Nagasaki 長崎

We went to Nagasaki!

We stayed at a place called Kagamiya (鏡屋). 4 of us stayed together. We got a place to ourselves, 2 floors, 2 bedrooms, living, kitchen and washroom downstairs. Wifi in the main section of the guest house. Very very nice place!

We had lunch at Chinatown.

In a restaurant called 江山楼（Esanrou i think it is).

I finally ate chanpon! Which I'd heard so much about. I wasn't very eager to actly try it because I heard it's actually created by Chinese people so I thought it'd just taste like normal Chinese food but....it was sooooooo good! It's basically noodle soup, the stock made with a lot of seafood since Nagasaki's a port. 

The soup's tasty but also kinda creamy but not in a dairy way. Really yummy! It doesn't look that great but it's really really tasty. Esp when it's made with fresh seafood :)

We then went to Oura Cathedral　（小浦天主堂）(Tenshudou). 

I found this picture really interesting simply because I found the picture of Japanese people in traditional clothes/kimono and updo in a church really jarring. I guess it would be like finding one of those European people from the past, wearing Rennaissance clothing, kneeling and kowtowing in a Chinese temple..

I found this cathedral really really interesting because I never knew that Christians were prosecuted in Japan in the past. Really really sad part of Japanese history. Some Japanese people had to be Christians and pass down Christianity to their children secretly for over a 100 years years. Isn't it amazing how strongly people can believe in something? Despite the trials and tribulations. All just based on faith..

I recommend visiting Oura Cathedral. Very interesting.

We also went to Glover Garden! (グラバー園）

This is one of the cafes there:

I really love Kirin's logo. Thomas Glover joined a group of investors who established a brewery that later became Kirin Brewery company.

Nagasaki is famous for kasutera. The 1 in this cafe had bits of sugar at the bottom. Too too sweet for my liking!!

Doesn't Puccini, the composer of Madama Butterfly look dashing?

There were these little dolls in one of the houses

 An old school

These may be the sculptures that inspired the logo for Kirin.

I really enjoyed my time at Glover Garden, it's quite big and you can spend the whole day there. Be ready for a long walk if you go though!

Fukuoka 福岡

We ate so so much in Fukuoka!

We went to Canal City (Hakata station)

We had lunch at the Ramen Stadium upstairs. Like Chibu's hat?

There were so many ramen shops upstairs! In the end we decided on this one, 二男坊 (Jinanbo):

The ramen was just....divine. I'm not even a fan of ramen! But it was soooo perfect! The stock was tasty, the noodles were just the right balance of springiness and softness, the egg was cooked just right, soft and gooey but not runny...I could go on and on...

I always get gyoza with ramen and this shop was no exception. Can also say that the gyoza was as good as the ramen. YUM.

We also visited the arcade. Ah the lure of the wide array of goodies available there.. Just a thin glass wall and 1 or 2 coins separating you from them...

We had takoyaki there too..I know I know... it's actually an Osakan delicacy not Kyushu n i shld have eaten it in Osaka...but..heck who cares

There was a stage nearby with a French guy rehearsing. This is just the rehearsal, imagine how awesome the show must be!

We then went to walk around and found this very yum pudding shop. Nishi Douri Purin! (西通りプリン）

Soooo delicious! I was so full but I couldn't stop myself..

Just thinking about all this food is making me feel full!!! N would u believe that we went back to Kokura and then had sushi for dinner! I think I put on like 5 kgs that day hahahahaha...but that's what you do on holidays right? ~

Yufuin 湯布院

From Beppu we went to Yufuin and it was scary!! The fog that is. We could hardly see anything!! Except fog. Haha..

Too bad it was raining in Yufuin but I still really enjoyed it~

This spot must be beautiful in autumn when the leaves are red~

We went to this cafe called 天井桟敷 (Tenjou Sajiki i think it is). 

You must check out the website. It's so so quaint! They even have a dumbwaiter to send food to the higher floor. And the food!

The bread was freshly baked. Just the right soft and crumbly. Lovely buttery butter and yuzu spread. I really love their wooden cutlery too.

(ゆずケーキ）Yuzu cake~ 

(モンブラン）The mont blanc! The cream was magnificent. No other word to describe it. I practically devoured it. 

They also have a very lovely shop called Kagiya (鍵屋). All the things inside are sooooo cool I wanted to buy everything!

There are so many cute shops in Yufuin! Lots of stuff to browse through.

1 cute shop's called Yufuin no Nakoyashiki (由布院の猫屋敷）and it has everything cat-related! soft toys, bags, cards, pictures, even real cats upstairs!

This is the entrance to the shop:

There's this other shop that's super cool too. It's made of glass and wood and sells lots of wood products.

Had lots of fun there! The station's cool too~ Love the black squarish design.

Of course, we had to buy some cream sponge cake coz it's famous there. It's so soft and fluffy and the cream's sooooo yum and creamy...I know...the cream is creamy...DUHHH so not eloquent right? But there's no other way to describe it.

Anyway Yufuin was really fun! If you go, I hope the weather's fine :)