Day 8 - Beppu
The city of Beppu is famous for its hot springs, both bathable and the not-so-bathable. After a nice breakfast in a little bakery, we took a walk along the coastline and found a sand-bathing spot. You're supposed to lie flat on a bed of black, hot sand, while workers shovel sand all over your body. Its supposed to be good for the skin, but I don't see why I would want to be buried and baked alive.
Anyway we went on to see the main attraction in Beppu, the 9 "Hells of Beppu", which really refers to hot springs for viewing, not bathing. Try bathing in 100 degree waters :P
The first one, Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell) was coloured a spectacular blue.
Next was Oniishibozu Jigoku, which had pools of bubbling mud.
There were a few others which were not as interesting to look at, such as the Yama Jigoku which had a mini-zoo (of all things) that was quite sad to look at. The animal enclosures were amazingly tiny, and a poor hippo was forced to open its mouth waiting for tourists to throw vegetables in. I couldn't stand to look at it. There was a crocodile farm at another Jigoku (again, I don't see the link), and a Tatsumaki Jigoku (geyser) which spout every 30mins.
The Shiraike Jigoku was one of the more beautiful ones, with a pond of milky white water.
And of course, the Chinoike Jigoku (blood-pond hell), which had a pond of blood red water.
After lunch we headed out of town to see a waterfall. We couldn't pinpoint the location on the GPS so it was more of looking at a map and driving in the general direction, hoping to see a sign on the way. Luckily, with the help of a roadside stall owner, we managed to find the waterfall - Higashishiiya Waterfall
It was quite a spectacular sight.
There was a girl sitting on some rocks, looking at the waterfall pensively, checking her handphone from time to time. I wonder what was going through her mind.
While we were about to leave a group of artists came and found spots to sit on, before starting to sketch out the scenery. Quite interesting! And they looked quite good too!
We headed back to the city after that, where I holed myself up in a Book Off second-hand bookstore to hunt for CD bargains. And I emerged from the store with a haul of 5 albums and 2 singles. The damage? About SGD$100, which was a steal considering the original price would've been somewhere in the $200 region. Still, I recieved a lemon single, the CD case was cracked at the hinges. Well, you win some, you lose some.
Dinner was a great bowl of (what else?) ramen! :D The waiter who served us was a Nepalese and his English was good! He said he was studying there and took up a part-time job to pay for his studies. The ramen, like every bowl I've had in Japan so far, was excellent. When can I ever be satisfied with the ramen in Singapore?
While walking back to the hotel I heard the sounds of that same busker wafting from the underpass again. Hardworking dude! Maybe we'll see him strike it big in a few years time heh.
And so that marks the last night in Beppu. Next - back to Fukuoka!
Day 9 - Beppu - Hita - Dazaifu - Fukuoka
On the way to Fukuoka we stopped by in Hita and Dazaifu.
We visited Mameda Town in Hita, which consisted of 2 streets running parallel, with rows of old-rustic shophouses on both sides. There were many of speciality shops, selling goods ranging from soya sauce, cakes, rice crackers (I bought one :D), bamboo crafts, sake and ice-cream. Speaking of which, I had a cone of sake ice-cream :D Tasted pretty light and refreshing, no alcohol taste at all.
Next was a short drive to Dazaifu, which is famous for its Tenma-gu Shrine.
Plenty of students there, all praying for success in their studies I suppose :P
Since it was still early, I persuaded my dad to make a slight (ok, it was rather long) detour to Fukutsu to visit the Miyajidake Shrine. What's the significance of the shrine, you might wonder?
*YUI stalker alert*
Well, only YUI fans would understand :P The shrine appears in her "Muffler" video, and is mentioned in the song as well.
For the non-YUI fans, the shrine houses the largest "Oshimenawa" or a giant straw rope in Japan, as well as the largest bronze bell and largest Taiko drum. Talk about big.
But the most spectacular feature of the shrine was this:
A perfectly straight line all the way to the coast! Amazing, ain't it?
Unfortunately the shrine was undergoing major renovations so I couldn't get a picture of the main hall. Still, the straw rope looked pretty impressive!
As evening approached we decided to head back towards Fukuoka for dinner. Along the way, I again persuaded my dad to stop over at a Chinese restaurant, "WEST" for dinner. Yes, you guessed it, something YUI related again. It was the restaurant where YUI worked part-time, and also the place which sold her favourite "supaiku" or sweet 'n sour pork.
I did try the "supaiku" and it tasted more sweet than sour, but good nonetheless. We had ramen (chinese style) and some fried rice, and all were surprisingly good! Chinese food, with a Japanese flavour, is how I would describe the meal.
We then headed back to our hotel in Hakata, Fukuoka, took a subway to Tenjin for some shopping and that was it for the night!
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