[Japan Travel]: Nagasaki - Day 1
Okay, 
I finally have some time (well actually not, but I just HAVE to do it
) to post
pictures and a short report about my first day in Nagasaki.
Before I start a random note:
Exactly one year ago I came to Japan for the first time (back then for a 3 week vacation together with hesaki). Jesus, I can't believe that it's already ONE year AGO!!! Time sure is running (too) fast (as always).
There are some other things I'd like to blabber about, but that will have to wait until I have more time. Now I wanna get this entry done at least ;)
Enjoy
Nagasaki - Day 1 (August 10th, 2008):
In Nagasaki (Kyushu) I stayed 2 days and 2 nights. Of course I wanted to stay longer, but as I only had a 1 week vacation, that was not possible. I always wanted to go to Nagasaki, there are so many things and as I've already written in one of my previous posts, I really fell in love with that city. I envy all the people on my f-list that live there (I know there are some :D). Lucky you!
Anyway let's start the picspam ;)
Yes, and the first picture is actually going to be THIS! That's what I encountered at a toilet at the station and I just couldn't resist XDDDD
I had work until Saturday night, then came home, packed my stuff, fell into my bed, got up veeeery early and then I was on my way to Nagasaki where I arrived around noon. I checked in and got rid of my luggage at my hotel and then I was already on my way to the Atomic Bomb museum. A few steps away from my goal, I stopped to take this photo, because I thought the scenery was just beautiful :) (like almost EVERYTHING in Nagasaki!)
At first sight I was a bit confused where to go as there were quite a few buildings, but I just followed the arrows XD
But before that I turned around to take another photo of the beautiful scenery yet again.
Entrance of the museum.
Inside the Atomic Bomb museum and all around the place where tons of these colorful paper cranes (??), they were interesting and I took quite a few photos.
Amazing what you all can do with just a bit of colorful paper!
Peace messages.
Inside the museum. I didn't really take any photos as I was focusing on all the stuff in there, besides it was mainly written information, so nothing to really take photos of anyway.
It was really interesting, but I wish they would offer more information in English. There was so much more written in Japanese! :/
On my way from the museum to the memorial hall for the victims which is just a few steps away I took another photo of the nice landscape.
Inside the memorial hall which is by itself not really interesting. Japanese people (and people all over the world) mainly come here to pray for the victims and that's basically it.
And that's on top of the memorial hall.
That's how it's supposed to look at night. Cool, huh? Unfortunately I didn't go there at night (remember only 2 days and 2 nights are REALLY SHORT!).
Kind of scary!
But really nice architecture!
I just love this photo.
On my way to the peace park, I went in front of the "red" building you saw in one of the photos before and took a photo of it close up. Note the golden statue thing on the right.
Still on my way to the peace park, I encountered tons of peace signs, statues, more colorful paper cranes and stuff .... of course I took a lot of photos again (^^')
Another paper crane related thingie.
And close-up.
Right beside that thing there were these peace messages and stuff ... I suppose mainly written by children.
But then again do they already know so many kanji? XD
And those colorful paper thingies were hiding really EVERYWHERE!! Colorblind anyone?
Checking out how far it still is to the peace park. Uh, only 100m away from ground zero now!! Scaa~ary!
Left bottom: In Nagasaki you go everywhere by streetcar. It was really convenient and way cheaper than in Kumamoto or Kagoshima.
No comment (o____O'')
And finally arrived at ground zero. Yet another statue.
And that's where ground zero is supposed to be. A lot of Japanese people passed by, stopped there and prayed. It was kind of awkward for me, because I didn't know what I should do. Should I pray, too, or would they not like that?
Close-up.
Left ground zero and was on my way to the peace park again when I found this house. I thought it looks really cute, esp. with those nice trees. I love these Japanese trees (name?!).
Still on my way I found quite a few walls with graf ... ahr .. pictures like that :D
Climbing up to the peace park, stopping, taking a photo, thinking: Aaa~ it must be nice to be a cat!
