Random shots around Kagoshima

Found these shots while rummaging through my camera's memory card
Kagoshima sure is very photogenic!

Usuki

Near IUK

Aso Volcano in Kumamoto

This is about another one of our day trips in February.
This time we went to Kumamoto, a not-so-near prefecture in Kyushu.
(I think it took us around 6 hours each way, so we had to depart at around 5am...
poor Shinobu had to drive the whole way cuz he was the only person with a valid driver's license)


This is the cable car station (they call it 'ropeway' here) to the mouth of the volcano


Behind these guys are shelters for when the volcano erupts




Doesn't this look like an album cover or something? A pretty cheesy one though... :P


Tired but happy...





Somebody please explain why the liquid is greenish...

Kinpouzan Trip Part 4: Week 2 Udon Soba Shop

Yay! I love big crowds these days!
This crowd in particular is different from the others I hang out with
First of all, I met this guys not because they wanted to learn a foreign language (most other acquaintances I make start out from that intention)
So basically I get to listen to and speak a lot of Japanese
and we just hang out, the bunch of us!

Free oranges!

Maple leaves! They're really pretty, aren't they?

Same path from the week before, but with more people :D

This time I tried another type of dango

These guys are really tight cuz they've been having classes together for quite some time now. If I'm not mistaken, the 13 of them hang out quite a lot. They're graduating in April, so they're all busy looking for jobs (in Japan, they start looking for jobs during their junior year and pretty much have a job by the time they graduate) and studying for their certificate test (January 25 and 26... you go, guys!) After that, they might go out together on a trip or something and I hope I can tag along, LOL

Kinpouzan Trip Part 3: Kinrori Odango

This store is called Kinrori Odango
See last picture to learn what a dango is, the picture is self-explanatory :P
This building is shaped like a dango, too!

The cute little entrance to the shop

I got myself an assortment of dangos
They were all pretty good
pretty chewy too LOL

Kinpouzan Trip Part 2: Kinpou Dam

After lunch that day (two Wednesdays ago), we went to Kinpou Dam just to chill

It has a really great view, doesn't it?

Our shadows blended nicely with the view

The guys couldn't resist going near the water

Their laughter convinced me to go down for a look too :D

The sights here are unbelievably nice and I found that it was very relaxing just staring at the water and the surrounding mountains. I'm really glad I went. I wouldn't have been able to get here by myself because you'd have to have a car in order to travel this far. :D

Kinpouzan Trip Part 1: Udon Soba Shop!

Here's the sign that announces the Udon Soba (names of noodles) shop
Lookit the clouds!

The scenery on the way to the shop
This is in Minami-Satsuma City
...very breathtaking

The path that leads to the shop
pretty neat, huh?

Voila! The shop itself
very homey and very charming

A cicada! ...or something

I ordered Tonkotsu Ramen
yum!

This is what it looks like just outside the shop
it's very very serene and very very pretty :D

That, my friend, is the bathroom LOL

Posing for pictures after a very satisfying meal

That's Ryosuke, me, and Hiromitsu
they're both from the department of social welfare

oranges!

So we drove (actually, they did -- Ayumi, Ryosuke, and Hiromitsu each took turns at the wheel) for 30 minutes to get to this shop. And it was well worth it! I'll post more pictures on the shop. We went there for two straight Wednesdays, with more people on the second trip. I'll also post pictures on the sights that we passed through to and from this destination!