rkkwan's Honeymoon to Kyushu
Jan 14th, 2013, 08:47 AM
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rkkwan-some of the appetizers were similar like the sashimi and the basashi(raw horse meat) but the main dishes were all different. The first night was a seafood theme with a whole baked salmon and more seafood along with a wagyu steak dish as the main dishes while the second night it was more chicken and pork and a delicious beef sukiyaki dish complete with the fire and hotpot, vegetables, etc to cook it with. In all the ryokans we have been in the second nights meal has always been the best as they will be always trying to impress you.
Our breakfasts in the dining area were served traditional style on the floor with the low tables. Did you get to eat at a regular table for dinners? That would have been much better. Although in the comfort of our rooms we could get up and stretch or lay down in between servings. We would get back up to the table when we would hear our next serving being wheeled down the wooden hallway
Aloha!
Our breakfasts in the dining area were served traditional style on the floor with the low tables. Did you get to eat at a regular table for dinners? That would have been much better. Although in the comfort of our rooms we could get up and stretch or lay down in between servings. We would get back up to the table when we would hear our next serving being wheeled down the wooden hallway
Aloha!
Jan 14th, 2013, 08:57 AM
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Another good thing about staying two nights is that you can get the mixed rotenburo all to yourselves after 1:00pm or so. Sanga has a mixed rotenburo that was always occupied by several guys only throughout the normal ryokan day. We could enjoy those facilities and virtually the whole ryokan including the baths that had to be reserved to ourselves after we returned from our day trip and before check in time. You are right about hotsprings making you tired and relaxed. Wish I were soaking in one right now. What a stress buster.....
Jan 14th, 2013, 04:27 PM
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Many thanks! My cousins are thinking about Kurokawa, so I can tell them about staying for two nights vs one.
For our meals in the dining room at Sanga, we had a regular table. At Ayanosho, we had a private room with raised tatami and footwell under the table.
For our meals in the dining room at Sanga, we had a regular table. At Ayanosho, we had a private room with raised tatami and footwell under the table.
Jan 15th, 2013, 05:48 AM
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I have rearranged my photos a bit. The overall folder is still:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kyushu1212
Direct link to Part 1 - Fukuoka and Hita at:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/fukuokahita1212
And OVER 50 photos just at Ryokan Sanga, including some of the meals at:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/ryokansanga1212
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kyushu1212
Direct link to Part 1 - Fukuoka and Hita at:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/fukuokahita1212
And OVER 50 photos just at Ryokan Sanga, including some of the meals at:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/ryokansanga1212
Jan 15th, 2013, 06:41 AM
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Dec 30, 2012
We had another great breakfast at Ayanosho, and then checked out fairly early as we'd have a long travel day. Ayanosho's check-out time is actually noon, much later than the 10am at Sanga. We drove back to Kurokawa Onsen to visit the 3rd onsen using our passes - at Ikoi いこい. This ryokan is very popular, as well as highly rated on TripAdvisor as well (and so is Okyakuya next door). Their ladies' onsen is supposed to be very good for their skins. We found the baths very nice, but just too many visitors. Before we left, we left 50¥ for a hard-boiled egg outside the main entrance.
So, that was the first main highlight of our honeymoon trip, and we said goodbye to the Kurokawa Onsen area. We went east on Hwy 442 and picked up the scenic Yamanami Highway (Rte 11) to head south to Aso. Unfortunately, it was foggy and rainy. Still, with all the gold-colored fields in the winter, it was still quite pretty. We stopped at one of the road-side stalls that sold soft ice-cream (350¥), as the area is famous for its dairy farms.
Though we know the weather was lousy, we drove up to Mt. Aso anyways. I visited it before, in 1985 with my parents and sister in a tour group, but all I remembered was the aerial tramway ride. This time, we skipped the tramway and just paid 600¥ to drive to the top. As expected, couldn't see much, though we could smell the fumes. But what wasn't expected was the sudden change of weather, as a snowstorm blew in. A park attendant actually came to tell us to leave quickly. In under an hour, the road went from just wet to having an inch of accumulation.
Back in the valley, we picked up the busy Highway 57 towards Kumamoto (an expressway is just now being constructed to go across central Kyushu), and then got back on the Kyushu Expressway. The mountainous section just south of Kumamoto was very scenic with many long tunnels and bridges. What's weird about it is that the speed limit is a very low 80km/h (50MPH), though everybody drives around 100-110km/h. We made it to Kagoshima in about 2 hours, including a short break for some chicken yakitori BBQ. Toll for the 170km was a whopping 4,150¥.
