PART II

Night View on Mount Inasa, Ropeway, Nagasaki City
After walking 1.5km from the tram stop, we reach the ropeway station situated next to a japanese shrine, at the bottom of Mount Inasa. Mt Inasa is 333m high and it took us around 5 minutes up the ropeway. It has a fantastic night view of Nagasaki city below and the night was clear but cold and windy. There's a nice little italian restaurant where couples go to to enjoy a nice romantic dinner. A nice couple helped us take a photo, the guy had insisted that his girl count out 1,2,3 in japanese, and she did it in a cute camera-assistant fashion with her fingers held up high. All of us had a good laugh.

Shimabara Castle, Shimabara
An hour and a half away by the JR train is Shimabara.
Some thoughts on Shimabara...
Coastal town with greying skies
of castle upon the hill
of Geronimo and christian faith
of children playing on warrior alley
of tatami mats and waxed figurines
of smoking volcano overlooking
of lake which appeared over night
of mountain springs sprouting through people's homes
of my very own cat nirvana
of carps swimming through our paths
of common pets
of birds waiting for a morsel of fish
of rice dumplings in clam broth
of greying skies and misty mountain ranges...

Huis Ten Borsh
Pseudo holland city recreated painstakenly over a reclaimed area that's twice the size of tokyo disneyland, an hour away bus ride away from Nagasaki City. Impressive if not a little fake with windmills and what nots. Needless to say, we spent a bomb at this place buying gifts and other unnecessary purchases. The weather was fantastic, with the sun shining and blue skies, perfect for pictures. Half the time we did not understand what was going on during the various theme rides/shows but it was funny nonetheless. They make good cheese and i particularly liked the cream cheese cubes doused in soya sauce ala agedashi tofu manner. We did not buy any cheese though. A wedding was going on at the replicated queen's (of holland i assume) castle where the happy couple was getting up onto a horse carriage during a cold winter evening where everyone was freezing their butts off. The lucky wedding guests gets to ride in a heated bus though. Quaint place and quite kitsch really...