Starting the Kyushu posts with a similar mental state as to how I  started my trip: feeling half asleep. The Kyushu trip, a result of a red-eye flight. Today, a result of awaking up in the middle of the night for the England - Russia Euro match. Either scenario, I'm not at my best, but yes, it shall be done. So here it goes!

 

Brief introduction to Kyushu

 

On a map, Kyushu (九州, pronounced as jiu zhuo) would be the most south-westerly island of Japan's 4 main islands. Kyushu is also the third largest. While it's Chinese name literally translates to mean 9 provinces, there are only 7 main prefectures in Kyushu:

1) Fukuoka

2) Nagasaki

3) Kumamoto

4) Oita

5) Saga

6) Miyazaki

7) Kagoshima

 

9 Days in Kyushu

 

For this trip, I brought my parents on a 9-days tour of Northern Kyushu, covering the following prefectures:

1) Fukuoka

2) Nagasaki

3) Oita

4) Saga

 

Originally, I had also included Kumamoto in our itinerary. However, just before we were due to fly, Kumamoto was struck by devastating earthquakes. Hence, there was some really quick changes to the itinerary and hotels done.

 

This time round, I finally convinced my parents to let me bring them on another mode of travel instead of joining a group tour. After that Hokkaido round, I just couldn't tolerate another round of rushing through Japan. However, bearing in mind that my parents were elderly, plus my mom has knee problems (and hence difficulties with walking, stairs and inclines), I opted this round for a customised private tour.

 

While this option was more costly, at least my parents enjoyed themselves a lot more. My parents now understand the joy of a more "free-and-easy" mode of travel. They have since agreed to let me repeat the following mode should I bring them travelling again.

 

 

 

 

The itinerary

 

While I'll eventually put up an overall itinerary post, I'll like to point out a few things about this Kyushu trip.  

 

This itinerary was meant to be elderly-friendly. I only covered a few attractions each day so as not to tire my parents out. We also retired to our hotels and/or ryokans after dinner for them to rest, hence this itinerary did not include night activities.

 

The itinerary was planned with my parents' interests in mind, which were mostly sight-seeing and some amount of shopping. Also, my parents are the sort who require variety. Hence, the itinerary cannot be skewed towards being too temple-heavy or too landscape-weary.

 

Lastly, this was a customised private tour. Which means the itinerary can be adapted for a self-drive tour.

 

So with this in mind, let me start the Kyushu series!

 

Day 1: Fukuoka Airport --> Kawachi Fuji Garden --> Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine --> Karatsu Castle --> Ryokan

 

If you were to ask me what would be the one thing I would change about our itinerary for this trip, I'll tell you that it'll be the red-eye flight that we took to Fukuoka. We were booked on the Singapore Airlines flight that departed at the ungodly hour of 0120 hrs. As I had just come off a gruelling week at work, I was hoping that I would be tired enough to KO on the flight. Additional plus, the flight was not full, hence my parents and I managed to score rows to ourselves. That alleviated the cramped-space issue.

 

Unfortunately despite the added space, only my dad managed to catch some sleep. Well, he was lucky to have an entire row of 4 seats to lie down. Mom and I were too disturbed by the roaring of the plane's engines and the repeated flight announcements. By the time we landed in Fukuoka at about 0830 hrs, I was feeling feverish and cranky. What made it worse was that we arrived on a rainy Fukuoka day. Not the best start really. In fact, this marked the start of my flu and I was sick the entire 9 days in Kyushu.

 

At Fukuoka Airport, we were greeted by our driver and then it was off to the first stop on the itinerary: Kawachi Fuji Garden (河内藤園).

 

Now, to be honest, while planning the itinerary, I did think that the Kawachi Fuji Garden was out of the way. It would have been easier for us to just head straight to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine from the airport. In addition, I would be arriving at the end of the wisteria season and I wasn't too sure if it would still be worth the trip.

 

However, I was swayed by the wonderful photos online and on Instagram. Plus, my mom loves her flowers. So I took a gamble and added this into the itinerary despite knowing that we would already be tired from the flight.

 

Boy. I'm glad we made the trip.

 

 

 

 

In Japan, wisteria is called Fuji (藤) so if you hear this uttered, at least you know what it means. There are 2 main wisteria or Fuji gardens in Japan. Of course, that doesn't mean that wisteria can't be found in the rest of Japan. There are still some places with wisteria trellises e.g. Karatsu Castle.

 

However, the 2 wisteria gardens, Ashikaga Flower Park and Kawachi Fuji Gardens, are the biggest (and naturally) have the largest population of wisteria. The better known of the 2 gardens is the Ashikaga Flower Park in the Tochigi prefecture. However, I understand that only the Kawachi Fuji Gardens has the wisteria tunnels.

 

That kind of makes it a MUST to visit.

 

 

 

 

Kawachi Fuji Garden is a private wisteria garden located in Kitakyushu (北九州). Google states that it was opened by Masao Higashi in late 1977. However, this is one garden that is otherwise elusive on the Internet. I could barely find any information on it (which of course added to the anxiety of whether to include it in the itinerary).

