Kagoshima, Ibusuki - All things black...

We arrived at Fukuoka airport on a November cloudy morning, with slight drizzle. Luckily our mood was not dampened, constantly warmed by the thoughts of having the Kagoshima black-haired pork for lunch. We lugged our already-heavy luggage (day 0 of trip), travelling 2.5 hours via subway and shinkansen to Kagoshima.

Travelling to Kagoshima was only made easy by Shinkansen from Mar 2011 onwards so lucky us. This saved us so much inconvenience. Once we arrived at Kagoshima, we had only one thing in mind - BLACK PORK.

Deep-fried black pork - Shopping mall besides Kagoshima
Shinkansen station, basement 1

The pork, though lined with one thick slab of fats, was kind of disappointing as the meat was tough. Was expecting melting pork in the mouth. Well, but the serving was huge with lots of cabbage and a big bowl of rice. Honestly, I think the fried katsu at Maisen in Tokyo was alot better with free flow of cabbage and more tasty sauce.

With mouth still lined with a layer of fats (I am exaggerating here but u can imagine how oily it is), we continued on our journey via local train for over an hour before we reached Ibusuki. Ibusuki is at the edge of southern Kyushu and is famous for its black sand onsen. It is a little town with a population of only about 30,000. When I reached Ibusuki, it struck me as a tropical county like Hawaii with palm trees but the town was so insanely quiet we could hardly see anyone walking on the street. We stayed at Hotel Phoenix which is on high ground and overlooks the ocean.

At the black sand onsen - Still prefer the water onsen. Sand is too
heavy and u get really dirty after that!!

This is complimentary from the hotel. Sugar-coated cornflakes +
ice cream + coffee jelly. It is really yummy and u can make it at home!

We ended the night with a kaiseki dinner in the hotel. Again, the black pork disappointed me...