Visiting Shin-Aso Bridge, Minamiaso, Kumamoto

After visiting Aso Shrine, we went to Shin-Aso Ohashi Bridge, a box girder bridge🌉 that opened on March 7. As an alternative to the Aso Ohashi Bridge that collapsed due to the Kumamoto earthquakes five years ago, it is located approximately 600 meters downstream from the old bridge.

We parked a car in front of the Sugaru (数鹿流) collapse site. This is a place where landslide happened during the earthquake😨

The red train🚆 on Hohi Line is coming.

The former Aso Bridge broken by a mudslide. This is very shocking, and the bridge girder of the one is still there😲

We're going to cross a new bridge.

I looked back on the bridge from the Yo Myuru viewpoint. By the way, the name Yo Myuru (ヨ・ミュール) comes from Yoku Mieru (よく見える) in the Kumamoto dialect😁 When translate to English, it means "You can see the new bridge from here". 

Visiting Aso Shrine again

In the afternoon, we had decided to take a drive🚗 to Aso Jinja (阿蘇神社), a Shinto shrine in Aso, Kumamoto. You probably know that the shrine's romon (tower gate) and the haiden (worshipping hall) both completely collapsed in the Kumamoto earthquakes five years ago. When we visited the following year, it was still under reconstruction😂

The shrine is always crowded: when I look around I saw lot of tourists from all over the country🗾 They want to see what it will be in five years😀

Aso Jinja's Romon (楼門). The reconstruction work of the tower gate is still ahead, and it is scheduled to be completed in December 2023. 

The brand new hall of worship was completed in August. It took five years to restore.

What did see on the way

Here, I'll tell you the places we went on the way to Aso Jinja, a Shinto shrine⛩ in Aso, Kumamoto.

First, we stopped at Sagiridai (狭霧台), a scenic spot in Yufu city (由布市), Oita. This is the best viewing spot for great panorama of Yufuin (湯布院) town center from here. As you see in the picture, the entire town of Yufuin is surrounded by Yufu mountains⛰😁

Close up view of the Mount Yufu.

Please take a look at my uploaded video📹 taken by mobile📱

Next, we dropped in Chojabaru (長者原) Visitor Center🚗 Chojabaru is the center of Handa-kogen (飯田高原) Plateau in Kokonoe, Oita. Behind the building is the Dadebaru (ダデ原) Wetland, a Ramsar Convention-registered wetland, with a barrier-free boardwalk. You can take a walk through the marsh while feeling the nature of four seasons❗ 

Before going to Aso Shrine, I took a picture of the five mountains of Aso from Shiroyama observatory. I just watched the news that the Mount Aso crater otherwise known as Mount Nakadake erupted the other day. Until now, there was no effect of volcanic ash, so I hope that it will end soon😡😢　

I put a video taken while looking at the magnificent view of Aso.

  

Plane spotting at Fukuoka Airport on December 10, 2021, part 2/2021年12月10日福岡空港の飛行機たち（その2）

After having lunch, I went back to the spotters place next to the south runway 34. I was keep going to take pictures of planes takeoff and landing until 5 o'clock.

昼食後飛行機ファンたちの撮影スポットである南側滑走路34隣に戻って5時前まで撮影しました。

I was lucky to see the Pikachu Jet BC of Skymark Airlines. The aircraft registration number JA73AB is a special livery which is collaborated with Pokémon or Pocket Monster, a Japanese TV animation series that has been aired since 1997.   

たまたまスカイマークのピカチュウジェットBC（機体番号：JA73AB）が離陸するところを見かけてあわててシャッターを切りました。

At 3:26 pm, a Philippine Airlines flight PR425 to Manila was taking off. 

午後3時26分にフィリピン航空のPR425便マニラ行きが離陸。

After that an All Nippon Airways (ANA) cargo flight to Tokyo Haneda was taking off. The aircraft registration number JA62?A was used for flight of the day. This is a fleet of ANA's Boeing 767-300ER (B6) series mainly used for short and medium haul flights. Now she is flying in Japan only.

