Heading to breakfast

Leaving for breakfast at 8:00 am!
Taking a picture of the cute mailbox, Yubing Posto~ I'm so excited to cross the bridge while watching the Nakagawa River!

 
Breakfast (Menya Miki Haruyoshi On-Ten - Noodle Miki Haruyoshi Main Store)

I was originally planning to go to a different restaurant, but it was too early in the morning that day, so it wasn't open.
I found a restaurant that happened to be open for breakfast.
Menya Miki Haruyoshi On-Ten (麺処 三喜 春吉本店)

 
 
It was an old, small restaurant that comes to mind when you think of Japan, and it seemed to be serving breakfast to the merchants near the market.
I found it by chance, and it was even more interesting to be able to experience a vibrant restaurant that has preserved its history.
The joy of travel that you find by chance!

I ordered the Tanuki Udon Set (udon + 2 pieces of inari sushi) from the menu written only in Japanese using Google Translate.
Only 510 yen.

Tanuki Udon Set

I was surprised when I took my first bite and the udon noodles weren't chewy or bouncy, but soft and almost melted.
Apparently, in Kyushu, such as Fukuoka, they intentionally make the noodles soft.
And the meaning of "Tanuki" is "almond (tane) + remove (nuki) = udon with only the outer fried batter, not the fried almond, which is why it's called that.
 
It was a little salty, but it was delicious, and the inari sushi made it a hearty and warm breakfast.
I wanted to try the udon in the pot that the local person next to me was eating.

 
Yanagibashi Market (Yanagibashi Rengo Market)

After breakfast, I visited Yanagibashi Market right next door.
It's a local market with a variety of food and ingredients, so it's good for a quick look around.
If I had more time, I would have taken a closer look and bought snacks/bread/Japanese sweets, etc.

 
Sumiyoshi Shrine

Sumiyoshi Shrine, known to have been built around 1800 years ago.
It's surrounded by a forest in the middle of the city, so it's a great place to take a morning stroll.
There is a guide map in the middle, and when I translated it, it seemed that each place had a different god and a different role (navigation, maritime safety, entertainment, academics, business, etc.).
I could see local people going to the shrine where their god was located and paying their respects.
It was a pleasant place to visit with a well-maintained small pond and many lush trees. It felt like the animals living in the trees in Totoro.

 
Rakusuien

Rakusuien (Falling Water Garden) is a 3-minute walk from Sumiyoshi Shrine.
Admission is 100 yen.
It's a Japanese garden where you can experience tea ceremony, and it's small enough to be seen in about 3 minutes, but it's so well-kept that I recommend going. 
When we were there, a couple in Japan getting married were wearing yukatas and taking wedding photos by the pond.
My older sisters and I were imagining how nice it would be if we had this kind of house as our summer villa! Haha, we had a nice little fantasy.
It's a place where I want to relax every weekend because it's so natural.

Wedding photos would come out so well..!

The entrance excites me

 
Next, we checked out of the hotel, took the Shinkansen, and headed to Kumamoto.