Japan 2020 - The Idiot Returns

[Noel Mugavin]

Dinner at Gyozoah, wasn't overly hungry but felt a bit bad when the gyoza i ordered was only about 300 yen. So ordered some fried chicken as well and struggled through it





Did feel sluggish after that food, so again another walk was in order.
This time around Osaka Castle









Building now a hotel that wasn't being ussed for that purpose 4 years ago.


Souvenir stores and food stalls had been cleared away from this area since the last visit


Light display happening in the grounds


Convenience store dessert to finish off the day

 

[suze2000]

I had decided to hang off going back to Japan this year... starting to change my mind.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

No need for an early start today so had the hotel breakfast.



Mid-morning on the shinkansen to Kobe.
Port view from city hall



And the hills



City hall from Kobe East Park


Eternal Flame for the Hanshin Earthquake







Walked down to Meriken Park and the Earthquake Memorial Park. They have left this part of the wharf as it was immediately following the quake

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Clear skies, but quite cold




There's a large, out of scale Starbucks that dominates the plaza, however I needed something to warm me up and I was able to sit on their patio in the sun which was quite pleasant for people watching for 15 minutes or so.





Time to move on, stumbled upon Chinatown







Went to take a photo of the Buddha and the gate and this couple conveniently sat down just as I was moving into position. This was the best i could get



Up to Mouriya for some A5 Kobe

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Didn't have a reservation, so no seat at the hot plate.
Soup didn't do it for me


Very nice salad, the body sorely needed it


The main event






Made my way back to Osaka, avoided the crowds by walking up a street running parallel to Shinsaibashi Shopping Street. Bit of art on the walls of a carpark






Picked up a Pablo cheesecake along the way, thankfully they had single sizes available.


Another winner, not as dense as cheesecakes that we're used to and extremely flaky pastry



Bit of a rest, had a ramen for dinner and just wandered for the rest of the night

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Early start and on to a Sakura to Hakata. Sukura has 2 x 2 seats rather than the 3 and 2 on the Hikari





Change at Hakata to the local train to Nagasaki, takes about 2 and a half hours, makes for a long day.
Thought i would be getting on to an old rattler, couldn't be further from the truth



Plenty of room and comfortable seats


One of the stops


Extremely picturesque scenery, water, hills, fields, of course no good shots



Got to Nagasaki, wind blowing off the water, absolutely freezing


3 or 4 minute walk from the station to the hotel, too early to check in, dropped the bags and went for a wander





Nagasaki Seaside Park

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Walls of Dejima



Strolled through Chinatown




Nagasaki is quite proud of it's stone bridges


The Spectacles





Back to the hotel and checked in

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Comfortable bed and a little space by the door that the suitcase was able to fit into, so a bonus there



Dinner at a yakitori restaurant that had good reviews on Trip Advisor


Couple walked in in front of me and walked out after talking to the hostess. I motioned for 1 person, she confirmed it was one with me, then she went to the counter, moved some plates across and added another spot for me. Along the empty bar area. No one else came in and sat along the bar while I was there.





Bar wraps around the cooking area in a U, and I was on the end. Elderly lady, 75plus with 50 something gentleman to my left. I'm a non-drinker, however the old lady was happily drinking a beer and I thought it would be a bit weak of me if I wasn't doing the same. Beer arrived, old lady and gentleman both raised their glasses with me and 'kanpai'. Happy with that.
What I wasn't happy about was that I wasn't able to converse much, totally on me and my lack of Japanese. Lady was happy to ask some questions, with the help off the gentleman, who was able to communicate to me that the lady was his mother. Able to get over I was on vacation and from Australia. Gentleman able to tell me his mother was very drunk.
Very good meal, however I was extremely disappointed that I wasn't able to open lines of communication more fully. Has inspired me to work on learning some Japanese.



Went for a bit of a wander, not sure that there is an entertainment district in Nagasaki, then off to an early bed

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Bit of a walk along the harbour to start the day







Path continued further upstream, enough for me at this stage though. Right turn and over the road toward Nagasaki Station


Love the charcoal colour of this train


Station being built to accommodate the extension of the shinkansen route, scheduled for 2022


Front of Nagasaki Station

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Jumped on the tram and a short 10 minute ride to the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum area.



