17 July 2017 Monday.
The drive from Kagoshima to Ibusuki was a little difficult. Narrow and winding coastal drive. I tried to speed till I saw the speed limit on the road.
Lake Ikeda was an unplanned stop over. A very beautiful crater lake with exceptional water clarity.
Our Pictures
Lake Ikeda is a lovely attraction that one should not miss when visiting Ibusuki. Leaving Lake Ikeda, we drove toward Tosenkyo Somen.
Arriving at Tosenkyo Somen
From the car park, we had to walk down a long flight of steps to get to the restaurant.
We were astonished to find the restaurant was packed with people
and more surprised…. the queue to order was some 40 m long. Many peoples were queuing under hot sun.
while queuing… we managed to catch a few nice pictures of this restaurant.
We waited for more than an hour before placing our orders and allocation of table. Thereafter, food were served in relative short time.
The way to eat the somen was to place the noodles in the cold running spring water . Let it circulate for awhile. Pick up the noodles using chopstick and dip the noodles in the sauce provided…… cooling shiok…
We enjoyed the icy cold somen very much. The fried fish was tinted with small amount of salt and was equally superb.
Leaving Tosenkyo Somen Nagashi, we drove towards Kagoshima Flower Park. We managed to catch very good view of Mount Kaimon. (Mt Fuji of Kyushu).
At Kagoshima Flower Park, we hesitated a little at the entrance… This weather was simply too hot
We had our tickets and entered the park. Greeted by cool waterfall…. while waiting for the park bus.
We had a round trip and I thought the park has very good landscaping.
The view were exceptionally good….
Another 30 minutes drive and we arrived at Ibusuki Natural Sand Bath
We bought the tickets and put on the Yukata….
We were buried in Hot Sands…
Oh…. we missed the little umbrella… the staff said they will put an umbrella over us upon request….
A very unique experience to be buried. After a good wash up, we headed back to Kagoshima. We decided that we need chill moment…Tenmonkan Mujaki (translation : ice white bear) was the choice.
We had our icy dessert and chewy dumpling.
Very happy with the icy cool taste….
It was shopping time at Tenmonkan. Time passed quickly and it was nearly 2000 hrs.
We had dinner at Kirishima Tsukada farm ( 塚田農場 )
A small restaurant but was crowded with diners.
The restaurant was run by very young chef and waitress.
and we noticed the career path was inscribed on the staircase….
and the food… we never knew chicken and fried rice can taste so good…
End of Day 4 : Kagoshima / Ibusuki is really a good spot to visit again – we like lake Ikeda and sand bath. We love the Tosenkyo somen and very tasty chicken and fried rice prepared by Kirishima Tsukada farm ( 塚田農場 ). A very memorable day.
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