その後全日空（ANA）の東京羽田行き貨物便が離陸するところを見かけました。機体番号はJA62?Aでした。新型コロナウイルスの影響でANAは国際線機材を国内線に転用しています。

The All Nippon Airways flight NH1209 to Okinawa Naha was taking off at 3:42 pm in the afternoon. When the plane was takeoff, it was coming a Star Alliance livery❗ I was amazed to see ANA's special livery plane😁

午後3時42分に全日空の沖縄那覇行きNH1209便が離陸。機体番号はJA51ANでスターアライアンス塗装となっています。

At 4:33 pm, a Cathay Pacific flight CX589 to Hong Kong was taking off. It's the last one which is taken on the day.

午後4時33分にキャセイパシフィック航空のCX589便香港行きが離陸。この日最後に撮影した写真です。

Plane spotting at Fukuoka Airport on December 10, 2021, part 1/2021年12月10日福岡空港の飛行機たち（その1）

On Friday, I went to the airport to see planes takeoff and landing. I was lucky to see the Asiana Airlines Airbus a321neo. She came to a regular flight of OZ/AAR132 from Seoul. In addition, there are some taking airplane photos such as the Pikachu Jet BC of Skymark Airlines that began operating from June. 

金曜日（10日）は飛行機を見に行きました。この日はアシアナ航空のOZ132/131便がA321neo型機で飛来してくる情報をネットで知ったので、朝10時ごろに家を出て早速空港へ。ほかにもスカイマークのピカチュウジェットBCが飛来していたので見応えのある一日でした。

Let's start uploading.

それではUPしてゆきます。

At 11:19 am, a Japan Airlines flight JL310 to Tokyo Haneda was taking off on Rwy 16. The aircraft registration number JA13XJ is currently in use since the fuselage was received from Airbus in November.

午前11時19分に日本航空（JAL）の東京羽田行きJL310便が滑走路16から離陸。機体番号はJA13XJでした。当機はJALが受領したエアバスa350-900（359）の13機目で今年11月に納入されたばかりです。

At 12:02 pm, an Asiana Airlines flight OZ131 to Seoul Incheon was taking off. The airline decided to resume a flight to Fukuoka once a week from November 5.

午後12時02分にアシアナ航空のOZ131便ソウル仁川行きが離陸。先月5日から週1便で運航再開しています。

At 12:39 pm, an EVA Air flight BR105 to Taipei was taking off.

午後12時39分にエバー航空のBR105便台北行きが離陸。

To be continued..

続く..

Staying at Sanso Kannawaen, Beppu

 After visiting Jumonjibaru viewpoint, we headed to Sanso Kannawaen (山荘神和苑), a Japanese-style inn in Kannawa Onsen♨ I've never stayed there so I was really looking forward to it. 

This time we just stay for one night and booked on the ryokan site at a reasonable cost, ¥36,000 per person per night with two meals🍴 The staff are all very kind and I got Taiwanese tea as a welcome drink at check-in😊  

The room we stayed in was on the second floor of the annex. It has both Japanese and Western; the Japanese-style room was equipped with four tatami mats and the Western-style room was with a king-sized twin bed🛏😄　

We also have a wooden bath🛁 in the room. 　

The night view of Beppu from my bed is beautiful🌃

The next morning I woke up at 7 am. My mom got up before 7 o'clock. She went to a hot spring in the main building because she loves onsen very much😁

After having breakfast, we took a walk in the Japanese garden on the first floor. 

Carps🎏 in a pond. 

Panoramic views of Beppu from Jumonjibaru Viewpoint

In the evening, we had decided to take a drive to Jumonjibaru (十文字原) viewpoint which is the famous night view spot in Beppu. From here, you can see the most cityscape of Beppu such as Kitahama, Mount Takasaki🐒and even Shikoku on a clear day🌞

I tried to take a close-up picture of the city center. The sea seen in the back is Beppu Bay, and beyond that is the city of Oita, the capital of the prefecture. 