 

Apparently it seems that local were trying to protect the garden from extensive damage that may come with thronging tourists. Hence the lack of advertisement and information.

 

Despite the lack of advertisement, it appears that the Kawachi Fuji Gardens is still jam-packed during Japan's Golden Week! I later learnt that during peak season, traffic to the garden is horrible. Some would even opt to hoof it up the mountain in order to beat the terrible traffic jam to the garden. If that's the case, at the very least, that hike would have been scenic. There's a pretty amazing view of a reservoir along the way (which I wasn't able to snap since I was in a moving car).

 

 

By the way, in case you were not aware, Japan also has a Golden Week that is similar to China's Golden Week (a week of public holidays). Hence, you can expect crowds of even local Japanese tourists during their Golden Week. At the least, you know that the Japanese are extremely polite and well-mannered, so it would only be more of a space issue.

 

Japan's Golden Week runs between the last week of April to the first week of May. You'll have to check the calendar for exact dates.

 

The unfortunate thing here though is that wisteria season runs through Japan's Golden Week. And peak wisteria blooms happens to usually be during the Golden Week. So if you want to visit during peak bloom, the ground staff advised to come early morning. "Less people, more flowers in photo" - that's what he said.

 

This year though, due to the warmer climate (climate change!), the flowers have bloomed earlier. Of course, that meant that the flowers had also withered earlier, which coincided with the time we arrived.

 

 

 

 

A new way to pay for admission was also in effect this year. For those who visited during Golden Week, you would have been required to purchase a pre-admission ticket at 500 yen. Purchase of these pre-admission tickets were done at convenience stores. This in essence, would also have served to limit the number of visitors to the garden each day.

 

With the pre-admission ticket in hand, upon arrival at the Kawachi Fuji Garden, you may still be required to top up for admission. This top-up depends on the flower blooms and can range anywhere between 300 to 1,500 yen. Well, if you had paid 1,500 yen, take heart. It means that the wisteria is at its best. Yup, you got it. Price of admission depends on the flower blooms.

 

However, as we had arrived the day immediately after Golden Week, we were spared from this process and could directly purchase tickets at the entrance. Our admission price was at 500 yen per person, which meant that while there were still flowers, as it was past their peak, they were not at their best.

 

 

 

 

 

Upon admission, you will be greeted with the entrances of 2 wisteria tunnels. The one to the left runs approximately 80 metres long while the other tunnel is at 110 metres. To be honest, it doesn't really matter which one you start with first (unless of course you only have time for one). Both tunnels eventually lead to a really huge wisteria trellis set-up.

 

 

 

 

Here. I've included a photo of a map I cropped off a photo of a brochure they gave me. (Haha. That's quite some sentence). It's not the clearest (don't have a scanner with me so it's a quick iPhone shot), but I think that gives you an indication of the grounds.

 

As you can see, the 2 tunnels (denoted by their length) would lead to a huge wisteria trellis garden (that's the purple zone). The 2 bluish boxes flanking the sides of that huge wisteria trellis garden denote more wisteria trellis. These were further down a slope. As you can see, the entire garden can be completed in a circuit.

 

And in case you were wondering, that green box on the map denotes a resting area. Do note that there's no food sold in the garden. So please don't go expecting to get fed there.

 

 

 

 

It's a good thing that I grabbed the brochure. The fact that it was pouring quite heavily (plus a tired, feverish and cranky girl) meant that I could hardly take any notes for the blog. You tell me lah, how to take notes on top of balancing an umbrella and a camera and trying not to get my sandals too muddy?

 

Oh yeah, which brings me to the next thing to share with you guys. Fukuoka during May can be quite rainy. So if you're intending to visit, please make sure you're prepared with a brolly or a raincoat. If you intend to visit Kawachi Fuji Garden and it is raining, please do not wear sandals or you'd end up like me, with muddy feet. Well, it is a garden after all that you're visiting (which I conveniently forgot). I had to clean off my muddy feet in the car.

 

Also, during rainy days, toilets are provided near the entrance of the garden instead of within the garden.

 

Oh and for Christ's sake. Please do not ever wash your feet in their sinks provided near the toilets. Those are meant for washing hands. You really don't want people around you shaking their heads at your poor manners and hygiene. Unless you're really that thick-skinned like a tourist we saw.

 

 

 

 

Got to say though, precisely because it was raining so heavily, these photos were edited and ended up with a really dreamy feel.

 

In reality, if you brush aside the fact that we had to view the wisteria under our umbrellas in the rain, it really was quite pretty. Ok, brush aside the fact too that the flowers were past peak and in some parts, even withering.

 

Even then, there was still enough for us to appreciate its beauty. I thought my photos still turned out pretty decent despite all the rain and withering portions of the garden (see photo below for what I meant).

 

 



 

 

 

Our guide shared with us that there were at least 20 (brochure states 22) species of wisteria planted. Colours in peak, would have ranged from pink to lavender to blue-violets to white and even yellow! The wisteria would also come in different lengths, short to long. Apparently, at peak, you could literally be smelling them (in your face!) while walking through the tunnels and trellises!