The phone number I have for our hotel - REMM Kagoshima - wasn't its main one, so I couldn't locate it on the Clarion GPS, but it is on the main road with the streetcar, so no problem finding it to drop off our luggage. And no problem finding a gas station to fill up the tank and finding the JR Eki Kyushu car-return lot right behind Kagoshima-Chuo Station. One thing that's required in Japan is to have the gas station put a stamp to certify that they topped up the gas tank on a rental car.
So, final tally on the Toyota Vitz. Exactly 400km. Filled 24.51L at 153¥/L, for total of 3,938¥. 6.1275L/100km, or about 38MPG. Total toll we paid was much more, at 7,000¥. Incredibly we didn't pay for any parking. So, total cost of the car was about 37,500¥.
We had another great breakfast at Ayanosho, and then checked out fairly early as we'd have a long travel day. Ayanosho's check-out time is actually noon, much later than the 10am at Sanga. We drove back to Kurokawa Onsen to visit the 3rd onsen using our passes - at Ikoi いこい. This ryokan is very popular, as well as highly rated on TripAdvisor as well (and so is Okyakuya next door). Their ladies' onsen is supposed to be very good for their skins. We found the baths very nice, but just too many visitors. Before we left, we left 50¥ for a hard-boiled egg outside the main entrance.
So, that was the first main highlight of our honeymoon trip, and we said goodbye to the Kurokawa Onsen area. We went east on Hwy 442 and picked up the scenic Yamanami Highway (Rte 11) to head south to Aso. Unfortunately, it was foggy and rainy. Still, with all the gold-colored fields in the winter, it was still quite pretty. We stopped at one of the road-side stalls that sold soft ice-cream (350¥), as the area is famous for its dairy farms.
Though we know the weather was lousy, we drove up to Mt. Aso anyways. I visited it before, in 1985 with my parents and sister in a tour group, but all I remembered was the aerial tramway ride. This time, we skipped the tramway and just paid 600¥ to drive to the top. As expected, couldn't see much, though we could smell the fumes. But what wasn't expected was the sudden change of weather, as a snowstorm blew in. A park attendant actually came to tell us to leave quickly. In under an hour, the road went from just wet to having an inch of accumulation.
Back in the valley, we picked up the busy Highway 57 towards Kumamoto (an expressway is just now being constructed to go across central Kyushu), and then got back on the Kyushu Expressway. The mountainous section just south of Kumamoto was very scenic with many long tunnels and bridges. What's weird about it is that the speed limit is a very low 80km/h (50MPH), though everybody drives around 100-110km/h. We made it to Kagoshima in about 2 hours, including a short break for some chicken yakitori BBQ. Toll for the 170km was a whopping 4,150¥.
The phone number I have for our hotel - REMM Kagoshima - wasn't its main one, so I couldn't locate it on the Clarion GPS, but it is on the main road with the streetcar, so no problem finding it to drop off our luggage. And no problem finding a gas station to fill up the tank and finding the JR Eki Kyushu car-return lot right behind Kagoshima-Chuo Station. One thing that's required in Japan is to have the gas station put a stamp to certify that they topped up the gas tank on a rental car.
So, final tally on the Toyota Vitz. Exactly 400km. Filled 24.51L at 153¥/L, for total of 3,938¥. 6.1275L/100km, or about 38MPG. Total toll we paid was much more, at 7,000¥. Incredibly we didn't pay for any parking. So, total cost of the car was about 37,500¥.
Jan 19th, 2013, 06:46 AM
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Dec 30, 2012 pm
After we dropped off the car at JR behind Kagoshima-Chuo station, we walked through the station, shopped for a new camera bag at BIC Camera, and then took the streetcar (160¥) for 4 stops to our hotel, Remm Kagoshima, which is just one block from Tenmonkandori, the main shopping/dining street in Kagoshima.
Remm is part of the very large Hankyu group that also runs all the Dai-Ichi hotels in Japan. Very new property, great location and very inexpensive at only 6,100¥ for the room (no meals) when booked directly through their website. They're rated #5 on TripAdvisor for Kagoshima. Our double room has one full-size bed, and pretty well appointed, and a bit more spacious than than the "b" Ikebukuro I stayed at during my last trip to Japan. Yet, Bonny immediately noticed how small our room was (compared to all other places we'd stayed in), and that the only windows (2 of them) were in the bathroom. There are indeed no windows in the main room area.