The North-East area. If you turn a little further to the left, you'll see Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University or APU for short and the Kunisaki Peninsula. 

Please take a look at my uploaded video📹 taken by mobile📱

Visiting Aonodomon (青の洞門), Nakatsu, Oita

 After enjoying the wonderful scenery of Shin-Yabakei, we came to Aonodomon/Kyoshuho. Kyoshuho (競秀峰) is a chain of rocks that stretches for about 1 km from the lower reaches of the Yamakuni River, and Aonodomon is a tunnel at the foot of Mount Hikizuka⛰ 

We arrived at Domon rest house. Like most famous sightseeing spots in Japan, there's free parking lot in front of the entrance so it is very helpful for us. From here, we took a walk down to the tunnel. Eventually the mouth of the tunnel appears in front of my eyes👀😁

It is said to be that this tunnel was dug by Monk Zenkai with stonemasons for 30 years during the Edo period for the safety of passers-by. 

Now we're going down a narrow path to the cave.

Finally we came to the statue of young Buddhist priest who still digs the cave gate👷

I put a video📹 taken while walking in a cave.

Beautiful autumn leaves of Shin-Yabakei, Nakatsu, Oita

We went to Oita and Kumamoto for 2 days on November 15 and 16.

First, we went to see the autumn colors in Hitome Hakkei (一目八景) of Shin-Yabakei (深耶馬渓) in Nakatsu, Oita. It's the best spot for autumn leaves🍂 in November.

Driving on National Route 387 and Oita Prefectural Route 28 from Kusu Interchange on Oita Expressway and passing some gentle curves, we came to Hitome Hakkei. 

There are many tourists, and the parking lot is full even through it is a weekday😲 I wonder if the autumn leaves situation is at its peak now😟

Visiting London Bus cafe in Itoshima

On Monday, we had decided to take a drive 🚗 to Itoshima London Bus Café. 

Driving on National Route 202 and Fukuoka Prefectural Road 54 from my home and some gentle curves, we came to the red bus café☕ The café is used by a cute retro double-decker red bus🚌 and located along the prefectural road known as Shima Sunset Road. Thanks to the Internet💻, it is very popular for Instagrammers📱😁 

The shop. They have hot dogs, gelato and some drinks🍹 at the counter. If you order something to here, you can get on the routemaster bus and eat there😄

Not only the café stand, there are some terrace seats where you can see the ocean🌊 up close😎 

We were a little tired so we had fresh Italian ice cream and took a break on the drive. 

I got into the second floor of the bus after eating soft-served ice cream😋

A good afternoon ocean view from the bus.

When I look at the sea, many young man enjoy surfing🏄

     

Korean Air welcome back to Fukuoka!/大韓航空の臨時便が福岡へ飛来！

Last Saturday, I went to the airport to see a Korean Air flight. I heard a good news two weeks ago that Korean Air will operate a special flight to Fukuoka on this day. As you know that the airline was suspended the service in March last year because of COVID-19 pandemic😢After that it came about three times as a special flight at the end of the year🛬

先週の土曜日（4日）は飛行機を見に行きました。この日は大韓航空の臨時便がソウルから飛来してくる情報をネットで知ったので、午前11時ごろに家を出て早速撮影スポットである滑走路34隣へ。KEの福岡飛来は昨年末以来およそ9か月ぶりのことです。

The plane was started push back at 12:03 PM. The aircraft registration number HL8241 was used for flight of the day.

飛行機は午後12時03分にプッシュバックを開始。機体番号はHL8241でした。

The plane on the go to runway 34.

飛行機は滑走路34を走行中。

I was trying to take some up close pictures.

走行中の飛行機を間近で撮影してみました。

The plane was taking off after three minutes.

飛行機は3分後に離陸。