so during my last visit to Fukuoka. around a year ago… *chokes* Megumi’s grandma brought us to this beautiful place called Yufuin which is located 3 hours away by train.

this view is probably the most staple “look” of Yufuin as this is what you’d see once you step out of the station.

we took THIS TRAIN! to Yufuin. the famous Yufuin No Mori train that looks nothing like the normal train and it only runs between Fukuoka and Yufuin!

WARNING! long post ahead!

so let’s go!

my partner in crime =D.

sorry but I just had to haha. I’m a tourist after all..

Megumi and her super adorable grandma who photobombed her!

we also got ourselves some croissants to snack on during our ride!

Megumi’s grandma told us that.. whenever she looks at us, we are always eating. I guess we are best friends because we are both similarly as gluttony.

the view throughout our journey was magnificent and they even slow down and told passengers to look to the left or right when we pass through notable scenes. love their hospitality!

they even had all these hats prepared for passengers so that they can have a memorable ride! as you can see, my pictures are a year and two months old hahaha. I totally forgot about blogging about Yufuin until Megumi went there again yesterday. =X.

first meal in Yufuin! they are famous for their fried chicken/karaage apparently! go around and you’ll see fried chicken shops everywhere!

a shop selling ALL GHIBLI GOODS!!!

cafe’s and restaurants here are so pretty <3.

huge takoyaki anyone?

it was pouring but there’s no reason to stop exploring!

pretty ceramic shop. if you didn’t know yet, I’m a huge fan of pottery.

just look at that view! we had to bring a towel and walk around like as if it was in the middle of a hot summer (yes Japanese people walk around with a towel when it’s super hot haha. not everyone though.) but it was because.. we were soaking wet. rain in Kyushu’s pretty heavy.

somewhere near our Ryokan!

look at the amount of wild Ajisai!!!

soooooo pretttyyyyyyy. we went back to the Ryokan because the rain didn’t stop and we got tired. haha.

our room!! I was so surprised on how there was.. ONLY A HUGE TABLE in the room. where’s the bed?! well… in Ryokans, they’d come and prepare your bed for you at night while you’re out having dinner. and the table will be moved to the side.

if you haven’t noticed, we got sister dresses hehehe.

this was what our room looked like! I still find it weird how there’s two sets of table and chairs haha. there’s a TV but we didn’t use it because when we had time.. ONSENNNNNN was what we did.

A photo posted by 류제이미 (@jamieliewdotcom) on Jul 7, 2014 at 5:10am PDT

they prepared some snacks, dried plum, tea (with tea sets) at our room for us! if you’re wondering, we lived at Sansuikan! because they have the most awesome view! you’ll get what I mean when you read on.

SO for dinner, we had this amazing omakase course meal!

each of us get our own portion of raw fish plated so beautifully with a touch of nature =3.

yummy sticky rice!

oh hello =D.

everything was perfect until.. I was super full but they still served rice with pickled vegetables. I really dislike Japaense pickled food other than Mentaiko, jellyfish and pickled seaweed. =S. they taste really weird to me but Japanese people love it hehe. and there were more in the middle but I totally forgot to take pictures of them =X.

and last but not least, dessert!

there’s a local brewer next to our hotel so I tried their black beer! not sure if I like it though..

the moment when I saw the bed!!! yup. I jumped on it. and Zzz right away. hehehe. Japanese futon looks really fluffy and irresistible.

AND the next morning!

oh hello!

trying to look as Japanese as I can but phail hahahaha. but look at my view!

because Doraemon sleeps in there. =D.

Megumi’s turn ehhehe.

the Ryokan offers buffet breakfast with Japanese and western food. and I had so much because I wanted to try everything. but like every buffet, I got too full before I even get to try it all pfft. which is why I don’t like buffets!

our view from the restaurant =3.

and the view from our ROOM!

you jelly? hehe. early in the morning the mist technically covers the entire mountain and it was magical to sip on tea while watching the mist to slowly clear off in the morning =3. I actually went for another round of hot spring while Megumi slept throughout the early morning.

and we took a quick stroll around our Ryokan~ the natural scenery here’s just breath taking.

another type of Ajisai!

because I’ve never seen Ajisai before, it was love at first sight for me. it’s so hard to believe that they are wild flowers.