I seriously thought about booking the Shiroyama Kanko on the hills above the city, as that was where I stayed in 1985. Very memorable stay that time, and it's still THE place in Kagoshima. But the rate was high and we were just staying spending the night before taking the ferry the next morning.
We made a mistake by asking the reception where to find "cheap" sushi, as we were told to try Mekkemon right across the street, a conveyor belt sushi place that's kind of quiet at that time of the day. Well, here we found that it's indeed possible to get mediocre sushi in Japan. Not that it was bad, just mediocre. Anyways, besides the ones on the conveyor belt, we could also order from a touchscreen, and a "shinkansen" on a separate track will deliver the ordered items. Tacky, but efficient.
Not satisfied with this dinner, we wandered around the Tenmonkan area. Lots of bars and clubs and general Japanese eateries, but only real sushi restaurant we saw was one called Sushi "Gin" or "silver" 寿司銀, one block behind the main road. Tiny restaurant with just 2 tables on tatamis and the stalls along the sushi chef's bar - very traditional. Good quality sushi but also very very expensive. We had like 8 pieces of sushi total and one drink and that cost over 4,000¥.
We quest for inexpensive, but good quality sushi in Japan would continue...
After we dropped off the car at JR behind Kagoshima-Chuo station, we walked through the station, shopped for a new camera bag at BIC Camera, and then took the streetcar (160¥) for 4 stops to our hotel, Remm Kagoshima, which is just one block from Tenmonkandori, the main shopping/dining street in Kagoshima.
Remm is part of the very large Hankyu group that also runs all the Dai-Ichi hotels in Japan. Very new property, great location and very inexpensive at only 6,100¥ for the room (no meals) when booked directly through their website. They're rated #5 on TripAdvisor for Kagoshima. Our double room has one full-size bed, and pretty well appointed, and a bit more spacious than than the "b" Ikebukuro I stayed at during my last trip to Japan. Yet, Bonny immediately noticed how small our room was (compared to all other places we'd stayed in), and that the only windows (2 of them) were in the bathroom. There are indeed no windows in the main room area.
I seriously thought about booking the Shiroyama Kanko on the hills above the city, as that was where I stayed in 1985. Very memorable stay that time, and it's still THE place in Kagoshima. But the rate was high and we were just staying spending the night before taking the ferry the next morning.
We made a mistake by asking the reception where to find "cheap" sushi, as we were told to try Mekkemon right across the street, a conveyor belt sushi place that's kind of quiet at that time of the day. Well, here we found that it's indeed possible to get mediocre sushi in Japan. Not that it was bad, just mediocre. Anyways, besides the ones on the conveyor belt, we could also order from a touchscreen, and a "shinkansen" on a separate track will deliver the ordered items. Tacky, but efficient.
Not satisfied with this dinner, we wandered around the Tenmonkan area. Lots of bars and clubs and general Japanese eateries, but only real sushi restaurant we saw was one called Sushi "Gin" or "silver" 寿司銀, one block behind the main road. Tiny restaurant with just 2 tables on tatamis and the stalls along the sushi chef's bar - very traditional. Good quality sushi but also very very expensive. We had like 8 pieces of sushi total and one drink and that cost over 4,000¥.
We quest for inexpensive, but good quality sushi in Japan would continue...
Jan 20th, 2013, 12:54 AM
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Don't worry, we eventually found some cheap good sushi...
Anyways, just posted 3rd album. At Kurokawa Onsen as well as our second ryokan - Ayanosho at (彩の庄) in nearby Ota Onsen (小田溫泉). Includes our 9-course kaiseki dinner and the menu (in Japanese only).
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kurokawaotaonsen1212
Also, added to the previous album - photo of the menu at Sanga, as well as a couple of missing photos from the 11-course dinner and breakfast next morning:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/ryokansanga1212
Anyways, just posted 3rd album. At Kurokawa Onsen as well as our second ryokan - Ayanosho at (彩の庄) in nearby Ota Onsen (小田溫泉). Includes our 9-course kaiseki dinner and the menu (in Japanese only).
