So today I want to talk about Kumamoto city which is one of the major cities in Kyushu. Sort of. I already went to Kumamoto twice which was in summer and autumn, and every time, I dread to return back there. To be honest, my Kumamoto expectation and what Kumamoto actually looks like is literally different. Before I went to Kumamoto, my expectation of Kumamoto was greenery forests, a lot of mountains and very... countryside-like but I was completely wrong. Before I decided to go to the university that I'm currently studying at right now, I was offered to go to Kumamoto University by my lecturer but having the imagination that Kumamoto University is located somewhere at the mountain surrounded with green forests and away from the city, I decided to forget the offer. Well, it is one of the reasons why I decided not to go there but that's not the main reason why.
The first time I stepped my foot at Kumamoto city, I was literally full of shock because the Kumamoto that I imagined was 100% different with the real Kumamoto. Okay maybe it's true that Kumamoto has a lot of greenery sides and beautiful mountains and so on but the Kumamoto that I'm talking about is the Kumamoto where Kumamoto University is located. To my surprise, the location of Kumamoto University is 50% more urbanized than the location of the university that I'm currently going(I'm literally living in a kampung right now). Did I regretted of not choosing Kumamoto University? Maybe yes but it's more to a no despite the perks that Kumamoto city or Kumamoto University might offer to me. I'm grateful in a place that I am now. But.. Kumamoto definitely in a top list for my next move around Japan. I even thought of finding work there after I graduated😂
So here are some of pics of Kumamoto when I went there.
View of the main road in Kumamoto City
pic of me at Kumamoto city at night
old tram
modern tram(cool!)
So before I actually forgot, I went to Kumamoto from Hakata(main city in Kyushu) by bus because shinkansen(bullet train)'s ticket is freaking expensive! I could buy return bus ticket from Hakata to Kumamoto but I could only buy one way ticket from Hakata to Kumamoto with almost the same price.
So the price of Hakata Bus Terminal->Kumamoto city->Hakata Bus Terminal bus ticket is 4100Yen(RM155.61). Unfortunately the bus ticket is written all in Japanese so for tourists who cannot read Japanese, probably it'll be a bit difficult to know where to stop and so on but... as I probably had said before, it is highly advisable to bring along someone who can understand Japanese in your trip. The process to buy the ticket is pretty simple actually. You just go to the counter which is at the same floor as departure gate is located, tell them where you are going and they'll show you the price that you have to pay by using calculator. During my time, it was like that😂. So what makes the ticket special is that, you can use the ticket any time you wanted within the period written. So let's say I bought the ticket at 16th of August 2019 and the ticket is valid for 10 days so I can go to Kumamoto city any time I want within 10 days from Hakata bus terminal. I think I should write more details about how to read the ticket because there's so much info in the ticket that can make your travel more flexible but I guess that'll be in another post. Maybe.
The reasons why I love Kumamoto is because of the food, the tram and the still laid-back feeling that I feel just like in Iizuka(a city that I'm staying right now). As a person who loves and loves to eat so much, I definitely fall in love instantly with a place where I can eat a lot and I have more choice to eat. Malaysian population in Kumamoto is 3 to 4 times more than the place I'm staying right now and the muslim population over there also is significantly higher than my place so they have many muslim-friendly restaurants and they even have Kumamoto mosque which is quite near to Kumamoto University!
Kumamoto Mosque or they call it Kumamoto Islamic center
Just a walking distance from Kumamoto mosque, there is a small halal restaurant owned by Indonesian(if I'm not mistaken)that you can drop by and you can actually buy halal groceries too over there!
In front of halal restaurant by walking distance from Kumamoto mosque
I was very lucky because I got to eat nasi ayam or chicken rice there. During that time, I missed Malaysian food so much and no words could describe how happy I was when I got to eat nasi ayam!
My friend told me the menu is always different every week so I was very lucky because that week they served nasi ayam! The nasi ayam literally reminded me of nasi ayam that I had back in Malaysia(sedap giler! I wanna cry) but the chili was too spicy for me so I just ate it without the chili.
Nasi Ayam in Kumamoto
Pic from the side of Ramen Rinki
Pic of me in front of Ramen Rinki
Ramen made up from fish broth(first trip)
Dessert that come along with ramen(first trip)
Still excited with ramen(second trip)
Dessert that come along with ramen(second trip)
So the next thing that I will never miss when ever I go to Kumamoto is drinking tapiking. After having ramen, the next thing that I would do is to drink tapiking. Tapiking is just a walking distance from Ramen Rinki so it's like a must drop by place after Ramen Rinki. Unfortunately not all Tapiking is okay to be drink as some of the drinks contain gelatin(if I'm not mistaken) so most of the time, I choose drinks that my friends had drank before or I avoid drinks that I'm not familiar with. So those are the ones that I drank before.
strawberry(first trip)
chocolate(second trip)
I'm a fan of sweet things and I went to Kumamoto for the second time during autumn but that didn't stop me from eating ice-creams at Kumamoto castle. Currently Kumamoto castle is still under construction due to massive destruction from the great earthquake so I couldn't enter the castle and I just could see it from the outside. I guess I have to go there again to see Kumamoto castle😆
Some pics of Kumamoto castle still under construction.
And these are ice-creams that I ate in Kumamoto castle. I ate 3 different types of ice-cream on the same day during my second trip to Kumamoto.
Tofu ice-cream
Ocha and houjicha ice-cream(Green tea and brown tea ice-cream)
I asked the seller beforehand if the ice cream contains gelatin or alcohol or not and they said no so bismillah and I enjoyed my ice-creams!
There are so many things to discover at Kumamoto and still so many foods that I haven't try it yet so I'm definitely going there again because it's not so far from my place and still within Kyushu. I probably go back there just to eat and then come back hahhahahaha, we'll never know.
Lastly, here's the link that I'm sure it'll be useful to you if you are a muslim and planning to go to Kumamoto.
1. Food- 10/10
2. Atmosphere and scenery- 9/10
3. Kumamoto castle- 7/10(originally I put 6 because it is still under construction but since I got to eat a lot of ice-creams over there, I give it a solid 7)
Thank you for reading~
XOXO
Nurin