 

Even in the wet and withering state that we visited, I could just imagine how much more fantastic it would have been had the sun been shining that day. And I definitely could imagine how spectacular they would be at full bloom.

 

If anything, this particular visit only reinforced the thought that I must come back again for full bloom.

 

 

Tourist Information

 

Kawachi Fuji Garden

Please note that the garden is also famed for it autumn foliage. As the garden is only open during wisteria season and autumn foliage season, this is strictly a seasonal attraction.

 

I've also included photos of the brochures below.

 

For wisteria season:

Late April (usually last week) to Early May (usually first week)

Opening hours: 9 am to 6 pm

Admission fee: 300 – 1,500 yen, in addition, re-admission tickets have to be purchased at convenience stores during peak season (Golden Week).

 

For autumn foliage:

Mid to end November.

Website: http://kawachi-fujien.com
DID: +81 093-652-0334
Address: 2 Chome-2-48 Kawachi, Yahatahigashi Ward, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture 805-0045, Japan
Local address: 〒805-0045八幡東区河内2-2-46

According to the brochure, there is free parking for 200 cars.

 

 

 

Snacking in Japan, because Vacation Calories DON'T Count! (Now who am I kidding?)

All right. I want to quickly finish this up so that I can get started on editing those Kyushu photos.

 

In the previous post, I had written about Pocky and Kit Kat, both of which are snacks that are enjoyed by many. Today, I'm going to write about other family favourites whenever me and/or my family visits Japan. And I'm going to start with another Japanese brand that is well-known and well-loved by many: Calbee.

 

 

For those uninitiated (which I don't believe there are many), Calbee is the brand that's famous for their potato chips and prawn crackers. Again, these are easily available in our local supermarkets, convenience stores, mama-shops, etc.

However, in Japan, you'll be mesmerized not just by the array of flavours available but also by the variety. Don't believe me? Just do a Google image search. Type in Calbee and the name of any Japanese region, and check out the images that pop up. They have everything from pumpkin chips to sweet potato chips, to flavoured potato sticks, and now even granola!

 

Again, remember to watch out for those key Chinese characters that I showed you in my previous post! Yup, you've got it! There are limited edition flavours when it comes to Calbee too!

So all those 期间限定 (time limited), 地区限定 (regional specialties) or 季限定 (seasonal specialties) that I had explained to you in the previous post is applicable here too! I remembered trying sakura flavoured chips when I visited in spring, choking on a regional wasabi specialty pack and hauling back onion chips which I thought was da bomb!

 

While my parents and I were in Kyushu this round for 9 days, everytime we popped into a convenience store, we'll leave with at least a packet of Calbee potato chips or prawn crackers. I think between me and my mom, we demonlished about 4 packets of prawn crackers and 3 packets of potato chips. That's quite a bit considering I was actually sick and should have been staying away from such snacks!

 

So if you're headed to Japan soon and you're a fan of potato chips and/or prawn crackers, make sure to pop into any of their supermarkets or convenience stores (Lawsons, Family Mart or 7-11) to check out the many flavours available.

 

Personally, I think Calbee products are also great as gifts, particularly those limited edition types. In my picture above (it's cropped to just highlight the Calbee), we bought home the mentaiko flavoured potato sticks (box on top) that's a regional specialty. While I love my mentaiko, I didn't particularly enjoy this one. The potato sticks are way harder than usual! However, my family and I loved the sweet potato chips (box in the bottom of picture). If I don't remember wrongly, there were only 6 small packs in the box and they were gone pretty quick over a couple of days. Because these are often individually packed, it's also easy to just distribute them out amongst family and friends.

 

By the way, Calbee also has boutique stores in Japan! If you're headed towards Tokyo or Hokkaido, please try to visit the Calbee boutique stores! Tokyo station, Harujuku station in Tokyo and the Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. Imagine fresh potato crisps (literally out of the fryer!) drizzled with your choice of toppings such as Royce chocolate or cheese and topped with a soft serve. It really doesn't get any better (or more decadent) than that!

 

 

Right, since soft serve is now mentioned, that'd flow nicely into the next recommendation I have for those of you visiting Japan: soft-serve, ice lollies and ice-cream. Eat all that you can!

 

Yup, this is another every-time-I-visit-Japan-must-eat item. There's just something that's simply amazingly yummy about the soft-serve in Japan. Maybe because they have an abundance of fresh milk? Or perhaps it's some secret ingredient or manufacturing process? Whichever, I usually find their soft-serve nicely creamy without the over-powering taste of milk.

 

But perhaps the most awesome thing is (again) the variety of flavours that's available! The soft-serve in my photo above is a pretty standard vanilla and grape mix. Yup, that's right. Grape flavoured soft-serve is considered mild. It's also one of the more common flavours around in Japan. Others in this mild/common category include strawberry, green tea, melon (which is absolutely delicious), milk, chocolate.

 

Now, if you're one of those who's up for exotic flavours or if you don't mind a culinary adventure, soft-serve flavours in Japan also come in unique ones such as miso, squid ink, asparagus, wasabi, tofu, etc. It all depends on where you are at. Yeah, I've done all of the above that I've listed. Culinary exploration. Plus, I'm already there so why not? But let's just say I'll still prefer the safer of the exotic such as hoji-cha. Now that's a seriously awesome unique soft-serve. Try it if you ever spot one, especially if you like hoji-cha! I think I had it in Kyoto...

