Kagoshima Trip (Part Four)

 Inside the Sengan-en Gardens is the Cat Shrine!

The one thing that I really wanted to see, but in the end I couldn't.

The shrine sat at the top of a steep path. Walking up would have been fine, but I wasn't confident I could get down. Not only was it steep, but it looked very slippery after the rain. I thought about it for a while, but in the end decided that it was safer for Hannah to go up and take photos for me. I wandered around the gardens while Hannah went up. At least I have an excuse to go back.  

Here are the photos from Hannah.

Hannah said that it was so beautiful and peaceful. 

I took a little video of the gardens and Sakurajima.

The weather was starting to turn again; no rain, but the wind was picking up, so we walked back toward the shops and cafes.

Hannah wanted to buy a little something, as part of the money went to cat charities in the area.

We found a little shop that was serving mochi and tea.

We shared mochi and tea as we wanted to try, but we were not very hungry.

Hannah bought a card and a lucky charm.

We decided to walk up to another museum as the wind was really blowing and the clouds were threatening rain again. We are right on the seafront, and I think this kind of weather is normal.

The museum was the former residence of the engineers who came from England to build the first Western-style spinning mill in Japan. Seven engineers came in the mid 1800s. It must have been very hard to come and live in such a different country back then. I often wonder how people who came from other countries survived in Japan!

The former residence of the engineers who came from England.

The view from upstairs.

Hannah looking over the grand staircase.

After looking around here, we went back to the bus stop.

A few photos on the way back.

This was the path to Starbucks.

A last look at Sakurajima.

We had a bit of a wait for the bus and then a shock when we got on! Almost everyone was foreign! There was only one Japanese lady and Hannah. I think I'm so used to being the only obvious foreigner that it felt a bit strange suddenly being surrounded by a busload of foreigners!

We made our way back to the hotel to rest for a bit. I keep forgetting that Hannah can walk and walk and walk! I was so tired, but it was still early, about 4 o'clock. So after a rest, we headed out again!

Again, I've run out of time!

Kagoshima Trip (Part Three)

 One problem with this trip was the weather, or rather, the forecast.

On Thursday, when we checked the weather for Kagoshima, rain was forecast for all of Saturday, so we changed plans and decided to visit museums on Saturday and the cat shrine on Sunday.

But when we woke up on Saturday, it was cloudy, but there were patches of blue sky. Checking the app again, we saw that it had rained earlier and no more rain was forecast until late afternoon. Great, back to the original plan.

We had breakfast and headed out to get a city tour bus. This bus stops at all the main tourist sites, a great service. There's a day pass, which we didn't know about, so you can hop on and off the bus. If I ever have a chance to go to Kagoshima again, that is something I would do.

A few places we stopped at.

The Kagoshima City Museum Of Art

The Kagoshima City Cultural Hall

We passed a lot of interesting places. 

After the city, the bus went up the mountains, as there are a few historical places to visit there. The whole time, the places we were passing were explained in Japanese and English. I was very impressed by the driver's ability to handle a bus on the narrow, steep mountain roads.

Hannah took this video.

Unfortunately, as we were getting close to the stop that we planned to get off at, it started to rain. Hannah checked the bus route and saw that it would stop at an aquarium a stop later. We considered staying on the bus, but the guy behind us was making us feel sick; he kept hacking and burping- really disgusting. We got off and went to Starbucks to wait for the rain to stop.

I love how Starbucks can make their stores blend into the area; they never seem to stand out.

This was the Starbucks. 

Really beautiful building that looks similar to other buildings in the area.

This is only the second time that I've been to Starbucks. I never know what to order, so I got a Matcha Latte; Hannah got some kind of coffee and a scone.

Starbucks order.

The rain finally stopped, so we went to the Sengan-en Gardens. These gardens belonged to the Shimadzu family. They have a wonderful view of Sakurajima, the volcano and Kinko Bay.

Near the entrance of Sengan-en Gardens, Sakurajima is in the background.

Part of the gardens had the ruins of an iron foundry. 

Apparently, this area was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Japan during the Meiji Era.

Part of the old iron furnace: a reverberatory furnace. 

A few more photos from the gardens.

Souvenir shops and cafes.

The old gate.

These were fascinating; how did they manage to balance the stones?

Hannah, with Sakarjima behind.

This pavilion was a gift from the Ryukyu king, now Okinawa

That's all I have time for today!

I hope to write more tomorrow.

Kagoshima Trip (Part Two)

 We got a taxi to the hotel. We did plan on using the trams that run through the city, but I couldn't be bothered with figuring out which one to get, where to get it from and which stop to get off at. The taxi was only a few hundred yen more than the tram would have been.

The hotel was nice but messed up the reservation. According to the hotel computer, Hannah had booked for one night; her confirmation message said two nights. Soon sorted, and we got to our room.

Nice room, not very big but big enough for a couple of nights. One problem was the water system; every time somebody ran water, we could hear it in our room. It wasn't very loud but rather annoying.

After a little rest, we went for a walk to get some dinner. 

The area we stayed in is called Tenmonkan, the central shopping area with a lot of restaurants, cafes and bars. Even though it was about 7 o'clock, it was very busy.

This is the view back towards the station. The Ferris wheel is on the 6th floor of the shopping mall!

We came across Don Quijote, a discount store that is very popular in Japan and with tourists. 

This is the front of the Don Quijote store, which is usually shortened to Donki. I was wondering if Japanese people understood the meaning of the windmill and the knight on a horse. I explained it to Hannah; she had heard of the book Don Quixote but didn't understand the concept of "Tilting at windmills".  

We finally made our way to Moss Burger, a Japanese fast-food burger place.

This was our dinner.

The green drink is melon soda that Hannah loves; I had iced tea.

Hamburger for Hannah, fish burger for me.

Sweet potato dumplings.

We ate, then slowly made our way back to the hotel. 

We stopped into Donki to have a look around; that was nice but very dangerous, too many good things, especially cosmetics and hair care products.

We picked up some breakfast at the convenience store connected to the hotel and got back to our room at about 9:30.

Sorry, but that's all for today!

It looks like both Hannah and I have a cold.

Hannah called earlier; she had a slight fever and sore throat. I feel a bit rough. 

I think we are both tired from our trip, and the sudden drop in temperature hasn't helped at all.

Yesterday it was about 18℃ in the morning; this morning it was only 8℃. A big difference!