Finally up there the first thing I do is take a photo of the toilet, because I thought the building looked interesting XDDD
Absolutely gorgeous and great view from up there!
Uhm, wait! I'm in Japan, right?! Right????!!
Can you see the small rainbow? (^-^'')
The park was really nice, but there was nothing much to see, but this fountain was really nice.
Another statue. Somehow has a Greek or Italian feeling to it?!
The highlight of the park, however, is the famous peace statue (of course).
Shit, sun where have you gone? I can't take good photos like this! XDDDD
If I remember correctly the arm that points up symbolizes something bad coming from above and the other hand stands for peace and balancing things out. I'm sorry if I'm messing up things right now, but that's how I remember it (and I'm too lazy to look it up right now ahem ..)
Only a few hundred meters away was one of the famous Catholic churches of Nagasaki, so I couldn't resist and went to check it out. I mean ... Japan and Catholic churches??!! Gotta see that, right???
Actually there's a LOT of Western influence as they have/had Dejima, once the only port where Westerners (esp. Dutch) were allowed to come into Japan, blaaah~ (I went to Dejima, too, on my second day, so please look forward to my next entry XD)
Interesting, huge building next to the church. I have no idea what it is though.
And one more time, because it just looks nice :D
Right in front of the church. You were not allowed to take photos inside (needless to say I guess).
I am in Japan, right? RIGHT?? (O____o'')
On my way back another of these graf.. picture walls (^^'). It was already around 4.30pm at that time and I wanted to check out the other Catholic church plus Glover Garden (at daytime and at night), so I had to hurry up a bit.
Waiting for the streetcar. I just can't let go of my camera it seems XD
Getting off the streetcar and on my way to Glover Garden. Nice!
I just thought this building is interesting. I'm not 100% sure what it was, but I think it was a Chinese restaurant (but it's too huge for a restaurant - alone - right? XD)
Fairytale museum thing (forgot the name) unfortunately it was already closed when I passed by.
And here's another Catholic church. I wanted to check out the inside of it, too, but it was closed. (But I went there on my 2nd day :D)
Finally arrived at Glover Garden which was really a BEAUTIFUL place which a greeeat view over Nagasaki!!!!! <333
Nice.
There were various things to see, not only flowers, plants, but also quite a lot of Western buildings with Western furniture and stuff.
Inside of the building above there was nothing but ..... ships ... ships, pics of ships .. aaand ships!
I think for people who are interested in ships, this is really nice, but uh ... yeah.
At least you had a really nice view from the balcony there :)
I have NO idea why there was this camel thingie, but I thought it was cute.
The Western buildings were all gorgeous and nice, but not soooooo interesting for me (at least not as interesting as Japanese temples/shrines and stuff), but the Japanese people were really interested, I think.
Inside of one of the houses.
I think it must have been nice for Westeners to live there a looong time ago with a nice view over Nagasaki and directly at the ocean. UWAAAH!!!
Uh! Sunset was close! :)
And finally it was getting dark.
My camera is not really good when it comes to taking night shots, but nevertheless I managed to get at least a few good photos.
Nagasaki at night is breathtaking.
They had quite a few nice light installations in the garden itself, too.
Uww, it has gotten really dark (and soon after it it started to rain!)
So I left Glover Garden and checked out some of the souvenir shops that still were open. It was around 8pm at this time.
Ghibli love!!
And more Totoro ^^
Completely random shot, I found Mukuro (Katekyo Hitman Reborn) XDDDDD Ahem~
After that I left and returned to my hotel. As I had gotten up pretty early that day, I decided to go to bed early.
No food photos, because I only ate combini bentos that day, but food photos will come with the next few entries ;) (of course!)
And that was my first day in Nagasaki and my first day of my (way too short) summer vacation.
I hope you enjoyed this first entry.
I don't know when I'll have time to post day 2, but I definitely will!