 

 



 

 

Soft-serves are probably the most common of the ice-cream family that you'll find in Japan. In fact, each time you step into a major tourist attraction spot, there will definitely be at least one stall selling them. I was seriously amused when even boating down a river-canal, we had the option of stopping for soft-serve at stalls set up along the canal!

 

What's less common but still equally yummy are ice-lollies or ice-sticks like the one in the picture above. I simply love the fruit-based ones. I think because Japan is an agricultural country, these lollies often use fresh fruit as their ingredients. Just pick whichever fruit is currently in season, and enjoy them the ice-cold way. Another flavour that I often enjoy are the ones that uses Calpis. What can I say, I'm just a major Calpis fan. It's a good thing that they're not as readily available in Singapore, otherwise I'm sure I'd have overdosed on them.

 

 

 

 

And if store bought ice-cream is your to-go-to, you'd be delighted to know that these are also pretty awesome. Once in a while, I'd pop into their convenience store to try their local Japanese store brands. So far, they've been decent. Still prefer my soft-serves though.

 

But if you're a Haagen Dazs fan, then it's a must to get to the convenience stores! You'd be delighted to know that Haagen Dazs comes in limited edition flavours too in Japan! What did I say before, Japan really is the land of limited edition flavours! Now can you spot the 4 Chinese characters in the picture by now?

 

The picture above features the Haagen Dazs that my dad and I tried this time round: Alphonso Mango and Cream, and Caramel Truffle. Both were pretty good. I got a photo of the Alphonso Mango and Cream one below. A wee bit melted as the hotel fridge isn't the most powerful of all fridges.

 

 





 

 

Now, the next item I'm going to write about is something I don't often read about in travel blogs or notes. Jelly cups, in particular, fruit-based jelly cups. These jelly cups are my mom's favourite and it's not difficult to understand why. Oftentimes, these cups are sweet. Not the overwhelming artificial sugar sweet kind of taste that you'd find in some. Instead, my mom likes that she can taste the fruit-like sweetness. Now, whether artificial sugar or fresh fruit sweetness, I'm not talking about the ingredients that's going into the cups here. What I'm saying instead, is that at the very least, they taste great and not like artificial sugar.

 

Like I mentioned earlier, these are my mom's favourite. Yes, she loves them even more than her beloved Pockys. Each time I bring her to a Japanese convenience store, that's the first stop she makes. It's not uncommon to see us hauling her bag of jellies (it's been a minimum of 3 cups each visit thus far) onto the car or bus.

 

 

 

 

While these are occasionally available in some of our local supermarkets like NTUC and Cold Storage, each palm-sized cup has been known to retail at anywhere between SGD$5 to $7. So while my mom loves them, it's her occasional indulgence if purchased in Singapore. In contrast, each cup we've bought in Japan is only between SGD$1 to $3. I guess that's why mom goes jelly-crazy in Japan.

 

Loquat was in season this time round when we visited Kyushu, so we bought home quite a number of loquat jelly cups for the mom (see picture above).

 

 

 

 

Since you read that I'm a major Calpis fan, it be remiss if I were to write such a post and say nothing at all about my favourite drink in Japan. Now Calpis (aka Calpico in some other countries since it apparently sounds like cow piss) is a sugary soft-drink that is reminiscent in taste of yogurt or Yakult. There's milk and lactic acid featured as ingredients so those of you who are allergic or intolerant, please be mindful.

 

Now, the common Calpis drink in Japan usually comes packaged in a plastic bottle with a blue and white label. You can google for that since I obviously didn't grab any pictures of the common one. Just be mindful that Calpis comes as Calpis soda or Calpis concentrate. Both packagings look pretty similar so please be careful that you don't buy the concentrate and start glugging it down.

 

In Japan, Calpis also comes in fruit flavours and that's often what I love looking out for. My picture above just portrays some samples from the collection of the flavours available. It's what I had this time round in Kyushu, with the lemon flavour one being a first-time trying it. That one tastes like yogurt mixed with lemonade - the refreshing sort. I quite enjoyed it.

 

These bottles of Calpis can be easily bought in supermarkets and convenience stores. Also, there are tons of vending machines around that can dispense these drinks. If you're headed to a pub or bar, you may also wish to try Calpis sour. That's a cocktail usually made from mixing shochu and Calpis concentrate. Some places will offer Calpis concentrate mixed with vodka or choya as well. Some restaurants offer this too, just check the drink menu. In some places, Calpis concentrate is also mixed with shaved ice for a refreshing dessert.

 

 

 

 

Now here's something that commonly written about. When in Japan, eat ramen!

 

Hahaha, of course you should! You're in ramen land! It's easily found everywhere, from ramen shops to stalls to the instant versions. Japan even holds ramen competitions and they're prestigious titles too! So it's really a big deal if a ramen store you patronise had won one of these competitions.