Hypocenter Park - Hypocenter Cenotaph and Cathedral Wall Ruins










Short walk to the Peace Park


To the top of the stairs and the view

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Australia's contribution to the Peace Symbol Zone - Tree of Life: Gift of Peace







The Cloak - from the Kiwis

 

[rbjhan]

I was once in a bar in Kanazawa, with the help of Google Translate, talked to the guy sitting next to me for 2 hours!
Not that we got a lot through, mind you... I remembered that he was a local of Kanazawa, worked in construction, liked the izakaya a lot, and recommended a sake....that's about it ha ha.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Urakami Prison ruins








Vault for the Unclaimed Remains of Victims


Buddha Relic presented by Nehru and located in the vault

Walked past Nagasaki Baseball Stadium


Gates were open so went in to have a gander. Training session going on





Continued walking along the Uragami River; looking back towards the stadium

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Stairs up toward Shiroyama Elementary School













Staircase of the original school building. Entered the building and an old, old lady appeared from a little side room. Young 20ish Japanese girl was next to her and asked me in perfect English if I was after the Japanese or English guide. Said English, then followed the old lady into the room where I had to sign in, younger lady just showed me where to, and to, write in Australian.
Outside the room asked the young girl how she had such good English. Turns out she went to university in Wellington to develop her English, had always as a young girl had an affinity for New Zealand. Now living back in Tokyo, she also was surprised someone from Australia was in Nagasaki as it wasn't somewhere high on most travelers list.
Thanked her for helping me out wit the old girl and we went our separate ways


Took a few photos from inside, not until I left the building that I saw the sign saying no photos. Quite a few graphic pictures displayed, none of which I took photos of.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

There are shrines and monuments in the school grounds, however it is an active school, were a few kids in the yard, so wasn't too comfortable walking around having a look


Camera zoom would have to do


Back down the stairs, over the river, through the sporting ground precinct before making my way toward the Atomic Bomb Museum.
More monuments between the Hypocenter Park and the musem






Ridiculously low entry fee of 200 yen

 

[Noel Mugavin]

I'm a pretty heartless old bugger, however this photo and story associated with it did have an effect


Viewing deck on top of the museum


Had spent a few hours in the area, hopped on a tram back to Nagasaki Station and time for something to eat.
Went to a chain restaurant (can't remember the name of it) and had the local specialty, or the local specialty of the US naval base a couple of hours up the coast, the Sasebo burger.
Larger and wuite nice, until toward the end where there was just a huge pool of liquid, so didn't get through it



Bit of a rest, then hit the harbour walk again as I was off to the Nagasaki Ropeway

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Up the hill


Little bit of sunlight left, lot of low-level cloud though








Zoom straining to get a shot of Gunkanjima in the fading light. Was a plan to visit during my planning, however typhoon took care of the landing for a little while, but more of a concern was the discovery of asbestos on the island. Put paid to my plans.


Waiting out time to try and get a decent shot of one of the World's Top Three Night Views


The observatory, thankfully quite a few seats inside as it was freezing




Lights starting to come on

 

[love_the_life]

Interested to read your mention of Sasebo. In a previous life I was Coordinator of Seiwa House named for the work of the Good Sam nuns who were one of the founding orders of our school and who established Seiwa College in Sasebo after WW2.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

My attempts at the night shots, unfortunately the camera is just not up to it, nor is the operator of said camera









Casual stroll back to near the hotel where there is a shopping complex. Wasn't all that hungry just needed something to tide me over.
Was going to have a crack inside the pachinko parlour, unfortunately the smell of smoke 15 metres from the door turned me off that idea.
Wandered around the basement of the shop, then headed to the top floor of restaurants, nothing took my fancy. Was a games place though which had some pachinko machines. Had a crack, no idea what was going on, did my dough.
Ended up getting a convenience store egg sandwich and a curry bun and called it a night.

 

[love_the_life]

View attachment 205189

My attempts at the night shots, unfortunately the camera is just not up to it, nor is the operator of said camera

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View attachment 205191

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Casual stroll back to near the hotel where there is a shopping complex. Wasn't all that hungry just needed something to tide me over.
Was going to have a crack inside the pachinko parlour, unfortunately the smell of smoke 15 metres from the door turned me off that idea.
Wandered around the basement of the shop, then headed to the top floor of restaurants, nothing took my fancy. Was a games place though which had some pachinko machines. Had a crack, no idea what was going on, did my dough.
Ended up getting a convenience store egg sandwich and a curry bun and called it a night.

I dunno - the photos are pretty good IMO.