Kyushu Road Trip

We landed at Fukuoka on a Friday morning after an overnight flight. Fukuoka is the largest city in Kyushu, located on the northern shore of Kyushu. It is also the most populous city in Kyushu.

After collecting our luggage, I got myself a local SIM card, then made our way to collect our rental car. The rental car was reserved online without having to pay any deposit. The service staff at the rental car centre is very helpful and friendly. She showed us to our rental car and went through with us on how to use the GPS. In Japan, you do not key in the zip code instead you key in the telephone number of the place you are going. Therefore, it is important to have the destinations’ telephone number handy.

Our road trip began with our first stop at Saga for lunch before heading to Nagasaki. We headed to the restaurant recommended by my colleague. The food was excellent and the price is reasonable. The beef was really good, we simply barbeque the beef and each slice of beef just melted in our mouth. Absolutely yummy.😋

After lunch, we made our way to Nagasaki.

As we were feeling a little sleepy after a sumptuous lunch, we stopped by at Omurawan to do some stretching and get some fresh air before we continued our way to Nagasaki.

About Nagasaki 長崎県

Nagasaki Prefecture is located in the southwest of Japan, surrounded on all sides by the ocean and mountains, full of historical, traditional and cultural riches. During Japan’s period of national isolation (1641 to 1859), Nagasaki City flourished as the only port to trade with Europe and China. Having survived tragic events like the persecution of the Christians and later the atomic bomb, Nagasaki’s mission today is to send a message of peace to the world.

As this was our first time driving in Japan, we were not familiar with the road system there and had to make two rounds to get to the hotel we put up for two nights. The hotel is located next to the Chinatown of Nagasaki. It was just a couple of days away from the lunar mid-autumn festival when we were there. The street of Chinatown was beautifully decorated with yellow lanterns.

Upon checking in at the hotel, we freshened up and explored the area by foot. We checked out the Chinatown street which is lined with restaurants and retail stores.

Dejima 出島 Wharf

The hotel we put up at is located at the centre that allows us to explore the city on foot. The next stop was to the Dejima Wharf to check out the Wharf and the restaurants for our dinner. Glad we made it to the Wharf before the sky turned dark.

Dejima served as the location for the Dutch East India Company’s trading post, and thus as the entry point for commercial and cultural exchange with the West for over 200 years.

We walked along the Wharf to take as many pictures as possible before sunset.

After checking out a few restaurants, we decided to have Japanese food for dinner. The food was good and the price was also good value for money. Check out the variety and amount of food we had.

After dinner, we took another stroll along the Wharf to capture more pictures of the Wharf after dark. Then we took a relaxing stroll back to the hotel to plan the itinerary for the next day.