 

There are a few big-name ramen stores around in Japan. By that, I mean stores with established ramen reputation in ramen land. Some well-known ones include Ippudo, Ichiran, Santouka, etc. Picture above is a tonkatsu ramen bowl from Ichiran. We had the opportunity to visit its original store in Fukuoka this time round.

 

 

Friends of mine usually am well-aware of my instant noodle addiction. In fact, many times, my friends would travel overseas and bring me back instant noodles, particularly if its some unique flavour found in the country they've visited. Of course then, it's no surprise for me to feature instant noodles here. When in Japan with friends, we often buy back cup noodles to the hotels as snacks. (Yeah, not meals but snacks). Ok, for supper too. Basically, for those times when we suddenly feel hungry. And given how much we would have already snacked on in the day, that's quite amazing. With my parents around, I'm a lot more restrained since they've always nagged at my instant noodle intake.

 

Nissin is a favourite instant noodle brand of mine. Of course, I'll also get other brands to try but every trip, Nissin is a must. And please, likewise, don't just buy the ones you already often eat in Singapore. I love the cheese curry (in the picture above) and the chilli tomato flavour is pretty decent too. Nissin also has those awesome BIG cup noodles. Because how can 1 tiny cup fill you up? I just haven't gotten around to trying some other (in my opinion, weirder) cup noodles flavours such as milk seafood.

 

By the way, those famous big-name ramen stores that I mentioned 3 paragraphs above? Even they have decided to cash in on the instant ramen popularity. Yup, I've hauled instant bowls (well, they're nowhere near cup shapes) from Ippudo and Santouka back to Singapore before. In case you're wondering, yes, I'm one hell of a luggage-packer. I've never had an issue with crushed cups. My cup noodles have all arrived in Singapore safely in my luggage.

 

 

And I definitely do not limit myself to just the cup/bowl noodles. I go for the packet ones too! By the way, I just cooked the black-coloured packet of ramen (2 photos above, on the left) for lunch. Kagoshima pork broth ramen, that's the picture above. Kagoshima's is supposedly famous for their pork. Yummy to the max! Now I'm regretting only getting 1 pack!

 

 

Now, it's not all unhealthy snacking k. When in Japan, eat all the fruits too! Especially fruits that are in season. And yes, I hauled these clementines, apples, peaches and loquats back from Kyushu this round. I did tell you I'm an awesome luggage-packer, didn't I.

By the way, my parents and I have since learnt to pack a plastic knife along with our luggage solely for the purpose of enjoying our fruits in Japan. When in season, these fruits are seriously sweet and yummy. Plus, they're a great source of natural fibre. Best way to avoid holiday constipation. In some parts of Japan, you may even wish to visit a fruit farm/orchard for some fruit-picking fun.

 

 

Ok, I'm getting to the end of my post. But first, onto Starbucks. I have to admit, I first started popping into Starbucks in Japan because I wasn't getting my coffee fix all the time. By the way, Japan's great for teas, but it's hard to find a good cup of coffee. And Starbucks isn't exactly great with the coffee either.

 

But anyway, that's how I found out that Starbucks Japan does seasonal stuff too! Spring 2 years ago, I tried a Sakura drink. This time round, its Cantaloupe melons for summer. I didn't get around to the other brownie matcha one. They were also advertising that a strawberry option was the next offering coming up. So if you're thirsty and you spy a Starbucks nearby, no harm popping in to see what they have on offer.

 

 

 

 

Now this is something that I don't always enjoy, but always receive requests from friends for. Japanese crackers. Japanese crackers can be in the form of rice crackers (on the left in my picture above) or the biscuit-like types (on the right in the picture above). So far, I tend to prefer the latter and my favourites rice crackers are the ones from Kitakaro in Otaru, Hokkaido.

 

Usually, when purchasing crackers, most stalls would have samples out for you to try. You can then make your choice based on your favourites. Like I said, I'm not a fan but my friends seem to love them quite a bit, so it's here too on the blog.

 

 

 

 

Next on the post (which is becoming extremely lengthy), are my bakeries and pastry shops. I love to visit these in Japan. The breads are soft and the Japanese often experiment with fillings. Mentaiko bread? Give it to me. Garlic sesame buns? Yums in the tums! And their cheese breads or cheese pies or cheesecakes? Oh lord. It's melt-in-your-mouth cheese heaven.

 

Of course, likewise, there are famous ones in different areas. Just do your homework before you go to find out. But I've also learnt to rely on my sense of smell and the sight of queues.

 

 

 

 

I'm finally coming to the end. These here (ok, the ones that I'm writing about) are what I call my buy-at-the-airport goodies. Simply because, they can always be found at the airports. Let's start with the photo above:

 

Top row from the left, are 2 boxes from Potato Farm. The first box is something new that Potato Farm put out while the 2nd box is what I traditionally would always get. There's always a limit placed on the number of boxes of Potato Farm that each visitor is allowed to purchase and it varies from place to place. I been told that I can get anywhere from 2 to 5 boxes in various places and airports. Now that in itself, should give you an indication as to how popular this awesome box of potato sticks is. They're good.

 

3rd box from left, top row: Tokyo Banana.