and so many of them!!! only during (early) summer!

but the bad thing about coming here during summer is that.. it rains so often. and because we were all wet, we had to return and it was really nice how some random strangers gave us umbrellas and told us to just take them. for free!

beautiful pots and cups! they ain’t that expensive too! around 300yen for a cup I think?

thank goodness the rain cleared and we changed and went out. again!

they sell chilled cucumbers on a stick in Kyoto for 250yen but it’s only 100yen here! but Ramune’s sold for 100yen in Kyoto and 150yen here haha.

this vendor was really nice and he asked us to try this and that but finally..

we got ourselves some Ramune. hehehehe. I think that all foreigners should try this soft drink not because of its taste but because the bottle’s so unique! you can’t see it from this picture but there’s a glass ball on the top part of the bottle rolling around!

back to the Ghibli shop!

flowers will bloom when these umbrellas get wet. don’t worry, they are sold at many tourist areas haha.

because I love Ajisai!

the beautiful alleys of Yufuin~ it’s mostly shopping and cafe though.

snoopy cafe!

^^V

samurai chopsticks hehe.

quaint little shop =3.

and there’s this huge pretty shop cum cafe that sells all kinds of unique items that.. you won’t know you need it until you see it =P.

hello Megumi!

and more shops.

the cutest honey shop.

so attracted to the flowers! aren’t they pretty or what?

another random cafe

even the road that leads you to the cafe’s magical looking =3.

after walking far inside, we found this hugeee lake.

simply phenomenal, no?

love my casio camera for its art mode!

Kumamon!!! the black bear from Kumamoto. and everything in this shop’s Kumamon!

and then there’s this place called the Yufuin Floral Village that looks like.. Europe. except in a much smaller scale.

there’s even an Owl park!

have you eaten really delicious curry? hahaha it just cracks me up.

the Owl park was much smaller than expected haha.

for plushies, sheep’s my favourite!!!

the building here’s pretty low so if you’re tall…..

it looks like a princess would pop out somewhere but.. a guy did pfft.

KYAAAAAAAA MORE SHEEEEEEP!

this area’s really not that big. but it’s so cute =3.

let’s go into the shop!

here, they sell wine with… anime characters on it. D=. hmm. weird combination. it’s like they are trying to attract kids but yet it’s not for kids. well.. ONLY IN JAPAN!

my dad’s first car’s this size and this colour! useless fact haha.

they made the village look really big but.. oh well.. if you have $$ you may consider living here too because they have really pretty rooms!

I’m only 170cm and I wasn’t even standing straight. I bet most tall people would knock their head on the arch haha.

back at the huge tako place! you can even have it with coke! it’s funny how they have both Japanese and Korean on the menu but no English pfft. I guess there are just more Koreans than Chinese nor Americans here haha.

another pretty shop =3.

something that I really really REALLY liked from this trip. the BEST cheesecake I’ve EVER HAD IN MY LIFE! Milch’s Kase Kuchen. it sounds German hmm but anyways, this dessert wasn’t even expensive and it brought me so much joy.

it’s packed like a cup of ice cream!

but seriously, this was SOOOOOOO good you’ve got to buy a dozen of this if you go there. SO SO SO SO SO GOOOOOD.

there’s also a famous Jam shop here but I’m not a fan of jams =S. or maybe just not yet haha.

even the drain here looks awesome hahahah.

I’ve never liked fried food. I’d even remove all the fried part when I have KFC. everyone would laugh at me when I do that. but the Koroke’s in Japan are soooooooooo SOOOO GOOOOOOOD. they don’t seem as oily as they are hence I don’t find them disgusting hehe.

I found the creamer really interesting as they look like ice cream haha.

a little souvenir for myself from that Ghibli shop =3. I loved it! have you watched this Anime too? because you should! go search for Princess Mononoke!

zen.

this looked so good but because the price was even better I didn’t get to try this T__T. but look at that marbling beef D=.

looks like I’m not the only person taking a selfie hehe.

it would be a perfect picture if it wasn’t for that pole pfft. but still a nice picture yes? =D.

incoming!

such a pretty logo! classic.

please take care of us!

and lastly, I’d like to thank grandma Kuriyama for this amazing trip! =3.