wobbly ground in Nagasaki

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After a busy 24 hrs with Chihiro in her lovely MANSON flat in Saitama prefecture, I planned to head southwards to Kyuushuu, on　Sunday morning.

The trip to Nagasaki was fast! Not a patch on some other trains in the world, the Hikari shinkansen whisked me from Tokyo central to Nagasaki via Shin osaka and Hakata, the terminus of Fukuoka station at the northern most part of Kyuushuu. The trip of 900km took about 8 hrs, that is including some stops of up to 40 mins where I felt it a good to fix the cock up of getting the incorrect adaptor plug for my digital camera. So　I got an adaptor for an adaptor!!

Apart from a big PHEW! at getting on the remaining train to nagasaki in a hairs breadth at 5pm after grabbing some what turned out to be sugared colourlesswater, mandarins and oranges, and a slightly lesser phew at finding something of little value, but of greatly valued SUPPORT, deep within the recesses of MY BAG, thisngs were good. I thought I had left this item on another train during this 3 part trip, so could finally could rest easy that the pauline photographic artistic world was at peace ......................

Perhaps it was the carriage being numbered 13, unlucky in western but luckier in japanese culture.

The train trip had some moments of interest! We had a JIKO, accident, outside Saga in Kyuushuu, whilst the very kind, helpful, efficient, did I mention helpful attendents reassured us we would be to Nagasaki no later than 5 mins!! Fat chance of that occurruing in the UK, especially if travelling from Newcastle to Carlisle on a wet October weekend with flooded train tracks and booked on a National Express. This presented a perfect opportunity for photo taking yet again and chatting with people who looked very inquisitive of　this red headed foreigner dressed in shorts and jandals with the heat, and carrying a camel on her back with a smaller joey on her front.

At this point I wish to point out that suitcases do not work in Japan. You will not get them on to　the overhead luggage racks of the bullet and express trains without difficulty, let alone being impossibility on occasions due to space limits, and you certainly would get tired of lugging the damn things up and down a trillion steps whislt you develop rotator cuff tendonopathy in your shoulder, for which you will probably seek ACC when you return home.
That is if you don:t get a tear, which may require surgery, and add to the cost and time off work, and then you develop a chronic pain syndrome with multiple yellow flags that someone has to help heal you. So being a prepared brownie that has become luggage weight weary, I can proudly say I am toughing it out with a 10kg baggage allowance, and small weight of the day pack. It is almost possible to get some glamour in that 10kg, but that extends no more than the odd bit of makeup, jewellery, sandals, one skirt, a pair of pantyhose, and certainly no heels like some have asked me!!

You know, I had this light bulb moment today,probably not so much for some of you, based on this....

the people in the fields digging the troughs and mowing their lawns, the clothes airers on the balconies; the girls beautifully dressed in blue red and white school outfits cycling towards the train then giggling into their SONY phones whilst taking pics of the accident; the taxi drivers waiting for a job at Hakata station wearing white gloves; the kindness and cuteness of such things as a fireman painted on the footpath like a walking school bus sign; the SARARII MAN going to work in the rain in Saitama with umbrella in hand on today, a sunday whislt strange GAIJIN ran through the increasingly heavy wet stuff; perhaps the same business man driving golf balls at the netted range in the middle of suburbia........we are all the same, and language is a strange but very real barrier to understanding eachother.

Nagasaki is quaint yet bustling, and set on a harbour with a river up the western reaches of town. For this reason it is a major port, and receives and sends goods to much of Asia, and the world I assume. This place reminds me very much of Wellington, being compact, hilly in the surrounding area, and a lively central CBD. Hence, there are fewer bicycles compared to tokyo!

Hiroshi san told me that Japan imports American rice through this port - how so! That is just wrong, with itself subsisting on OKOME foods, and the 2nd best producers living nextdoor, Vietnam and China. Hiroshi and I met up for dinner at some place on the waterfront, after a later than planned arrival at Akari hostel. It was good to catch up and nice that people you meet many yrs before and may have known for a short time can still keep in touch. WE had a yummy meal of rice, octopus, calimari, sashimi, miso, and some raw veges which made a nice change from having rice and meat without greens at every meal for the last 48 hrs from a 7 eleven CONBENIENCE STOORU or plastic airline carton.

I passed on the whale, a tradition of Nagasaki, for obvious reasons, but partook in a type of well fortified wheat wine, also a speciality of Kyuushuu. This was almost on par with the rice wine of Sapa, similar to petrol I'd imagine, and was at least double the strength of a normal NZ wine at 12-14%. In the name of tourism, I can vouch for the ability of this shuucho beverage to make the room wobble. The effect was latent. Or perhaps it is some kind of wobbly tatami phenomena , or ny iner ears coming down to earth?, or seismic activity I will soon learn of.

So best I get back to my wobbly tatami and sleep off the effects of this seismic activity.... Tomorrow I will head to Kumamoto prefecture and stay overnight at Aso no Fumoto hostel, deep in the recesses of Kyuushuu and full of onsen!!!!!!!!! I am told by Hiroshi san they can get up to 40-42C, that will be tough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope to do some hiking, maybe ascend Aso san, and then will head southwards towards Kagoshima, the bottom of Japan and location of many volcanoes.
To be continued.............. Ja Mata!

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Photos

Hai Chiizu take 3004
Miyako san and chihiro on the left, at airport after meeting

2 wide mouth frogs
paulines wide mouth frog joke went a little wrong

a very late at night photo, 1st day
from left chihiro, miyako, obasan, ayumu san, at obasans place

Anight in a MANSHON
view from the mansion towards shinjuku, taken from northwest in saitama prefecture

photosynthesis at work
hingry for some quality tokyo CO2 these patio plants are lapping up the city air

yum yum
ayumu and okashi sweets! a train station staple.

typical station shops
where can I buy some cold rice with extra food poisoning please?

come on whos had tha fanta tonight!
miyako, ayumu and I at Obasans place