Camera used:
Sony Cybershot DSC-W1
Okay, time to take a shower and get comfy. It's already evening here in Japan :)
Bye-cha!~
I finally have some time (well actually not, but I just HAVE to do it
) to post
pictures and a short report about my first day in Nagasaki.
Before I start a random note:
Exactly one year ago I came to Japan for the first time (back then for a 3 week vacation together with hesaki). Jesus, I can't believe that it's already ONE year AGO!!! Time sure is running (too) fast (as always).
There are some other things I'd like to blabber about, but that will have to wait until I have more time. Now I wanna get this entry done at least ;)
Enjoy
Nagasaki - Day 1 (August 10th, 2008):
In Nagasaki (Kyushu) I stayed 2 days and 2 nights. Of course I wanted to stay longer, but as I only had a 1 week vacation, that was not possible. I always wanted to go to Nagasaki, there are so many things and as I've already written in one of my previous posts, I really fell in love with that city. I envy all the people on my f-list that live there (I know there are some :D). Lucky you!
Anyway let's start the picspam ;)
Yes, and the first picture is actually going to be THIS! That's what I encountered at a toilet at the station and I just couldn't resist XDDDD
I had work until Saturday night, then came home, packed my stuff, fell into my bed, got up veeeery early and then I was on my way to Nagasaki where I arrived around noon. I checked in and got rid of my luggage at my hotel and then I was already on my way to the Atomic Bomb museum. A few steps away from my goal, I stopped to take this photo, because I thought the scenery was just beautiful :) (like almost EVERYTHING in Nagasaki!)
At first sight I was a bit confused where to go as there were quite a few buildings, but I just followed the arrows XD
But before that I turned around to take another photo of the beautiful scenery yet again.
Entrance of the museum.
Inside the Atomic Bomb museum and all around the place where tons of these colorful paper cranes (??), they were interesting and I took quite a few photos.
Amazing what you all can do with just a bit of colorful paper!
Peace messages.
Inside the museum. I didn't really take any photos as I was focusing on all the stuff in there, besides it was mainly written information, so nothing to really take photos of anyway.
It was really interesting, but I wish they would offer more information in English. There was so much more written in Japanese! :/
On my way from the museum to the memorial hall for the victims which is just a few steps away I took another photo of the nice landscape.
Inside the memorial hall which is by itself not really interesting. Japanese people (and people all over the world) mainly come here to pray for the victims and that's basically it.
And that's on top of the memorial hall.
That's how it's supposed to look at night. Cool, huh? Unfortunately I didn't go there at night (remember only 2 days and 2 nights are REALLY SHORT!).
Kind of scary!
But really nice architecture!
I just love this photo.
On my way to the peace park, I went in front of the "red" building you saw in one of the photos before and took a photo of it close up. Note the golden statue thing on the right.
Still on my way to the peace park, I encountered tons of peace signs, statues, more colorful paper cranes and stuff .... of course I took a lot of photos again (^^')
Another paper crane related thingie.
And close-up.
Right beside that thing there were these peace messages and stuff ... I suppose mainly written by children.
But then again do they already know so many kanji? XD
And those colorful paper thingies were hiding really EVERYWHERE!! Colorblind anyone?
Checking out how far it still is to the peace park. Uh, only 100m away from ground zero now!! Scaa~ary!
Left bottom: In Nagasaki you go everywhere by streetcar. It was really convenient and way cheaper than in Kumamoto or Kagoshima.
No comment (o____O'')
And finally arrived at ground zero. Yet another statue.
And that's where ground zero is supposed to be. A lot of Japanese people passed by, stopped there and prayed. It was kind of awkward for me, because I didn't know what I should do. Should I pray, too, or would they not like that?
Close-up.
Left ground zero and was on my way to the peace park again when I found this house. I thought it looks really cute, esp. with those nice trees. I love these Japanese trees (name?!).
Still on my way I found quite a few walls with graf ... ahr .. pictures like that :D
Climbing up to the peace park, stopping, taking a photo, thinking: Aaa~ it must be nice to be a cat!
