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Published: March 3rd 2007
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In the train to kagoshima
In the train to kagoshima Hi all,
Today, we (the classmates and me) are headed to Kagoshima on a school related trip (You guessed right! It is not quite that vacation thing yet). But I am already in the vacation mood, so for me it boils down to the same thing. There will be some meeting we have to participate in there. Kagoshima prefecture is located at the southern tip of kyushu island and kagoshima itself is a city quite larger than Oita.
leaving oita
8:00am
We (My classmates and me) all met at Nakahanda station where we boarded the limited express train bound for Kumamoto. We are 5 folks travelling together. From Oita to kumamoto it took around 3 hours. At kumamoto, we had to switch train and boarded the bullet train which is faster and more comfortable than the limited express. The remaning distance (kumamoto-kagoshima) was swallowed in less than 2 hours by the shinkansen tsubame (the bullet train).
I spent the time during the trip reading some material I had brought along and from time to time peering through the window and admiring the japanese countryside made up of vast expanses of cultivated rice fields sporadically interspersed with forests
Arrival at kagoshima
The building on the background is the central station of Kagoshima. The ever smiling guy on the left is Iwasaki and the one on the right is Hokugoo of untouched pine trees.
We reached kagoshima around 12:30pm. We all set to eat something. I was personally very hungry. Among us, Ikeda is originally from kagoshima city which is his hometown, so he led us around. We set for some restaurant near the station. I can't remember the name of the meal (I find it difficult to ever remember food names). It was around 1000yens per head (about 10 dollars) and contained rice and salad as much as I can remember. Anyway I felt replete after eating which is ok for me. We then went straight to the premises of the symposium. I was very tired and found it hard not to fall asleep during the presentations ahead of mine.
In the evening
This hotel named "Dai ichi hoteru" hosted us for that night. I slept without taking diner cause I was too tired to go out to eat something with the others.
I woke up early this morning. And got out for an early stroll (6:00am). It was cold, but ok. I heard in kagoshima it snows only once a year usually or not at all. Kogoshima is far south and
Monument in front of kagoshima station
Monument in front of kagoshima station. as a result has mild winters; probably also the influence of the nearby sea. I stopped by a convenience store to quieten my bowels (I had not taken diner on the eve) with a bun. My digital camera was disturbing since a moment. so I bought new batteries. I walked past the central station through which we had arrived the day before. I pursued an unknown path ahead looking at the early commuters going off to work. Everything was still closed, but the activities were slowly begininning around. I went to eat the breakfast at a restaurant contained in the station building. For 800 yen you have free service on a variety of japanese style breakfast (sorry again cause I never remember the name of foods). The food was good, I remember taking some half boiled egg with tea and something that looked like nuts. I felt replete afterwards and it was ok for me. I paid and I went off.
Today I am planning to get back to oita after the symposium. So I operated the reservation for the outbound shinkansen that leaves at 16:16 (it is latest within the day). I also bought some souvenirs at the
me downtown kagoshima
me downtown kagoshima. "omiyage" shop in the station. Basically some japanese snacks that looked like small cakes(some foodstuff I don't remember the name).
I went back to the hotel at around 9:00 am after roaming the neighboring squares. I met Iwasaki leaving for breakfast at his doorstep. I suggested we all meet at the syposium premises. So they should not wait for me when going. Obviously I had other plans 😊 . The check out time was 10:00am and I handed back the keys just in time. I got out and instinctively started pulling my backpack in a direction oppposite to that of the tram stop leading to the symposium. I went out hunting for some shops to see if could track down some bargains. The suit is heavy and despite the cold around, I quickly felt hot. There is this "hyaku yen(100yen)" I found after almost 30min walk. Unfortunately the was not anything worth interest to me. So I just bought two 500ml mineral water bottle and moved on. My digital camera had completely refused to work, which prevented me from uploading more interesting sights on this blog. I then went to the park. And later on the municipal museum of
The tram
Boarding the tram in kagoshima! kagoshima city. I was surprised to see some europeeans paintings from famous painters like picasso. I asked the girl at the desk if the paintings on exhibition were all original and not copies? She said yes, there all original works, quite impressive then. The entrance fee was cheap by the way, 200yen for adults (I paid 150 yen as a result of student discount!).
It is now heading to 1:pm. So let's get back to the symposium site. The others guys are scheduled for the session around 1:30pm. I took the tram to cross the whole town back to the other side.
We left the city of kagoshima that evening bound for Oita.
I will upload my next blog hopefully from Cameroon!!!
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