Before the spring break ends we went to Ibusuki for a nice trip.
Ibusuki is in Kagoshima. A prefecture in Japan where I currently live.
We went to a small, old but very charming zoo and park, which apparently never closes and are open everyday. I had a feeling that the place is run by a family and that they actually live in the zoo/park. They have all sorts of animals for a small zoo, including an orangutan named O-sama, large mices, snakes, capuchin monkey, flamingos (which also have their own performance) and other large birds, king Julien, and many more.
We really enjoyed the mouse show, and even got scared at one part of the park where they had some scary heads peeking through tiny holes through the wall.
Once finished in the zoo, we exited through the back and headed straight to the top of the look out, where you can see the ocean and a light house. They even have a small Shinto shrine if you fancy praying for some luck.
The highlight of the day for me is eating lunch at the Soumen Nagashi.
Soumen is white thin noodles that is best eaten in the warmer months of spring and summer. In Tokyo and other areas of Japan Soumen is eaten by sliding the noodles through a long bamboo slide that has fresh cold water flowing. The noodles must be taken/caught using chopsticks while it’s flowing down the bamboo, and are then dipped in broth called “Men Tsuyu”. The process is really fun!
However, in Kagoshima, this practice is made more practical. Instead of a long bamboo slide, they use a shallow cylindrical drum on the middle of table, that pumps water out creating a pool of vortex, which spins the noodles around and around. This way makes catching the noodles easier, while still maintaining the fun aspect of eating Soumen.
Hope you liked our mini trip in Ibusuki.
See you later!
#japan
#japantravel
#kagoshima
#soumennagashi
AloJapan.com