Hello! I just came back from Kumamoto yesterday! I had a job hunting event there, and since it started at 10am, I decided that instead of rushing, I would go one day early and spend the night. The sakura absolutely did not influence my decision to go early, but I decided that since I was there, I might as well go to the castle.

Luckily for me, the sakura were in full bloom! I was actually a bit worried, because they weren’t in Fukuoka yet (soon though. Soon).

So on the 29th, I made my way to Kumamoto, made friend while on the tram, checked in to the hotel, and decided to head to Kumamoto castle. I had heard that entrance was cheaper after 5pm, but I intended to while the time away with this Strawberry Milk that I also heard about on the internet.

When I reached the castle walls, I saw this:

Sakura everywhere! It was really beautiful. I mean, the streets were lined with flowering sakura trees.

And I don’t know, something about seeing foodstalls in front of the sakura make me happy. Not that I bought any of the food. I just like to look at them.

So I went to the snack/omiyage place next to Kumamoto castle, and obviously, I had to take a shot of Kumamon!

And ok, now I’ll show you the drink and the shop, so that we can get back to what’s probably the starts of this post – the sakura.

Strawberry milk, which is really just strawberry and milk. It’s a little tart, and overall, not bad. But I sort of didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to, because after I ordered this, I saw a strawberry ice-cream cone with actual strawberries on it! My fickle fickle stomach :p

And this is why you don’t take photos while holding a drink in one hand. Everything ends up slanted. But it’s a really small shop, and I actually missed it twice. I’ll probably come back next time for the ice-cream. Assuming it’s not a seasonal thing.

Ok, now on to more photos!

Fukuoka castle ruins has some really pretty sakura, but I think seeing an actual, reconstructed castle with sakura is definitely more impressive.

Although I do wish the weather was either more interesting or more blue. It was just… dull. Which meant no interesting sunsets either.

And more pictures.

This is what I saw when I looked back after we exited the castle. Oh, I forgot to say – I saw my newfound friends at the entrance to the castle. So we ended up exploring together 😀

And since the castle is supposed to be lighted up at night, the only sensible thing to do is to wait for it to get dark (enough)

I also really like how the lanterns look in the sakura trees, but I just can’t seem to get a good picture of them!

And it was only until I took the last picture that I remembered that I wanted to take this street of sakura in the daytime too! But, I somehow forgot about it.

The next day was the job-hunting day, and well… I’m glad I stayed over. It ended up being a one hour bus ride from the city to the company, and after the whole thing was done, I was feeling more than a little bus sick.

I’ve another company setsumeikai tomorrow though – so hopefully that goes well!

MORE sakura photos:
2015:
Fukuoka Castle and Huis Ten Bosch
2014:
Fukuoka Castle (Day)
Fukuoka Castle (Night)
Muromi 
Hakozaki Campus
2012:
Tokyo

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