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/kurokawaotaonsen1212
Also, added to the previous album - photo of the menu at Sanga, as well as a couple of missing photos from the 11-course dinner and breakfast next morning:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/ryokansanga1212
Jan 20th, 2013, 08:46 AM
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Dec 31, 2012 am. New Year's Eve.
From our room, we could see Sakarujima at an angle. The volcano was very quiet with no ashes coming out of it; unlike my visit in 1985 when I recall seeing locals carry umbrellas during the day in the city.
We had a cheap breakfast at the chain Tully's Coffee in the ground floor of our hotel. There's also a local bakery attached to it where we bought some baked goods. For the record, a tall latte cost 370¥, about the same as in the US or Hong Kong.
After checking out, we walked a block to catch bus #150 (150¥) at exactly 9:06a as scheduled, to the Kagoshima South Pier, for the 10:00a jetfoil to Yakushima. Well, that was the sole reason why we came to Kagoshima and spent the night.
I booked the tickets (7,700¥ per person) on the day it went online - Dec 1, two months before sailing. The website is in Japanese only, but I managed to book and pay for them with only minor problems. When we arrived at the pier at around 9:20a, it was already quite packed. We stood in one line to pick up the tickets, and then to another line for seat assignments. There are 6 jetfoil sailings to Yakashima daily in the winter - 4 to the larger port of Miyanoura, and 2 to Anbo. Our 10:00a ferry was to Anbo, via Tanegashima, an island to the northeast of Yakushima.
I am certainly no stranger to the Boeing 929 Jetfoils, growing up and living in Hong Kong. But this was my first ride of it outside the HK-Macau route. Our ferry was "Rocket", built by Kawasaki under license from Boeing in 1994, and is the newest of all jetfoils built by Boeing or Kawasaki. However, the interior looks like it has not been refurbished since new. While the agent for the route is "Tane Yaku Jetfoil", our ferry is actually owned and run by Cosmo Line.
We left Kagoshima right on time at 10, and from our right side upper-level window, we could see the town of Ibusuki as we passed it at around 10:40, and the prominent Kaimondake behind it. After that we were in open seas with fairly rough seas. No wonder the jetfoils are used here rather than catamarans. At 11:40, we dropped off about 70% of the passengers at Nishinoomote on Tanegashima, and finally arrived Anbo on Yakushima at 12:45p. 5 minutes late, probably due to rough seas. Before arrival, they stopped the live TV to show us a nice video about Yakushima and hiking on Yakushima.
While approaching Yakushima, the view of the island reminded me of another island paradise I've been to, which is Kauai; but Yakushima seem more mysterious. It is about 60% the size of Kauai, but has only about 1/4 the population. Its highest peak, at 1,935m, is also about 300m higher than that on Kauai. But when we walked out of the quiet pier, what came to our mind was the village in Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" 崖の上のポニョ.
From our room, we could see Sakarujima at an angle. The volcano was very quiet with no ashes coming out of it; unlike my visit in 1985 when I recall seeing locals carry umbrellas during the day in the city.
We had a cheap breakfast at the chain Tully's Coffee in the ground floor of our hotel. There's also a local bakery attached to it where we bought some baked goods. For the record, a tall latte cost 370¥, about the same as in the US or Hong Kong.
After checking out, we walked a block to catch bus #150 (150¥) at exactly 9:06a as scheduled, to the Kagoshima South Pier, for the 10:00a jetfoil to Yakushima. Well, that was the sole reason why we came to Kagoshima and spent the night.
I booked the tickets (7,700¥ per person) on the day it went online - Dec 1, two months before sailing. The website is in Japanese only, but I managed to book and pay for them with only minor problems. When we arrived at the pier at around 9:20a, it was already quite packed. We stood in one line to pick up the tickets, and then to another line for seat assignments. There are 6 jetfoil sailings to Yakashima daily in the winter - 4 to the larger port of Miyanoura, and 2 to Anbo. Our 10:00a ferry was to Anbo, via Tanegashima, an island to the northeast of Yakushima.
I am certainly no stranger to the Boeing 929 Jetfoils, growing up and living in Hong Kong. But this was my first ride of it outside the HK-Macau route. Our ferry was "Rocket", built by Kawasaki under license from Boeing in 1994, and is the newest of all jetfoils built by Boeing or Kawasaki. However, the interior looks like it has not been refurbished since new. While the agent for the route is "Tane Yaku Jetfoil", our ferry is actually owned and run by Cosmo Line.