Do I need to introduce this anymore? Its famous. Again not a personal favourite of mine, but I know of many (and I do mean MANY) who seem to love this banana-cream filled sponge cake. By the way, there are variations now when it comes to Tokyo Banana, e.g. caramel-banana cream, etc. I've been told too that there's even a sakura one for spring!

 

Box below Tokyo Banana: The Strawberry Cake from Ginza.

My mom has resorted to calling this Tokyo Strawberry (after Tokyo Banana). Firstly, the name The Strawberry Cake from Ginza is just simply too long a mouthful. Secondly, it's almost like Tokyo Banana, except it's strawberry filled. I actually prefer this to Tokyo Banana. Less sweet.

 

Ignore the others in the photo. They're just random stuff I picked up for friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a picture of how "Tokyo Strawberry" looks like. You'll have to give the Japs points for packaging, they're really good at stuff like that.

 

 

And here's what an individual pack of Potato Farm looks like. My 2 boxes were gone in less than a week.

 

 

Now, the next thing to watch out for in the Japan airports are the wonderful Royce chocolates. Seriously yummy chocolates. They've also got liquor filled ones but my favourites are the darks. So sinfully awesome. And they even have chocolate coated potato chips and popcorn. I bought the chips this time. Love the white chocolate ones much more though.

 

And finally, the last thing that I can recall to put into this post. Hori melon jellies. Ok, I know I wrote about jellies already. But these ones can be easily found at most airports. So if you don't have the opportunity to visit supermarkets or convenience stores, you'll know that there's this option at the airports as a last resort.

 

Except I still find the others nicer. These Hori Melon jellies are good, but the ones at the supermarkets and convenience stores are sometimes nicer.

 

All right. I hope this post helps those going to Japan soon, especially if it's going to be your first time there. Enjoy yourself snacking on these Japan goodies! Just don't blame me for the weight you put on k!

 

 

When in Japan, grab those Pocky and Kit Kats!

I just returned from yet another trip to Japan last week. This time, we toured parts of Kyushu. Yup, the recently-hit-by-earthquakes Kyushu.
I had to make some last minute changes to the itinerary as a result. While I didn't fully enjoy myself, it was not because of the earthquakes and the resulting itinerary changes.

 

Instead, I was a sick cat during my entire 9 days in Kyushu. It really didn't help when we were caught in the rain on the first 2 days of our trip as well. In fact, I'm still recovering now and on my 3rd round of medications. Yeah, incredible right? 3rd round because I came back and got hit again by the flu superbug. (Hello immunity? What's up with you?)

 

Anyway, this time around, because I wasn't always feeling great, I really wasn't always in the mood to grab pictures. Even then, that's close to 2000 pictures. Just that in some places, the camera was stowed away. I'll share whatever I have (edited) still.
Yup, you've got it! Posts on Kyushu coming right up soon! Well, as soon as I sort through and edit whatever photos I've gotten. And mark my words, I'll be back for Kyushu again.

 

But for today's post, I'm just going to write about snacking in Japan. Haha. Yes, you read me right. Snacking in Japan deserves it's own post. Afterall, it's the land of amazing Pocky and Kit Kat flavours! And since I already brought up Pocky and Kit Kat, let's start with that first.

If you are not aware by now, Japan has an incredible number of flavours when it comes to Pocky and Kit Kat.

The chocolate and strawberry Pocky flavours that are easily available in Singapore, are also common in Japan. However, that's not what I'd get when I'm in Japan. There are several other flavours which are less common in Singapore such as milk, green tea/matcha and even cookies and cream. You'd probably be able to find some of these now in select supermarkets and convenience stores in Singapore. But during my initial trips to Japan, I used chow down regularly on their almond crush Pocky since it was much cheaper there in Japan than in Singapore.

However, nowadays I'll always be on the look out for the seasonal flavours that Pocky puts out. Pocky Japan puts out special flavours for each of the four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. This round, we found out that the summer offerings were already on the shelves; chocolate-coconut and Brazilian orange.

The chocolate-coconut was the same as last year's and my mom is a huge fan of their summer chocolate-coconut flavour. You probably can't tell from my picture above, but that's a shot of a stacked 3 by 5 packs of chocolate-coconut Pocky. Yup, my mom hauled home 15 packs of those for her own personal consumption this round. I honestly think she would have bought more if she wasn't worried about the lack of luggage space.

The Brazilian orange offering though is an obvious marketing tie-in with the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympic Games. If you're headed to Japan now or soon, make sure you try this limited edition flavour. It combines (artificial) orange with chocolate. I have to admit, I didn't really like the first few taste, but the more sticks I bit into, the more addicted I got. It was the artificial orange that made it a bit weird at first, but I liked it well enough that I bought home 6 packs.

Yup, if you can't tell by now, my mom and I are huge fans of the chocolate-coated stick.

 

Ok, those of you who aren't headed to Japan now but in the near/distant future, you might wonder how to tell whether the packet you're holding is a seasonal offering or a limited edition flavour. The trick lies in looking for 4 Chinese characters. With these Pocky packs, it's usually on the top right hand corner of the box. I've circled it in blue in the photo above for your easy reference.

