Golden Week - Day Two - Nagasaki

I woke up fairly early, walked the 2km to Hakata station, and got on a bus bound for Nagasaki. it was only a two hour ride, and it was pretty comfortable. I don't mind traveling by bus, because it's cheaper, and when it's a short dive it's nothing bad.

Good morning, Nagasaki station!

Giant inflatable golden dragon

Bridge in front of my hostel, AKARI Nagasaki International Hostel. It was so nice! There were a lot of foreigners there, and I made a few friends.

Panda says look both ways.

This looks like a New York City avenue to me.


First things first - Lunch! Nagasaki Champon, a local specialty. It's thick udon noodles in a rich, pork broth with a whole lot of random toppings. I swear there were things in there I couldn't identify. I ate them though, it was delicious, and just pretended it was chicken.

Nagasaki City Tram

The drivers say "Hasashi masu" which I thought meant "Here we go, you better hang on for dear life" but apparently it just means "Moving".

I walked up a hill to Glover House, and this is the map view of Nagasaki from the first balcony.

And the actual view.

View from the top. I didn't go in, because it was ¥500 and meh, I've seen gardens before.

Oura Church, Japan's oldest Gothic-style church.

This street was lined with vendors. I stopped to buy a few keychains for friends, and the salesman though I was French. He was almost as surprised to learn I was American as I was to hear he thought I was French.

Hypocenter of the A-Bomb.

Hypocenter Park statue.

Urakami Tenshu-Do ruins

Peace Park fountain

The Peace Statue was constructed in 1955. The right hand, pointing skyward, warns about the threat of the atomic bomb. The left hand, stretching out horizontally, symbolizes world peace. The closed eyes represent a prayer for the repose of the souls of all the atomic bomb victims.

After Peace Park, I was thoroughly exhausted, so I went back to the hostel. One of the British girls staying there, Juliet aka Jules, was kind enough to go find a kaiten-zushi (roto sushi) shop with me, even though she wasn't hungry. Over sushi, I found out she has been traveling for 9 months, through China, India, and Thailand. She's a physiologist (British for physical therapist). I didn't ask how she affords it because that's rude, but we did exchange information so I'll eventually see what the deal is haha. While at the sushi shop, the waiters were flirting with Jules, and one even winked at us. It was quite cute, and very un-Japanese.

Golden Week - Day One - Fukuoka

I started Golden Week by waking up at 4:00am to take a shower and bike to Minatogawakoen station to take the first subway to Shin Kobe to take the first Shinkansen to Hakata Satation in Kyushu.

It was cold, windy and rainy when I left, but once the shinkansen started moving I was much happier. I love the shinkansen!

I was told by EVERYONE to book my ticket early! It will be sold out! It's Golden Week! The busiest travel week in all of Japan!....

Uh... really? I guess no one wanted to get up early.

Two hours later, I arrived at Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Kyushu. I found my hostel, which was nice, and dropped my bags off.

Kushida Shrine had a beautiful float on display. There are a lot of festivals during Golden Week.

Wait, is this statue peeing?

... Yeah, he is.

Then I walked over to the Fukuoka Castle Ruins.

uh.... I think a homeless person lives on the castle grounds. I would have taken a photo of the castle.... but it is just ruins. So... yea, just rocks.

Flower pictures for my mom.

Giant pumpkin behind Fukuoka Art Museum. The same pumpkins are on Naoshima Island, between Kobe and Shikoku Island.

Giant swan paddle boats. If Jen and Miho were here, we would definitely have done this.

WHAT! THE US IS THAT CLOSE?!??!!

Oh nevermind...

Awesome robot show area.

Fukuoka Tower

View from Fukuoka Tower

I live in a Leo Palace in Kobe. They are not nice. I believe "shithole" is the term most often used to describe it.

Fukuoka is famous for Hakata ramen, so of course I had to try it.

Ramen. Totally delicious.

My new friends, Bill and Sue (not their real names). They didn't speak English, I don't speak Japanese, but they bought me sake. They're from Hokkaido. After that, I have no idea what they were saying. Lovely people, though. The picture was their idea.