We left Kagoshima right on time at 10, and from our right side upper-level window, we could see the town of Ibusuki as we passed it at around 10:40, and the prominent Kaimondake behind it. After that we were in open seas with fairly rough seas. No wonder the jetfoils are used here rather than catamarans. At 11:40, we dropped off about 70% of the passengers at Nishinoomote on Tanegashima, and finally arrived Anbo on Yakushima at 12:45p. 5 minutes late, probably due to rough seas. Before arrival, they stopped the live TV to show us a nice video about Yakushima and hiking on Yakushima.
While approaching Yakushima, the view of the island reminded me of another island paradise I've been to, which is Kauai; but Yakushima seem more mysterious. It is about 60% the size of Kauai, but has only about 1/4 the population. Its highest peak, at 1,935m, is also about 300m higher than that on Kauai. But when we walked out of the quiet pier, what came to our mind was the village in Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" 崖の上のポニョ.
Jan 22nd, 2013, 08:05 PM
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Dec 31, 2012 pm
Anbo is a very quiet fishing village and port. Few reasons I pick the ferry here - the 10am departure from Kagoshima seemed great, our hotel is closer to Anbo than Miyanoura, and we got to see Tanegashima during the stop. But I didn't do my homework very well in printing out directions to get to Orix Rent-A-Car from the port. Our ferry only has about 40 people on this second leg arriving at Anbo, and 5 minutes after we get off, the pier was deserted. And the local posted map didn't show Orix.
We walked up from the pier to the village on the bluff, and had to ask 3 times where Orix is. But this being Japan, everybody was very helpful in guiding us. Took us about 20 minutes total to get the rental place. Then, we had a second problem - the one-and-only clerk there was not there. We walked into the travel agent next door, and they kindly called the Orix lady on her cell to get her back to the office.
This place was really THAT sleepy - I'd bet that we were the only rental from this location for them all day! Anyways, she came back within in a few minutes, did our paperwork, but then we had our ONE AND ONLY problem with language during our whole trip. This lady doesn't speak any English at all, and while we understood that she told us their office doesn't have a credit card machine to charge us, we didn't quite understand what she wanted to do. (Actually, she wanted us to drive with her to the airport location about 15 minutes away to run the card). After a while, we realized the problem, and Bonny pulled out a stack of cash - problem solved.
The car we rented is a 660cc K-class Daihatsu Move. This one was quite old, with 100K km, and rust and dents all over. Apparently, they'd run the cars to the ground before replacing them on the island. It came with factory GPS (Japanese only), but on this island it wasn't really necessary. Like our rental from Fukuoka to Kagoshima, we booked via ToCoo. Total cost 13,500¥ for 48 hours.
First time I drive a K-class vehicle. Pretty fun, though the engine was loud whenever we went up the smallest incline. On Yakushima, aside from taxis, there are really no cars larger than the K-class or the slightly larger sub-compact. Even the fire trucks seem miniaturized. We stopped at Mosburger in Anbo for a quick lunch and then followed the circumferential highway clockwise towards our hotel. It was about 15 minutes from Anbo.
---
Now, let me back up a bit and explain why and how we decided on coming to Yakushima. Even though we decided to honeymoon in Kyushu early on, I didn't actually plan on the detail until start of October. I bought a couple of Taiwanese guidebooks and didn't think about Yakushima until Bonny flipped through the pages and showed a lot of interest. Jetfoil in, plane out, rental car were decided, but the 2-night lodging became a problem.
There are very few hotels bookable online from any of the major international AND Japanese booking sites, and for those handful bookable, they don't look attractive or the prices seem prett high (being huge holiday in Japan). Then I saw the Sankara Hotel & Spa, basically a Bali/Malaysian style resort with just 29 rooms total. Clearly the most expensive place to stay on the island by a mile, but this was our honeymoon and Yakushima was going to be our 2nd highlight of the trip, so I decided to give it a shot.
I booked 2 nights in an upper-level villa. Website said 53 sq meter (570 sq ft), but it seem much larger than our 700 sq ft home in Hong Kong. Cost was 80,000¥ per night, including dinner at their casual French restaurant and breakfast. About 10 days prior to our arrival, I got an email from them telling us we could upgrade our dinner to a full tasting menu dinner in their haute French restaurant for 6,000¥ per person extra. We decided to do that for our first night, which was New Year's Eve.
