more of Nagasaki

There's a bridge called Spectacles Bridge (眼鏡橋、Meganebashi) in Nagasaki - supposed to be the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan.

I guess when the water level is higher, the reflection makes it look like spectacles.

This statue's near the bridge.

We'd ice cream near the bridge! It was made to look like a rose~

Lunch was kaisen (seafood) don~

And we went to Dejima! (出島), an artificial island where foreign traders were confined to. Only certain Japanese were allowed inside last time, including some geishas. Some even had children with these foreigners. I wonder what kind of life the children would have had? I doubt their parents could have gotten married...

 An old house of the foreigners. I find it an interesting blend of European and Japanese items. Tatami mats, European furniture, Japanese style wallpapers...

 We also saw warehouses where they kept the goods that were shipped in. It was really interesting to see what was in demand at the time and how things have changed.

 I really love the wallpapers. If I'm not wrong, the patterns were stamped on the paper, section by section. Must have taken a lot of time to do! And a lot of heart must have been put into the making of the stamps and all..

They didn't skimp on Christmas dinners that's for sure! I saw a portrait of a foreign gentleman dancing what I think probably was a waltz with a geisha in her geisha clothes. I found it very interesting! Two completely different worlds colliding and finding each other to be good company and learning from each other. I'm assuming that was how it was anyway but maybe the geisha saw it just as her job. I don't know.

Small model of how Dejima looks!

We'd dinner in Chinatown 1 night although I forget the restaurant's name. It was very popular and the food was great!

 Chilli shrimps! エビ辛！The shrimps were very fresh and plump and juicy... And the chilli sauce a perfect blend of spicy and sweet.

 麻婆豆腐！Mapodoufu! So yum~~ I love mapodoufu.

 Sara udon (皿うどん）which reminded me of Champon. But this is dry noodles with gravy type. If you prefer eating crunchy fried noodles to noodle soup, you'll like this better than Champon.

And steamed bun with pork belly!! Ohhhhh the pork had soooo much fat! The meat was so tender. And it's soooo yum! Of course, it's not very good for your heart I don't think hahahah...



Mount Inasa (稲佐山 - Inasayama) is supposed to have a billion dollar view, but unfortunately it was kinda misty that night. It was still beautiful though! There was a line at the cable car but it didn't take too long.

Of course, this picture was taken with a digital camera so it's not that nice. It was really really cold up there too! Probably better to go in summer methinks.