Finally up there the first thing I do is take a photo of the toilet, because I thought the building looked interesting XDDD
Absolutely gorgeous and great view from up there!
Uhm, wait! I'm in Japan, right?! Right????!!
Can you see the small rainbow? (^-^'')
The park was really nice, but there was nothing much to see, but this fountain was really nice.
Another statue. Somehow has a Greek or Italian feeling to it?!
The highlight of the park, however, is the famous peace statue (of course).
Shit, sun where have you gone? I can't take good photos like this! XDDDD
If I remember correctly the arm that points up symbolizes something bad coming from above and the other hand stands for peace and balancing things out. I'm sorry if I'm messing up things right now, but that's how I remember it (and I'm too lazy to look it up right now ahem ..)
Only a few hundred meters away was one of the famous Catholic churches of Nagasaki, so I couldn't resist and went to check it out. I mean ... Japan and Catholic churches??!! Gotta see that, right???
Actually there's a LOT of Western influence as they have/had Dejima, once the only port where Westerners (esp. Dutch) were allowed to come into Japan, blaaah~ (I went to Dejima, too, on my second day, so please look forward to my next entry XD)
Interesting, huge building next to the church. I have no idea what it is though.
And one more time, because it just looks nice :D
Right in front of the church. You were not allowed to take photos inside (needless to say I guess).
I am in Japan, right? RIGHT?? (O____o'')
On my way back another of these graf.. picture walls (^^'). It was already around 4.30pm at that time and I wanted to check out the other Catholic church plus Glover Garden (at daytime and at night), so I had to hurry up a bit.
Waiting for the streetcar. I just can't let go of my camera it seems XD
Getting off the streetcar and on my way to Glover Garden. Nice!
I just thought this building is interesting. I'm not 100% sure what it was, but I think it was a Chinese restaurant (but it's too huge for a restaurant - alone - right? XD)
Fairytale museum thing (forgot the name) unfortunately it was already closed when I passed by.
And here's another Catholic church. I wanted to check out the inside of it, too, but it was closed. (But I went there on my 2nd day :D)
Finally arrived at Glover Garden which was really a BEAUTIFUL place which a greeeat view over Nagasaki!!!!! <333
Nice.
There were various things to see, not only flowers, plants, but also quite a lot of Western buildings with Western furniture and stuff.
Inside of the building above there was nothing but ..... ships ... ships, pics of ships .. aaand ships!
I think for people who are interested in ships, this is really nice, but uh ... yeah.
At least you had a really nice view from the balcony there :)
I have NO idea why there was this camel thingie, but I thought it was cute.
The Western buildings were all gorgeous and nice, but not soooooo interesting for me (at least not as interesting as Japanese temples/shrines and stuff), but the Japanese people were really interested, I think.
Inside of one of the houses.
I think it must have been nice for Westeners to live there a looong time ago with a nice view over Nagasaki and directly at the ocean. UWAAAH!!!
Uh! Sunset was close! :)
And finally it was getting dark.
My camera is not really good when it comes to taking night shots, but nevertheless I managed to get at least a few good photos.
Nagasaki at night is breathtaking.
They had quite a few nice light installations in the garden itself, too.
Uww, it has gotten really dark (and soon after it it started to rain!)
So I left Glover Garden and checked out some of the souvenir shops that still were open. It was around 8pm at this time.
Ghibli love!!
And more Totoro ^^
Completely random shot, I found Mukuro (Katekyo Hitman Reborn) XDDDDD Ahem~
After that I left and returned to my hotel. As I had gotten up pretty early that day, I decided to go to bed early.
No food photos, because I only ate combini bentos that day, but food photos will come with the next few entries ;) (of course!)
And that was my first day in Nagasaki and my first day of my (way too short) summer vacation.
I hope you enjoyed this first entry.
I don't know when I'll have time to post day 2, but I definitely will!
Camera used:
Sony Cybershot DSC-W1
Okay, time to take a shower and get comfy. It's already evening here in Japan :)
Bye-cha!~