Now, let me help you decipher those 4 characters.
The 2 characters in the bottom row, 限定 (pronounced as xian ding) refers to it being a limited edition.
In the top row, the character on the right, 季 (pronounced as ji) is translated directly as season.
So the first character (top row, left) would then indicate which season it is:
春 - pronounced as chun, refers to spring

夏 - pronounced as xia, refers to summer

秋 - pronounced as qiu, refers to autumn

冬 - pronounced as dong, refers to winter.

Last year, we tried the Pocky summer offering (夏季限定) in Silicia Lemon, and that was pretty awesome too!

These Pocky packs usually retail at under 200 yen per pack, between 130 to 170 yen. I tend to pick them up whenever I dropped by any of their convenience stores (Lawsons, Family Mart or 7-11).

 

If that isn't confusing enough for those of you not familiar with these Chinese characters, Glico Japan (that's the company behind Pocky) also churns out these Giant Pocky sticks. Likewise, there's the common chocolates one, and then there's the special flavoured ones. This time round, the flavours are limited by areas, e.g. Kyushu region, Kyoto region, etc.

Again, how do you tell? If you take a look at the yellow Giant Pocky box in my photo above, I've again circled the characters in blue that you'll need to watch for. You'll see that there's 8 characters now, but its still 4 that you really need to understand:
Again, 限定 (xian ding) appears on the second row to denote that it is limited.

Now in the first row, 地区 (last 2 characters on first row, and pronounced as di qu) refers to area / region.
So whatever characters that come before it merely refers to the Chinese name of the area / region. In this case, 九州 (pronounced as jiu zhou) refers to Kyushu.

So, that yellow box of Giant Pocky I picked up is a Kyushu regional special flavour called Hiyoko Manju. The sticks are coated with chocolate flavoured with lima beans.
I honestly didn't know it was lima beans until I came back and googled. It tastes much better than what "chocolate flavoured with lima beans" would otherwise have evoked.

Each box of Giant Pocky usually contains between 16 to 18 individually wrapped giant sticks. They're pretty good to distribute out as gifts too.

By the way, Pretz also comes under the Glico company. No surprise then that it follows Pocky with their seasonal and regional flavours. That box of Giant Pretz is mentaiko flavoured. Mentaiko's a specialty in this region. I didn't expect to like the mentaiko Pretz so much though. Absolutely regrets just getting 1 box.

The smaller boxes of Pretz you see at the side are ramen flavoured. Now I gave away those and only kept a box for myself. I haven't gotten around to it yet though, so I'm clueless as to how it tastes like.

Now these regional specialities are less commonly found in convenience stores. Instead, I tend to pick them up at the gift stores or snack shops along major tourist attractions. Sometimes, these boxes are openly displayed such that it's hard to miss them. However, I've also noted that at times, they can be hidden in inconspicuous corners. The sort where you'll have to keep  your eyes peeled for them.

Now there's also Baton d'or, or what I personally term as expensive Pocky. (Had to crop them out of a photo, otherwise you might miss them). Now these are a class act. If you are a fan of Pocky, you'll definitely have to give this a try. The biscuit stick's yummier and I really enjoy the intense flavours of these Batons.

Let's just say that they're really good and I'll happily fork out the 500 yen (if memory serves me well) again for another box anytime.

Where to find them? You'll need to google for store locations, but Baton d'or stores are often found in those major departmental stores. You know, those huge departmental stores where the basement is a huge supermarket-and-food-store-galore? Yup, those types. I bought mine this time at the food basement of JR Hakata City, a huge mall in Fukuoka.

Gosh. This is proving to be a long post and I've only just gotten around to the Kit Kats. I think I'm going to break the snacking up into different posts!

Kit Kat also has flavours that are unique to Japan. In fact, I read somewhere that there's been more than 200 flavours that's been put out for Kit Kats! Milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate Kit Kats are now common in many Singapore supermarkets, etc. Even green tea/matcha Kit Kats are now becoming more easily available too. So please, don't waste time with these in Japan. Again, these are not the ones that you should be watching out for when in Japan.

Instead, check out their strawberry, strawberry cheesecake (shown in my picture above), sakura matcha flavours. Personally, I believe that these 3 flavours I've just listed appear to be the more common (read: easy to get) Japanese Kit Kat flavours. I've seen them pretty often at the shops at the Japan airports. Pretty easy to just grab them just before your flight home. I get requests for the strawberry Kit Kats pretty often if that's any indication of how yummy they are.

What's more difficult to locate are the regional specialties. Yup, Kit Kat flavours unique to a particular region. These are easily identified as Nestle kindly states them in English, e.g. Kyushu Edition, Kyoto Edition, Yokohama Edition. Otherwise, just look out for those circular stamps on the boxes. Or you can always google before you go as to what the regional specialty is. Yup, Google's your best friend!

Of course, if you see the 2 Chinese characters 限定 anywhere on the box, that usually also indicates that it is a limited edition.
In fact, anytime you see the characters 限定 or 期间限定 (pronounced as qi jian xian ding, and refers to a time limit), you know you have something that's limited edition on your hands. Trust me, Japan is the land of all limited edition flavours, from instant noodles, to potato chips, to (yeah) Kit Kats.

