Grand Nagasaki

As the only point of contact with the West for over 200 years, there`s a sense of history in Nagasaki.

I love walking along the water front (I confess, give me a port anywhere and I`m happy), and thinking how it was through these ...

We arrived in Nagasaki at 0800 today (our Monday—your Sunday). We plan to visit ground zero where the A Bomb was dropped and go to the museum. After that we'll just play it by ear and look around.

Kobe was great. I tasted my first Kobe beef steak. The claim that it is "fork tender" is absolutely no ...

... where you actually got to select your fish of choice from a large pool in teh centre of the room! (A bit like that steak episode in the simpsons). While it turned out that the lunch set didn't give you the luxury of playing caesar and deciding who dies, this did make you feel less guilty as you sat at the bar, eating a great selection of fish related foods, and staring at the fish as they swam about leisurely.

After lunch Belinda and I were ...

... so I popped in. No English menu just a couple of pictures so I thought why not. I pointed at this soupy noodle dish and hoped for the best. It came and and was bloody amazing. The place was called Green Pepper so it had some spice to it, it came with rice on the side, the bowl of soupy goodness containing some form of meat, veggies and stuff. Amazing… the only problem is I could probably not order it again as I have no idea what it was called!

I got ...

Diesmal in einer minshuku (also ne art Pension) sehr nett die leute. Wollten uns abholen von der Station. Das Blog schreiben nimmt immer sehr viel Zeit in Anspruch, natürlich auch das raufladen der Fotos und Videos sodass ich nie vor 3 Uhr Ortszeit ins Bett gekommen bin. Deshalb war es sehr angenehm mal nicht zu schreiben. Ist halt doch eher Arbeit als entspannend...
Naja war auf jeden FAll Lustig, wir waren dort bis 31. August und sind jetzt in Fukuoka.

Ist sozusagen ...

... dabei hab ich noch extra nachgeprüft ob das Schloss echt ganz unten ist (bin ja schon ein gebranntes Kind, nach den Flugzeugklo erlebnis schon vor jahren..). Na gut denk mir nix weiter wir steigen um und fahren weiter... es wird mal wieder Zeit im nächsten Zug die Toilette aufzusuchen. Ich geht da nix ahnend raus und denk mir ok. da ist kein occupied zeichen, mach die Tür auf, sitzt eine Japanerin gerade am... naja wo schon ^_ ...

... buildings to mark Mr Glover, a Scot who was big in ship-building here. He also bought up the Japan Brewery Co which later became the Kirin Brewery Co - the large 'tache on the Kirin dragon is homage to Mr Glover's distinctive moustache of the 1800s. After that it was a short walk to the Dutch Slopes, a small area of steep cobbled streets where the Dutch settled in Nagasaki; the street is called Oranda Street, as in "Hollander Street", geddit? I then took ...

... I wish! He then said he respected the fact that I had came alone, and was envious of my journey. After a bit more general chit chat, he did the usual well wishing, and then went about his way. It's surprising just how many people want to talk to foreigners! My next activity for the day was to take the ferry harbour cruise, so I headed to the port. However, there was nobody at the ticket desk, and the 12pm cruise had a big line through it. I put 2 and 2 together and ...

... our saving grace. Travel is only one mechanism to realize this, though 'tis a shame only 20-25% of Americans own passports and that our protestant, manifest destiny work ethic requires so much time at the office and so little time off. Every country, every culture has strengths and weaknesses - one of America's best strengths is E Pluribus Unum. We can indeed be proud of this, and many things we've taught the world, but we must examine the plank in our ...

... in the stuffing process. If you:re my height in Japan and decide to get married...your chances of find a floor length gown are slim. And if you have feet my size, forget about the glass slippers for your wedding day; bowling shoes are about the only thing you:ll find to wear with that horrible suffocating dress. I:ve never felt so fat and so skinny, so hideous and so pretty all at once. At one point, I got to try on an ...