Kumamoto to Uki

It is always bittersweet to leave a place that you have enjoyed…in this case the Mitsui Garden Hotel and the city of Kumamoto.It is time to move on yet the memories will remain. We have a short day of riding ahead of us. We are heading toward the beautiful Amakusa Islands where we will spend a number of days exploring them. But for today, our destination is Uzi which will position us well to explore the islands.

Heading out. With the weather turning cold we both need a few things to help us cope with the weather. Before we head towards Uzi, we are going to visit a shop that carries outdoor clothing.

Egrets are lined up here by the water’s edge song with a few cormorant.

We have come to this mega mall called the Amuplaza which is located next to Kumamoto Train Station.

The building is quite interesting with “living walls” covered in live plantings. The effect is incredible.

Added to the effect is this waterfall inside the building which is a few stories high….most impressive.

One Piece is a very popular Manga character in Japan which was recently made into a successful live action series which streamed on Netflix. Partnering One Piece with Kumamon makes for an effective team.

Another mural featuring the lovable Manga character One Piece.

Our reason for going out of our way was to visit an Outdoor clothing shop called Sherpa. We know this chain of stores but sadly their focus here was on city wear with limited stock. Barry wanted to try on a pair of warm tights, but their policy is that you cannot try items on. We had planned to each get a warm merino top and a new rain jacket for Mary Ellen. They had 3 women’s raincoats in the whole store and no merino!. A waste of time. However, we did enjoy the mall and the dynamic area around the train station. So…not a complete waste of time.

This bakery also made our “wasted” trip worthwhile. Yummy baking and good coffee.

A savoury bun each and 2 sweet buns to share.

The area around the train station and Amuplaza is abuzz with a Christmas market, entertainment, Christmas decorations. It is very festive and lots of families were spending the day here.

It is a beautiful day and we will be following the Mudorikaws River.

We have reached our destination for today…R9 The Yard in Uzi. We will microwave our provided frozen dinner in our unit and call it a night. Tomorrow we will be starting our tour of the Amakusa Islands.

Today's ride: 31 km (19 miles)
Total: 1,239 km (769 miles)

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