Kumamoto - Castles, Ankles and Parfaits

We left Aso this morning without any untoward seismic or volcanic activity. Caught the limited express to Kumamoto where Tom had mentioned how nice the castle was. We weren't initially planning on going to Kumamoto, but who could pass up a nice castle?

That's a nice castle

It really was cool. Built in the 1600's during the Warring States period, in almost completely burned down during the Seinan Rebellion in the 1880's (the last Japanese civil war). They've spent a lot of time restoring the castle, down to researching old photos, blueprints, excavating pieces of the original castle, old writings from the time and even using period tools and techniques. The result is a really exceptional restored castle (most of the foundation and parts of the building remained intact).

The palace section of the castle is currently being restored, but there were several sections that were completed that we could see, including the main living area of the palace

Just the living area alone was over 3000 square feet

the main reception hall, where the Shogun was received upon the completion of the castle in 1606

Breathtaking artwork. These are all exact replicas of the original paneling

and other areas, including the kitchens. One piece that struck me was one of the original doors in the castle. It is on display next to some replicas of other doors, and looks like it is 400 years older, but to look at the detail and the artwork on a door that was in a minor area of the palace gives you a sense of what went into creating this castle.

A little faded, but still amazing

On our way back out, Sumi showed her impressive acrobatic skills. It takes a certain amount of skill to sprain an ankle while walking down some stairs. Lacking such grace, I've never been able to accomplish such a feat. But to sprain TWO ankles at once is a rare gift that a lucky few of us are blessed with. With a great deal of hobbling, sliding and occasionally crawling, we got her from the palace level, three stories up, down to the ground level and found a nice, comfortable tree stump for her to sit and attempt to recover. Being the concerned, dedicated husband I am, I took some pictures of the surrounding area while waiting.

Sakura are starting to bloom. Maybe they just required a blood sacrifice. I wonder if a broken leg might have been better?

I'm kidding. Actually, I think this was her picture, not mine. After she was good to move, we took a very slow stroll back to the main street and hopped the tram to get us back to the hotel. We found a drugstore in a small shopping mall next to our hotel and got an ankle brace for her to wear, which helped some. We'll be doing a little less hiking in the next day or two. While she was convalescing, I took the opportunity to stock up for our travels tomorrow and stopped at the nearest konbini. Never send me food shopping when I'm hungry

Chips, juice, 500 mL cans of Coke(only ¥100!), anpan, bread, yogurt, chocolate and sandwiches. I don't think there's a single vegetable or whole grain anywhere here.

I mentioned in an earlier post about the quality of bread in Japan. These sandwiches are a prime example.

Wonder Bread, eat you heart out

No crust, thin as a cracker, texture of styrofoam and as little real flour as possible. My kingdom for whole wheat anything. Otherwise, not a bad little sandwich.

So, anyway, after our Rachel Ray-would -hyperventilate lunch, rather than trek around some parks like we intended, we chose to do some city-type stuff and go souvenir shopping. There is a pretty decent downtown and outdoor open air shopping arcade in Kumamoto, so we headed down there. I scored most of the YUI items I was looking for at the local Tower Records and a smaller music store on the 8th floor of one of the department stores.

Best musical talent to come out of Japan, maybe ever.

The souvenirs were somewhat lacking, however. The gift shop resembled a Japanese Spencer Gifts, and most of the amusing items were not suitable for, well, anyone really. We walked around the shopping arcade for a while, checked out the local Animate! store (anime and goods shop) and finally ended up at a "Swiss" cafe. The only thing Swiss about it was the name (The Swiss Cafe), but the food they served was a slightly upscale version of what you would get at a normal cafe. Sumi had "spaghetti", and I had a minced meat and mushroom curry. Good food, but nothing exciting. Nothing, that is, until the dessert.

Chocolate Banana Parfait

Strawberry Parfait

I don't know where the Japanese learned to make desserts as well as they do, but these cost more than the dinner we just had, and were about five times as good. Fresh fruit, quality ice cream, mousse, shortcake, real whipped cream and cookies all piled artistically together. Awesome. Just awesome. And what do you use to eat this ambrosia?

An oversized spork

Tomorrow will be a light travel day and probably a get-our-work-done day. I still have several programs to finish and Sumi has work as well. It will give her ankle a chance to recover a bit, and give the two volcanoes that we are planning on hiking by or on to stop acting up. Both have Level 3 warnings right now, meaning we won't be getting near them unless something changes.