Day 14 - Nagasaki

tobsy:
Mad rush to the bus terminal. Somehow we were always in a rush in the morning – too much procrastination probably. But we made it in time for the high speed bus bound for Nagasaki. We opted for bus over JR as the former cost 4500 for two while the latter cost 5500. 1000 yen more to spend on food! :D

We napped on the bus and woke up to a familiar Nagasaki station. There was a multi-school music performance at the station, and some of them even dressed up as animals and Pokemons. For entertainment value more than anything else I guess. We grabbed maps from the tourist information centre, and asked for recommendations for Champon (Nagasaki-style soup noodles). We had a fantabulous Champon at Kumamoto last year, and we really wanted to try the authentic local Nagasaki flavour. After that, we set off for the southern part of the city on tram. We’ve covered the northern half last year (A-bomb museum, Peace Park, etc) so we were trying to complete the round-city tour.

Got off at the Cathedral stop and walked up the slope. Lots of little shops along the road side selling souvenirs and local snacks. Many were selling Charsiew Pau (yes, the ones you see in SG, just slightly bigger. Supposedly a local delight) at outrageous prices ranging from 280yen to 380 yen. That’s like 4.50 to 6 bucks man EACH. Crazy. Of course we didn’t buy any. There was a really fairytale-ish castle-like building along the way, housing a bookshop on level 1 and art galleries on level 2 and 3. Free admission for level 1 but upon seeing that they were all children’s book drawings, we backed off.

Saw the famous cathedral halfway up the hill, took a picture of it and left (admission cost 300yen, and according to reviews the inside was not really all that fantastic). We detest the idea of having to pay for admissions. As Grace put it, “It’s not as if you can EAT the XXXX (cathedral, garden, castle, park, museum, etc etc)”. haha. We’re foodies driven by our basic instinct to eat :P

The famous Glover Garden had a nice pathway up and escalators too, but admission cost an outrageous 700yen per person. That’s like 21 bucks for the two of us – for a garden. Once again, reviews said that it wasn’t worth the money, so we didn’t pay a single cent to go in. And we were not alone. Apparently a bunch of Japanese obasans took the escalators up before us, took some brochures, loitered for a while at the entrance and went back down again. Sensible folks :D

Spotted a cute cat lazing in front of a shop on the way down. We tried to tease it by mewing, and to our surprise the cat NARROWED its eyes at us, as if saying, “Don’t even try – you’re not remotely close, dumb humans”. Hilarious man.

According to the lady at the station Tourist Information Centre, we were supposed to take a tram to Chinatown, our destination for lunch. But since the tram stops were so close together, we decided to walk instead (and save money for food!!). Along the way there was some old, preserved red brick houses that once housed European embassies (Nagasaki was one of the first ports to open up to foreigners), but we were not the sort that can derive much satisfaction from soaking in the history and fantasizing about what could have transpired in these buildings before our great-great-great-great grandparents were even born, we took a few pictures and moved on.

Somehow all the Chinatowns in Japan had the same look – elaborate Chinese-style gates at the entrances, hardly anything else. So the Nagasaki version bore close resemblance to the Yokohama one that we visited last year. Deja vu. We trudged along the streets, driven more by our nose than any sense of directions, and found the #1 recommended restaurant. Alas, despite the sickeningly appetite-inducing aroma at the entrance (partially due to our hunger, which had been brooding for ages by then), the price turned us away – this has happened again and again throughout our Japan trips, even though we kept reminding ourselves that we had saved enough through other means (not going into parks/castles/museums) to justify occasional indulgences, when the decision time comes, we’d often falter and leave. We’d be scolding ourselves later in the day when we settle down to reflect upon the day’s events, but we never learn from our mistakes. Oh well.

Now in retrospect, yes it was expensive, at 1500 / pax for a big bowl of seemingly simple Chinese noodles. But it could have tasted heavenly; and anything beats what we had next. We ended up at two restaurants across the road from each other – one was the same as the Taipien restaurant that we tried and loved in Kumamoto last year, the other was also highly recommended. After much contemplation and procrastination, we decided to go to the one that we had not been to. BIG mistake. The food wasn’t THAT terrible, honestly; but it was absurdly salty, so salty that we left before finishing everything and were thirsty for the next several hours. Grace’s soupy version was somewhat neutralized with water, but mine was dry, and hence the full-blown salt attack. Shudders. Their Champon was not even remotely close to what we had in Kumamoto last year.

After the miserable lunch we took a tram to the newly-opened mall that we spotted earlier in the morning. We spent some time looking around in Uniqlo, but decided against purchasing anything as we’d be passing by MANY Uniqlos for the next two weeks. Then it was one of the biggest disappointments of our trip – Cookie Chou. There was a bakery near Uniqlo that was having promotion for Cookie Chou at 100 yen each – not the typical Beard Papa cream puff, but coated with cookie skin (I really don’t know how to describe it, the semi-crispy-crusted exterior) and fully laden with delicious custard cream. The cheapest and the best we’d have for the entire trip. We tried one on the spot and loved it instantly. But for some reason Grace decided to buy just 5 (or 6?) for dinner, and it was only after we got back to the hotel and started munching did we blame ourselves for not buying more. Sadness.