Then just a couple of days before we left Hong Kong, I got a personal phone call from a butler there, asking about our flight into Yakushima so that he could arrange for the complimentary transfer! Now, that is service! Regrettably, I told him we would not need that.
Anbo is a very quiet fishing village and port. Few reasons I pick the ferry here - the 10am departure from Kagoshima seemed great, our hotel is closer to Anbo than Miyanoura, and we got to see Tanegashima during the stop. But I didn't do my homework very well in printing out directions to get to Orix Rent-A-Car from the port. Our ferry only has about 40 people on this second leg arriving at Anbo, and 5 minutes after we get off, the pier was deserted. And the local posted map didn't show Orix.
We walked up from the pier to the village on the bluff, and had to ask 3 times where Orix is. But this being Japan, everybody was very helpful in guiding us. Took us about 20 minutes total to get the rental place. Then, we had a second problem - the one-and-only clerk there was not there. We walked into the travel agent next door, and they kindly called the Orix lady on her cell to get her back to the office.
This place was really THAT sleepy - I'd bet that we were the only rental from this location for them all day! Anyways, she came back within in a few minutes, did our paperwork, but then we had our ONE AND ONLY problem with language during our whole trip. This lady doesn't speak any English at all, and while we understood that she told us their office doesn't have a credit card machine to charge us, we didn't quite understand what she wanted to do. (Actually, she wanted us to drive with her to the airport location about 15 minutes away to run the card). After a while, we realized the problem, and Bonny pulled out a stack of cash - problem solved.
The car we rented is a 660cc K-class Daihatsu Move. This one was quite old, with 100K km, and rust and dents all over. Apparently, they'd run the cars to the ground before replacing them on the island. It came with factory GPS (Japanese only), but on this island it wasn't really necessary. Like our rental from Fukuoka to Kagoshima, we booked via ToCoo. Total cost 13,500¥ for 48 hours.
First time I drive a K-class vehicle. Pretty fun, though the engine was loud whenever we went up the smallest incline. On Yakushima, aside from taxis, there are really no cars larger than the K-class or the slightly larger sub-compact. Even the fire trucks seem miniaturized. We stopped at Mosburger in Anbo for a quick lunch and then followed the circumferential highway clockwise towards our hotel. It was about 15 minutes from Anbo.
---
Now, let me back up a bit and explain why and how we decided on coming to Yakushima. Even though we decided to honeymoon in Kyushu early on, I didn't actually plan on the detail until start of October. I bought a couple of Taiwanese guidebooks and didn't think about Yakushima until Bonny flipped through the pages and showed a lot of interest. Jetfoil in, plane out, rental car were decided, but the 2-night lodging became a problem.
There are very few hotels bookable online from any of the major international AND Japanese booking sites, and for those handful bookable, they don't look attractive or the prices seem prett high (being huge holiday in Japan). Then I saw the Sankara Hotel & Spa, basically a Bali/Malaysian style resort with just 29 rooms total. Clearly the most expensive place to stay on the island by a mile, but this was our honeymoon and Yakushima was going to be our 2nd highlight of the trip, so I decided to give it a shot.
I booked 2 nights in an upper-level villa. Website said 53 sq meter (570 sq ft), but it seem much larger than our 700 sq ft home in Hong Kong. Cost was 80,000¥ per night, including dinner at their casual French restaurant and breakfast. About 10 days prior to our arrival, I got an email from them telling us we could upgrade our dinner to a full tasting menu dinner in their haute French restaurant for 6,000¥ per person extra. We decided to do that for our first night, which was New Year's Eve.
Then just a couple of days before we left Hong Kong, I got a personal phone call from a butler there, asking about our flight into Yakushima so that he could arrange for the complimentary transfer! Now, that is service! Regrettably, I told him we would not need that.
Jan 23rd, 2013, 02:42 AM
#38
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Dec 31, 2012 evening
Our villa was magnificent and service was amazing at the Sankara. Everybody stopped whatever they were doing to greet us wherever we went. We had our own butler who took care of everything and suggested us what to do on Yakushima. Our dilemma how had become whether we should spend more time enjoying the hotel, or to enjoy the rest of the island. Only thing was that we didn't get much of a view from the balcony of our villa - had to go up to pool deck of the main building to really enjoy the view of the Pacific. Eventually, we got ourselves together and drove to the nearby Senpiro-no-taki Falls (千尋の滝), one of the two main waterfalls of the island. Very nice and most importantly, very quiet. Only a few visitors to this main site on this New Year's Eve.
