Blogs from Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan, Asia - page 5

It all started as a telephone conversation on a cold and dreary Tuesday evening, when Lisa and I realizing we didn’t want to stay in Hiroshima for the long winter weekend. Our disposable cash flow was running low, putting us in quite the predicament. Times like this we wished we didn’t live in one of the most expensive countries in the world. Reviewing a map, our list of places to still-visit was short, and most locales were quite a distance away, involving lots of yen to get there. We made up our minds to go to Nagasaki, but how in the world would we get there without breaking the bank? Do as Jonathan would do- hitchhike! Indeed it was on my list of ‘Things to do Before Leaving Japan’ and would be a great adventure for ... read more

We got back from Nagasaki today. It was a pretty cool city although I used the little free time I had there to catch up on sleep. On the way there, we stopped off at a shrine (Shinto), a castle, and a dutch museum. As it turns out, Nagasaki was the only city in which they allowed trade (only from the dutch) during their isolationist period. Very interesting. That night, we went to a Chinese restraint (there is a big Chinese influence in Nakasaki due its proximity to China and it being a major port city) which was the best food I had eaten in Japan until supper tonight. I even had a bit of Sake (the actual way to pronounce saki). Afterwards, I returned to our hotel, took a shower, and went directly to sleep. ... read more

It would be inaccurate to say that Ryan and I were up at the crack of dawn. When we met at the street corner in front of the Bank of Hiroshima’s local branch, dawn was still slumbering soundly, a full hour yet before she would relieve the night shift. Hiroshima is a pretty quiet town at 5:30 am. The only people up at this time on a regular basis are taxi drivers, truckers, and weary-eyed boyfriends dropping their girlfriends off at home after secretly spending the night together. Considering that these are the only people up at 5:30 and they already have vehicles, it’s amazing how many taxis are nevertheless zooming about the city, searching for elusive fares. Actually, it’s pretty amazing how many taxis are zooming about the city at any time of day, searching ... read more

Ok well today was not very interesting from the sightseeing point of view, because I travelled from Fukuoka to Nagasaki by train today and it took about four and half hours, but at least there was only one transfer. Unfortunately the scenery wasn't all that good we just went through some of the smallest places I've seen, with what looked like about 20 houses, a train station, a few shops and rice fields! It was sort of cool to see them though. But I tell you what, when I got off that train at Nagasaki my legs were so sore! Once again, the sacrifices and pain I put myself through to be a cheapie! Oh well. When I arrived in Nagasaki it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but I have only ... read more

Wednesday 26th May – Open Sea – Okinawa I awoke during the night to hear Tony snoring loudly for the first time in ages then again at 7am by a breakfast announcement, Japan is an hour ahead of Taiwan, so it’s 8am. I am hungry as we haven’t eaten since 5pm last night, so went and unfortunately had to pay Y700 ($9) each for toast, ham, a fried egg and corn soup, filling but expensive. At about 1230pm, we noticed the engines had slowed so we went up on deck to see Okinawa’s coastline come into view and were greeted by two American fighter jets which buzzed over our heads and landed at the nearby airport. Our Japanese backpacker friend was with us, we don’t really know his name but it sounds like “Momo”, he has ... read more