


8:00  We left for the Kumamoto Train Station and got to our reserved seats on the Shinkansen (bullet train) for Hakata, also known as Fukuoka.

This was one of the super duper shinkansen trains that had just been inaugurated in March, 2012.

Once in Hakata we caught a subway train, transferred to another one and arrived at the Komyozenji Temple to see their rock gardens.  There is one in the front and one in the back.

This is a zen temple so mom found it a comforting place to be.



The inside of the temple is very plain and a place for calm reflection.



The back of the temple was beautiful and peaceful.

 
After leaving the temple we were surprised to see some homes had orange trees in the backyard already bearing fruit.

We walked a short distance to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine.
I got the following from the Fukuoka/Hakata Tourism site.

The shrine is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane who is known as the god of learning, it is busy all through the year with a lot of visitors praying for success in exams and academic achievement.

We washed our hands before entering the shrine area.

With our trip more than halfway done, we were getting a bit punchy.

Since this shrine is supposed to have all the good luck omamori, we couldn't resist buying some education good luck charms for our loved ones who will be going to college and grad school.   They weren't cheap at all.... but then the cost of education these days are sure going up, so what the heck!

Mom said this tree was many centuries years old.  Doggone it!  I forget how many centuries.  Anyway, it was darn old and is a national treasure.

I just needed to take a photo of this peach tree because I thought the color was so pretty.
Mom said it was a peach tree and I'm just taking her word for it.

Lunch was at a place called Ume no Kura (plum storage?).   It seemed like a lot of these set meals have both a rice dish and a bowl of noodles.  That's a whole lot of carbs.
But like I said.... I lost four pounds on this trip.

We were leaving the restaurant when we realized we forgot mom's wheelchair.  The waitress laughed and said the noodles had made her so strong, she didn't feel she needed it anymore.

There were so many varieties of soft serve that we just needed to have one for dessert.  We decided on the Dazaifu Ume (plum) since Dazaifu is the name of the area and the owner recommended it.  Dennis opted to be different and got the Summer Orange.  I really didn't like the plum because it was tart and a little gritty.  Art liked it.

We did, of course, try the umegae mochi in Dazaifu since it's what they're known for.
Umegae mochi is a sweet rice cake with sweet bean paste inside.  It really was great!

We were pretty tired and now I'm having to wear a mask also.

We stopped at the Canal City Mall before heading home.  Yes, there is a canal in the middle of the mall.

I got this dish of (ikura) raw salmon eggs and ika (squid) at the Donmai Restaurant in the mall.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Art had to help me finish it.

I loved how there was an explanation in the bathroom about how to wash your hands.
We got back to the hotel around 6:00 PM and got ready to go to bed.  Mom and I were now really sick.  We needed to rest.

But it would be an early wake up again the following morning.

Day #11, April 11th: Kumamoto Castle

It was going to be another early travel day so we were up at 5:30.  We noticed that the walls of the bathroom had cracks in them and wondered if they'd had earthquakes.

We had another incredible ryokan breakfast at 7:00.  There was rice, tofu, ham, eggs, miso soup, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), tea, coffee, etc.

Our ryokan host kindly offered to take us to the bus station since it was drizzling, but we  declined his offer.  The bus station was not all that far and we felt we'd be OK.

We saw middle school students walking to school.

We got to the bus terminal just fine.  And then came the torrential rains.  It was a three hour or so bus ride and it rained the entire way.

There was one bathroom stop in Takamori where Art and I had to run in rain to make use of it.

We arrived around lunchtime at Kumamoto Station and walked to our nearby Toyoko Inn Hotel.  We dropped off our suitcases and backpacks and went hunting for a place to eat lunch.  The rain was now a drizzle.  Mom is wearing a mask because she was coughing so much from a cold that returned from before our trip.

We always said we wanted to try a Mossburger and this was our chance.

Art and I had a kahlbi Mossburger.  I was surprised to find that the "bun" was just rice paddies that were pressed and grilled into bun shapes.

It was ... interesting.

And then the sun came out!

So we decided to go to Kumamoto Castle after all.  We caught a tram and got there quite easily.

The weather was comfortable and we saw that the cherry blossoms were beginning to lose their petals.  We were treated to another hana fubuki (flower blizzard).  It's glorious to stand amidst a shower of blossom petals.

We walked along the moat to the entrance gate...

and came up to the incredible Kumamoto Castle.

Here's what I got from Wikipedia about Kumamoto Castle:

Kumamoto Castle's history dates to 1467, when fortifications were established by Ideta Hidenobu. In 1496, these fortifications were expanded by Kanokogi Chikakazu. In 1588, Katō Kiyomasa was transferred to the early incarnation of Kumamoto Castle. From 1601 to 1607, Kiyomasa greatly expanded the castle, transforming it into a castle complex with 49 turrets, 18 turret gates, and 29 smaller gates.

  We had a lot of fun taking photos of ourselves with young people dressed as samurai.

Mom waited downstairs while the rest of us took a climb to the top of the castle tower and saw exhibits along the way.

This is what the castle town looked like long ago.

This diagram shows the inside of the castle.

From the top of the castle, we could get a bird's eye view of the surrounding area.

One of the friendly "samurai" laughed and dropped his character in order to help wheel mom down the ramp.

Yae!  Another colorful manhole cover.  This time it's a tsubaki or camellia.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!  This is me as Kiyomasa Kato.  A brilliant castle making genius and military man he was, but I discovered that he did have a rather mixed past.

We did make an attempt to go to the Suizenji Garden, but the clouds came in and we headed home... which was a good thing.

We needed to rest...

and get organized.

Our two suitcases had arrived so we added some souvenirs we bought and traded clothes.  We then repacked and sent them on to Matsuyama.

We had dinner boxes in the room and Art and Dennis did more laundry.

We thought this Engrish sign was cute on the washing machines and couldn't resist taking a photo of it.

Tomorrow... on to Hakata (also known as Fukuoka)!