Caught the hotel shuttle bus, and it was a VERY steep and absurdly narrow road uphill. Plenty of cemeteries along the way (creepy) and even more houses (even more creepy! Who in the right state of mind would stay beside graveyards?????). But thank God the hotel (Nishokan) was not anywhere near those graveyards. It was an old tourist hotel that recently underwent a major renovation, so it appeared quite new, albeit really quiet and hardly any customer – it was the ultra low-season now anyway. We reserved a hillside room since it was cheaper than the harbor-side room; but after seeing the harbor-side view from the corridor windows, we decided to switch to the more expensive room. Afterall, the whole point of us staying at Nishokan was for its famous nightview – which saved us the 3000+ yen that we would have spent to take tram, bus and ropeway up another mountain for the same night view. For an additional 500yen, not only did we get a much better night view, but also an extra bed, bringing the total number to 3 semi-doubles. Crazy. We shifted the beds together so we ended up with 1 gigantic, empress-dowager-size bed (at least 2X King size

As the public bathhouse didn’t supply onsen water like I anticipated, we showered in our own room instead of soaking at the public bath with scenic view. After taking a few (bad) snapshots of the Nagasaki nightview, and hastily finishing our cookie chous, we retired early to bed. The hotel didn’t have internet connection, so for once I didn’t have to do any further research on weather, food or H1N1 situation.

grace:
took a highway bus down frm Hakata to Nagasaki. just too poor to afford shinkansen. all the better anyway cos we caught up on precious sleep on the bus ride. the previous night we returned late and had to do laundry before trying to sort out what exactly to bring with us on the crazy trip and what to leave behind.

reached Nagasaki past noon and deposited our luggage in the coin locker. 300Y. our heart bleeds every time we had to do that. but thank God we managed to organise our stuff so we only brought one luggage along. if we had 2, tt would be 600Y man. when we got there there was this cool all schools band performance thingum and we even saw students dressed in animal costumes. for what i do not know.

drew cash frm the JP bank atm. 10,000Y sounds like a lot huh. but towards the end it was insufficient. then we started on our (continued) tour of Nagasaki. last yr we went to the peace park and the atomic bomb museum (which was horrifying). this yr, we're trying to cover places tt we havent seen and hopefully free ones.

the trams in Nagasaki are super cool. but its kinda tiny and there's always a long queue for it. our first stop was the Oura Catholic Church. built by French missionaries in 1864, this building is now a National Treasure and the oldest church in Japan. admission fee 300Y so we only took a peekture outside.

then it was Glover Garden, the former house of British merchant Thomas Glover and other 19th century buildings. admission fee 600Y so again we didnt go in. im not abt to pay S$9 to see a GARDEN ok. its not like i can eat the GARDEN (quote made famous by me in japan:)

along the way we saw lots of shops selling kou rou bao. at outrageous prices. i think u can probably get a decent one in Singapore for like max $1 plus? in Japan, they go for like 300Y onwards (S$4.50). cheat tourist money. its not asif kou rou bao originated frm Nagasaki anyway. there was a shop selling famous Nagasaki cakes so we went in for samples. tobs was so hungry tt his stomach was growling (poor tobs). but after trying everything, i didnt really think any was so fantastic tt its worth the price. i have high standards i guess. haha~

wanted to go down the Hollander Slope but was convinced by tobs tt it was only a slope. did see many old Western-style houses along the street so tt was pretty ok. and we walked all the way down to Chinatown and had lunch at Hui Le Yuan which was recommended by the tourist information centre for its Champong. well, we ordered their top 2 recommended dishes and it was ok. but salty. it was quite regretful in the end cos the meal came up to 2500Y.

last stop was a new mall called Coco Walk tt just opened recently so we didnt see it last yr. it was huge (whats new) and we walked around abit until it was time to go back to the station to catch the shuttle bus to the hotel. wanted to grab sth to eat and bought cookie chous for like 100Y EACH!! original price 150Y but i guess its the mall's opening month or sth so it was on promotion. and we only bought like erh 4. or was it 5. had it for dinner. and hated ourselves for not getting more. COOKIE CHOU ROCKS. pls chant the cookie chou chant now: coo-kie chou! coo-kie chou! (repeat forever)

got to our hotel which was on a hill tt overlooks the city. tobs chose it bcos of the view (save money, dont have to take ropeway up the hill to see night view!) and the onsen. but it seems asif it wasnt really onsen, just a hot public bath. so neither of us went to soak. caused abit of trouble for the front desk man (who was very very very courteous and helpful) when we wanted to upgrade our original room to another room with a better night view. but thank God it was ok. ended up in a 3-bed room and tobs happily decided to combine 2 by pushing them together so tt i have ample space to roll around at night. haha~ nightview was awesome (of course) but i still like Hakodate's nightview better:)