Whale Meat Ramen...

While we were at Shionomisaki... the REAL southernmost tip of Honshu, we took lunch at the visitor centre abt 100m away from the exact southermost tip... Here the restaurant served WHALE MEAT ramen... which my fren bravely ordered... me.. being the more conservative one... ordered tonkatsu... again...

Here's the ramen... Dun think my fren enjoyed it.. Taste of seasoned chicken.... she says... the pickles and the rice ball are the local specialities... the rice ball is wrapped in persimmon leaves... i dun really like it... cold and taste bitter...

The Southernmost XXX of Honshu, Japan

The thing about Kushimoto is that... everything is being labelled as the southern-most XXX og Honshu... We got the...

southern-most town...

southern-most omiyage shop...

southern-most train station...

Words of Protest....

Okay okay... My fren Staci who went was my tour mate for Japan has protested.... OKay Okay... I will give her the credit.... Staci is the one who figured out how the bus system worked.... I just listened and wrote it down in the blog...

But...

Note my words... I didnt say "I found out...", I only say "I finally understand..."

Hee...

Finally understand how it works...

I finally understand how the bus fare system in Japan works... there's this huge electronic board in front of the bus and there are nos 1 to 50 written on it... under each of the number will the price of the ride... Have been wondering how the japanese know how to pay when they alight...

finally.... the mystery is resolved... the nos 1 to 50 refer to the stage that u board the bus... for eg, if u boarded the bus from the 1st stop, the current price is 1450yen... if u boarded the bus at the 24th stop, the current price is 630yen... So all u have to do remember where u board and just pay the amt stated when u alight the bus!


This is a better system than the one we had before our EZ-Link where they complain pple paid the wrong fares... Of course we will pay the wrong fare if no one told us the correct amt... See the Jap system... they are told how much to pay and they pay in cash... How to go wrong?

Hashikui-iwa Rocks

From the seashore of Kushimoto toward Oshima, various sizes of over 40 strangely shaped rocks rise up in a row of about 850m, as if only bridge piles have been left, Hashikui-iwa is one of the best place of scenic beauty in Nanki designated as a national natural treasure.

Seaside town... Kiitanabe

I like this town... Cool, quiet, breezy... You will automatically feel relaxed in this town...

Here's the view from my room...

Photo looks strange? Crooked? No... it's not an illusion. This photo is taken straight... Its the trees that are crooked... Blown too much by the wind...

45 degree angle tree...

Ramen..... yum yum....

Sigh.... Miss their ramen.... Stayed at a seaside town Kii-Tanabe for the night... Nearby our hotel got this small little ramen shop... Nice.... Yum Yum.... Their gyoza also very nice to eat....

Dolphins in Action

Sorry for the poor resolution... Took the pics from the movie clip... Havent figured out how to post movie clip... so only got stills..... think my dolphins look like a couple of tunas...

Dolphin Performance

We got to see a dolphin show near Taichi... The dolphins are training for the show at the nearby aquarium, so we got a short 5mins performance from them... to expose them to pple and get use to applause and sounds of "kawaii~~~!!" (The trainer handsome... heehee! Got another guy... not bad too... but never take photo of him...)

Kino-Matsushima Cruise

Next, we went for the Kino-Matsushima cruise... "Kino-Matsushima", scattered around 17km in the vicinity of Katsuura Port, shows a beauty of the seashore that nature has created. Among all-sized islands floating on the blue ocean, there is a camel rock, a lion island, "Tsurushima" of a cave, and "Yamanari-jima" where lieutenant general Taira no Koremori is said to have committed suicide into the water after his defeat by Genji in the fighting of Yashima. This place is famous for its scenic beauty of Kumano.

Tsurushima...
Camel rock...
Lion island...

Foot Onsen

While Kii-Katsuura is famous for its seafood, it is also an onsen town. Near the train station, there is a free foot onsen for pple to use... We soaked in it twice, water was about 39 degrees... and it was shiok!

Quiet town of Kii-Katsuura

More on Nachi Waterfall

Tried to use slow shutter to capture the flowing water.


More photos on my travelogue!

Nachi Waterfall

The waterfall... from afar....

Up close.....

The waterfall's CV... World heritage... Dun play play ah....

Nachi Mountain

Finally reached at about 13.30pm... Nachi Mountain...

Map of the mountain... The bus trip up the mountain took about 30mins... I dunno how the pple in the old days climb up the mountain to the top... Oh yeah.. word of caution... whenever u see the estimated time taken... remember to mulitply by 2 or 3 times... our speed of walking and our stamina not equal to that of the Japanese... they are much faster.....

4hrs of train ride....

To get to Nachi mountain and the waterfall, we first have to take a 4-hr Limited Express train ride from Osaka. We couldn't get reservations and ended up having to queue up for the non-reservation seats... The joke was we joined a shorter queue that had all the businessmen in their coats and ties and were wondering the couples and families in the other queue for non-reserved seats didn't join us... We finally knew the answer when we boarded the train and managed to get a seat in the SMOKING section... ARGH... I have never inhaled so much 2nd-hand smoke in my life.....

Luckily we had some phamplets and brochures with us and we started fanning ourselves like mad... There was a point of time where both of us fell asleep and woke up feeling sick after being oxygen deprived for so long. But it was still better than standing for 4hrs...

The train passed by the ocean, so the view was good...

Wakayama

A main highlight of our trip was to go to Wakayama and visit some of the national heritages in Japan and to also go to the southern-most tip of Honshu, Japan. We made an overnight trip and visited 3 places:-

1. The fishing port and onsen town of Kii-Katsuura
-> Nachi-mountain and Nachi waterfall, the tallest waterfall in Japan.
-> Kino-Matsushima cruise, among the naturally formed islands.

2. Kushimoto
-> Hashikui-iwa rocks, Japan's national natural treasure and top 100 evening scenic spots.

3. Shionomisaki
-> Located at longitude 135.46 east and latitude 33.26 north in the southernmost tip of Honshu.
-> Japan's top 100 evening scenic spots.
-> Shionomisaki lighthouse, with more than 100 yrs of history.

Although we didnt manage to capture any pictures of sunsets at these spots becos last bus and train ends before 6pm, the experience was still good and we also were able to appreciate the nature in these areas. (Psst! We were the only non-Japanese there!)

Hep Five

We pass by this ferris wheel on top of Hep Five - the hippiest shopping centre in Osaka, everyday. Our hotel is just on the other of the Hep Five.