Meet the Family

Got back a bit ago from our trip to Kyushu. This was my first time down there, went with my fiancee and her parents to her mom's home. Met the extended family too, really cool family indeed. Very, very welcoming and I felt right at home.

About Kyushu: Quite a different place from the rest of Japan! Huge rolling hills with lots of trees, beautiful mountains, and hot springs everywhere you look. Even got to get up to the top of a large active volcano, Mt. Aso. We did a lot of traveling there, pretty non-stop visits from one place to the next (short list is below!).

The biggest difference about going there was no access to the internet. Something almost unavoidable in my daily life, it's an interesting feeling for me to be so disconnected. My only point of communication for 4 days was my fiancee's cell phone, and I don't even think my parent's know how to reach me there. (Maybe they do?) Anyway, always nice to be removed from the constant (over)flow of information I sort through on a daily basis that comes to me via an internet connection.

And now for the good stuff: what we did!
- Took a domestic flight from Nagoya Airport (Komaki, the old airport) to Kumamoto city
- Watched kids sledding with no snow
- Saw the inside of the largest active volcano in Japan, Mt. Aso (it was green, from the water inside)
- Went to a black pork specialty butcher
- Met my fiancee's extended family: aunts and uncles, cousins
- Ate basashi, raw horse meat (good!)
- Visited the hot springs hell of Beppu (Bouzu, Umi, and Chi - buddhist monk, sea, and blood, literally)
- Went to a monkey park on Mt. Takasaki that had literally hundreds of monkeys running around
- Saw a walrus show. Yes, a walrus show. Those guys are funny!
- Saw a Japanese neo-Nazi supporter demonstrating via a jet ski
- Saw the Pacific Ocean via Beppu Bay
- Had a shabu shabu party with Matsuzakaya beef (a type of wagyu, expensive Japanese beef!)
- Walked across the most famous bridge in Japan, the Yume (dream), Ohtsurihashi of Kokonoe
- Had an excellent pre-wedding dinner at a local izakaya
- Visited the hot spring village of Kurokawa

It's late. Like 8pm dinner time late. More pics to follow in the next day or so.

Man, it was busy. Non-stop! But great to do, and everything I had hoped it would be and more!