These regional Kit Kats are not always easy to find though. Again, your best bet to get them are at the gift shops and/or snack stores, especially those near major tourist attractions. The next best place would be at the airports but I've always had better luck with the stores near the attractions.  Likewise, they can be openly displayed or hidden in some corner. Just keep your eyes peeled.
In Kyoto, when I visited the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple, the shopping street was just lined with snacks stores selling these Pockys and Kit Kats. No way you could miss them and I could even do a little bit of price comparison between stores!

A word of advice though, when you see them, grab them. Like I said, they're not always easy to find. My first time in Japan, I thought I'll come by the Tokyo edition Rum and Raisin again and failed to pick up that box when I first spied it. Ever since then, I've yet to lay eyes on another box of Rum and Raisin Kit Kat. It's the one flavour that's been bugging me for a long, long time now.

This time round, what I've managed to find are the Beni Imo (left in the photo above) and the Amaou Strawberry (obviously, the right one then in the photo above) flavours.
The Beni Imo flavour (also known as the purple sweet potato Kit Kat) is an Okinawa and Kyushu regional specialty. This one is seriously yummy. It's probably one of my favourite Kit Kat flavours and I've tried quite a few already.

In case you get confused, there's quite a few regional strawberry flavoured Kit Kat. The Amaou Strawberry one just happens to hail from Kyushu. This is another one which I haven't gotten around to getting it into the tummy. I can't tell you much about it yet but I doubt you can go too far off with strawberry.

Phew! An entire post dedicated to Pocky and Kit Kat. Wow. Never knew I could write that much about Pocky and Kit Kat. I had intended to include other stuff but I'm seriously too tired to continue. Please. Flu meds knock me out. It's pretty darn good that I've lasted this long (just close an eye to any grammatical or spelling errors k).  I'll get around to sharing what other good snacks to have while in Japan in the next post!

 

Hokkaido Chitose Airport

Ok, here's a quick one as to what I consider some of the more awesome stuff at Chitose Airport. Yeah, I'm a little rushed for time but figured if I don't get this out today, I'll be really swamped over the next week and I definitely won't be able to write anything then

 

So anyway, there's plenty of things to do at Chitose Airport. It's one of those airports where I wouldn't mind getting to earlier to walk around, eat and shop. It almost feels like a giant shopping mall.

 

Of course, those of you who need to stock up or grab last minute gifts, Chitose Airport has loads of stuff. I usually try to avoid getting those at the airport though, since stuff like your Japanese snacks are often marked up at the airports. But the option is definitely there if you need to grab those.

 

At Chitose Airport, there are 2 food stops that I would recommend:

 

 

 

 

Cheese tarts.

There are a few brands at the Chitose Airport actually. However, there is only one where you can smell the tarts from corridors away. And it's the only one where I've seen queues. Seriously, just follow your nose and the queue.

 

Do note, the picture above is not the one that I've mentioned, but something that I wanted to try another time from Le Tao (which is pretty famous and from Otaru). I forget to get a picture of the actual store while I was there. I secretly think that the aroma of the cheese tarts just made me forget everything.

 

 

 

 

Buta Don.

Ok, this time, the picture is the actual store, and this is one of the best buta don I have ever eaten. It was recommended to me by a friend. I brought my parents this round, and since then, my mom has been hankering for a second taste of it.

 

 



 

 

There's also a Daiso (aka the 100 yen store) in Chitose Airport. To be honest, Daiso can be found all over Japan. In all my other Japan trips, I would always make it a point to visit at least one outlet every trip. Unfortunately, because we were on a group tour this round, I actually didn't get to visit any while on tour! So you can imagine how happy I was that there's one at the airport. Even though it was a small one, at the very least, I didn't have to break that record.

 

 

 

 

Fans of Calbee, don't miss out the Calbee showroom on the 4th floor of the Chitose Airport. Ok, even if you are not a fan, give it a try. I very much prefer the Calbee snacks in Japan and oftentimes, they have seasonal flavours that can hardly be found outside of Japan.

 

There's also a Calbee Plus on the west side of the airport, 2nd floor where you can get those yummy, lip-smacking good potato crisps fresh off the fryer! You can even add toppings like chocolate! Trust me, they're good.

 

There are many other cool places to visit at the Chitose Airport (and I plan to visit those the next time I'm there). For those with kids, you shouldn't miss out the Doraemon Waku Waku Sky Park on the 3rd floor of the airport. There's something for everyone in the family, from kids' play area, craft workshops, gift shops and even a café.

 

There's also a Royce Chocolate World at the Airport. Royce is one of my favourite Japanese chocolate brand. Everytime I come back from Japan, my mom despairs at the number of boxes of Royce chocolates I haul home. Despair? Because it's yummy but it triggers her migraine.

 

So those of you headed to Hokkaido Chitose Airport soon, do make sure you have some time to explore that mega shopping mall of an airport!

 

 

Tourist Information

 

Chitose Airport

Website: http://www.new-chitose-airport.jp/en/