 |
| Natural Steam billowing |
I am from Singapore and an avid traveller, and will be sharing with you my latest destination...Kyushu Japan from the 28 May to 04 Jun 2015... It was a free and easy self drive trip (or you can call it a DIY holiday) with my family and will be sharing with you how, where , why and how much I spent (Accommodation and car rental) on this trip, hopefully you can pick up a tip or two in planning your trip to this part of Japan. I have always believed in planning my own holidays. About having fun, relaxing, enjoying and of course motoring. Once I spoke to a lady onboard the plane who just covered a few countries in Europe on a 12 day trip. She said it was so tiring, it's a touch and go thing , rush here and there. The elderly and children all suffered and the tour group with her onboard slept most of the time in the plane. Well I certainly do not want to be in her shoes. Like what my sister said, this kind of holiday is a waste of money, waste of time, stressful and experienced nothing. Worst type of holiday.
Why to Kyushu?
<script src="https://www.hotelscombined.com/SearchBox/359061"></script>
 |
| A view from Beppu |
 |
| Oyado Kotori no Tayori Onsen |
 |
| A stop over rest point on our way to Minamioguni |
 |
| Oyado Hanabou Onsen |
 |
| Oyado Hanabou at Minamioguni |
 |
| A view from our villa at Oyado Kotori no Tayori |
 |
| A small river beside Oyado Hanabou |
Initially we wanted to visit Tokyo, something for my daughter who is 11 yrs old. Its the school's holidays now in Singapore and which 11yr old will not like Disney Land/ Disney Sea but the fear of radiation from Fukushima just about 250km away, changed my destination even though when you google, it seems Tokyo is safe from radiation but something just tells me no and would not like to expose my kid as she is pretty weak. My instinct is also telling me not to visit Tokyo if possible. I have to follow my gut feeling....
Its really a good time to visit the land of the rising sun as the exchange rate against the Singapore dollar is at its all time low. My exchange rate was 1000 yen equals to about SIN $11.00 and that's about US$8.09. The expected weather was also very favourable during this time of the year, ranging between a cool of low 16 degrees C to a high of 26 degrees C. Kyushu is cooler too as it is situated further south just like Hokkaido which is further north of Japan.
Kyushu was my final choice as it has something for the whole family, 4 days into the country and mountain side for peace and serenity, which both my wife and daughter love too and 3 nights in Fukuoka city for shopping and food for my two beloved. We only rented the car for 5 days as we don't need the car in the city..
By the way , here is my itinerary: (A more detailed write up coming up soon)
1) 28 May Departed Sin at 0115 hrs and arrived Fukuoka at 0830 hrs, picked up may car and drove down to Yufuin.
2) 29 May Yufuin to Minamioguni
3) 30 May Minamioguni to Kumamoto
4) 01 Jun to 4 Jun Fukuoka.
All my accommodation was booked through www.hotelscombined.com in which I got the best deal from www.bookings.com
Got my car at www.2.tocoo.jp.
Selected a Toyota Wish from budget for comfort, safety, fuel economy and space (only for a family of three :)) Remember to select a car with English GPS. Its pretty easy to use after a while. You only need to key in your destination's phone number and it is pin point accuracy. Remember to practise using the GPS at the rental agency as the staff will be able to speak English (not fluent but good enough to get their message across). Remember to write down the steps for easy reference. You will also need to inform the car rental agency during the time of booking that you would need to rent the ETC Highway Toll Card as you will need to pay toll for usage of their highway. With the ETC card, all toll charges will be charged to your credit card when you return the car. We forgot about the ETC card, so you just need to pay cash at the toll stations, just a little inconvenient, not a big issue.
I paid 43200yen for a 5 day rental with unlimited kilometres. You picked up the car at full tank and you must return at full tank as well. I only topped up the tank once at 6331yen. You have to keep the receipts and show it to the car rental agency when you return the car. At the petrol stations, there are usually very helpful pump attendants, just say regular petrol.
Budget rent a car was situated at the Fukuoka domestic airport. When you exit the international terminal, go to gate 1 and take the complimentary shuttle service to the domestic terminal. Budget is directly opposite the terminal. There were some construction going on so we had to walk a big loop to the opposite side. I hope by now when you are reading this blog, the construction is over and you will only need to cut across.
For more detailed tips on driving in Japan please click on
http://www.npa.go.jp/annai/license_renewal/english.pdf
Do remember that to drive in Japan, you will need an International driving permit.
Please click on the link http://www.aas.com.sg/?show=content&showview=8&val=461 for information on application in Singapore.
Day 1) 28 May 2015- We drove for nearly 1 and a half hours to the town of Yufuin.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4750.html. We decided on Yufuin as its a smaller quieter town, more family oriented and one can find pretty good accommodations too as compared to Beppu.
 |
| Entrance of our guest house. |
 |
| Our Villa |
We found Oyado Kotori no Tayori (Yufuin Herb Garden). Stayed a night with free wifi at 19500yen per night inclusive of tax.
 |
| Our room |
 |
| Surrounding views |
 |
| Our very own private bath in the villa |
They also have a private family Onsen which we paid 1500yen for 50mins.
 |
| A public bath |
 |
| Private Onsen |
 |
| Private family bath exterior |
We found ourselves circling town looking for a restaurant for dinner and eventually chance upon Gourmet city (9am to 10pm), a supermarket with lots of fresh as well as cooked food and sushi for takeaways. We bought some salmon sashimi, tempuras, bento set with rice and some crispy chicken drumsticks and soba and had dinner back in our villa :) We also bought breakfast for the next morning.
Went to bed quite early as we were all tired, not before gazing into the star filled skies. Good night.
Day 2) 29 May- Checked out at about 930am and continued to explore Yufuin.
We drove down to lake Kinrinko and spent nearly 3 hours exploring the surrounding areas.
There were restaurants and souvenir shops in the vicinity and we found a nice cosy coffee shop with a garden filled with beautiful flowers, insects and birds.
Went to bed quite early as we were all tired, not before gazing into the star filled skies. Good night.
Day 2) 29 May- Checked out at about 930am and continued to explore Yufuin.
 |
| Found a tiny stream leading to the lake where we soaked our feet in the warm water. |
We drove down to lake Kinrinko and spent nearly 3 hours exploring the surrounding areas.
 |
| Lake Kinrinko |
There were restaurants and souvenir shops in the vicinity and we found a nice cosy coffee shop with a garden filled with beautiful flowers, insects and birds.
   |
| At the entrance of Caravan coffee |
We only saw the "blood pond hell" features a pond of hot, red water and a large souvenir shop. It is one of the more photogenic of the eight hells.
A complete walk of all the attractions would have taken about 3 hrs.
 |
| Blood pond Hell |
No comments:
Post a Comment