We went back to our hotel, did our laundry (3 washer-dryers to use, with complimentary detergent and softener), and then went to the restaurant Okas for our 9-course tasting menu (6,000¥ extra per person). What's most special about the meal was that, not unlike at the ryokans in Kurokawa, they really emphasized on using local ingredients. That's different from having French in Hong Kong where they just do French, since there's nothing local a chef can use. Examples include the fishes from nearby and Kagoshima; local sweet potatoes, shiitake mushrooms and the Ponkan oranges.
We were given a very private table by the window; more interesting would be a table with a view of the open kitchen. One thing expensive was the wine. They stock very expensive stuff, with no bottle of red under 10,000¥. And glass of house red is 2,500¥.
An interesting touch was that before we were served coffee and petit fours, they gave us a special course - a bowl of Toshikashi Soba (年越し蕎麦). Turned out it's a tradition for Japanese to eat soba just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Very nice touch.
Our villa was magnificent and service was amazing at the Sankara. Everybody stopped whatever they were doing to greet us wherever we went. We had our own butler who took care of everything and suggested us what to do on Yakushima. Our dilemma how had become whether we should spend more time enjoying the hotel, or to enjoy the rest of the island. Only thing was that we didn't get much of a view from the balcony of our villa - had to go up to pool deck of the main building to really enjoy the view of the Pacific. Eventually, we got ourselves together and drove to the nearby Senpiro-no-taki Falls (千尋の滝), one of the two main waterfalls of the island. Very nice and most importantly, very quiet. Only a few visitors to this main site on this New Year's Eve.
We went back to our hotel, did our laundry (3 washer-dryers to use, with complimentary detergent and softener), and then went to the restaurant Okas for our 9-course tasting menu (6,000¥ extra per person). What's most special about the meal was that, not unlike at the ryokans in Kurokawa, they really emphasized on using local ingredients. That's different from having French in Hong Kong where they just do French, since there's nothing local a chef can use. Examples include the fishes from nearby and Kagoshima; local sweet potatoes, shiitake mushrooms and the Ponkan oranges.
We were given a very private table by the window; more interesting would be a table with a view of the open kitchen. One thing expensive was the wine. They stock very expensive stuff, with no bottle of red under 10,000¥. And glass of house red is 2,500¥.
An interesting touch was that before we were served coffee and petit fours, they gave us a special course - a bowl of Toshikashi Soba (年越し蕎麦). Turned out it's a tradition for Japanese to eat soba just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Very nice touch.
Jan 23rd, 2013, 06:18 PM
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4th album - Mount Aso, Kagoshima and the Jetfoil ride to Yakushima posted:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/asokagoshima1212
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/asokagoshima1212
Jan 23rd, 2013, 09:32 PM
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rkkwan
Great slideshow, I'm following along closely as my wife and I will be tracing some of your footsteps in May. The disappointment at not booking the Sankara has been assuaged by knowing the price of their house wine. We're in the Yakushima Iwasaki for two nights in May, hopefully...
You and HT's description of renting a car in Kyushu/Yakushima makes me want to do it although it has been hard to convince the person I'm related to by marriage to ride along.
I live on Kauai and one of the reasons of our wanting to visit Yakushima is the similarities of the two islands although I'm sure they are totally different.
Thanks for taking the time to do this trip report.
It definitely makes planning easier to see the trials and tribulations of those who have gone before.
Your description of the rental situation at Anbo makes one realize the thin line between travel serendipity and waiting 2 hours at a rainy bus stop while your pre-paid kaiseki dinner gets further and further away.
Great slideshow, I'm following along closely as my wife and I will be tracing some of your footsteps in May. The disappointment at not booking the Sankara has been assuaged by knowing the price of their house wine. We're in the Yakushima Iwasaki for two nights in May, hopefully...
You and HT's description of renting a car in Kyushu/Yakushima makes me want to do it although it has been hard to convince the person I'm related to by marriage to ride along.
I live on Kauai and one of the reasons of our wanting to visit Yakushima is the similarities of the two islands although I'm sure they are totally different.
Thanks for taking the time to do this trip report.
It definitely makes planning easier to see the trials and tribulations of those who have gone before.
Your description of the rental situation at Anbo makes one realize the thin line between travel serendipity and waiting 2 hours at a rainy bus stop while your pre-paid kaiseki dinner gets further and further away.
