Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Nagasaki

We went for a day excursion to Nagasaki to understand the atomic bomb history. We were following the footsteps of our friends and followed them to visit the museum, one-pillar shrine etc. However, it was raining very heavily and we have to skip some outdoor places of interest. 

Seafood @ Nagasaki Port 

We were on the epic centre of the atomic bombing at Nagasaki - the place was near to the museum. Statues of peace and posters and tiles by school children asking for peace and no bombing could be seen near the steps up towards the museum.  The aftermaths of war affected many.  The museum showed footages of bombing and also pictures of the bombing. I was worried that my wife would be scared of the images and I have warned her before the journey to be prepared.  One of things that strike me was the clock and watch that "stopped" at the time of the bombing. The time basically froze at 11am. I told my wife the date of the bombing was 9 Aug. 

There were also pictures of "shadows" cast by the trees during the bombing. We could imagine how hot it could be to leave the "shadows" markings on the walls. Scary.

As it was still raining, we took the tram and tried to find our way to the one-pillar shrine. Along the way, we "bento" from a local shop and ate our lunch hiding from rain at a garage. Cold and wet day. Of cos, I threw some tantrums due to the disruptions by bad weather. My wife was quick to spot the sign leading to the one-pillar.  If not for her, we were likely be stranded searching for it. I really gave her a big thumb up for that. Of cos, didn't want to admit it that I actually didn't see the sign, haha. Good work, my wife =).

Next, I decided to go straight to the Nagasaki Port to see the "Tall Ships" festivals. There supposed to be many tall ships.  Unfortunately, the bad weather dampened the festivals and many stalls could not open. We decided to have a hot grill seafood at one of the restaurants there. They served big portions of shells and seafood. Imitating the chef in Hokkaido, I did the grilling like a master chef with gloves. My wife was so fascinated by my skill that she took a video of how I managed to dig out the sea creature from shell. Frankly, I still not sure what we ate. With the backdrop of drizzling sound and cold weather, the meal sort of warming us.

Decided that the rain would not stop any moment, we went back to train station. It was there that we saw many local delicacies again. We were given some samples of the pork buns and they were yummy. So, we bought one to eat on train back to Hakata. 

I have wanted to visit one famous sponge cake shop in Nagasaki. Though we didn't manage to go there, there was an outlet near the train station. Without hesitation, we started to order boxes by boxes - but they have limited shelf life so we could not buy too many. A pity. I rem my wife sharing with me that the Japanese dun put preservatives in their local delicacies, thats why we dun have extended expiry dates. Well, I am a strong believer in expiry dates. 

Famous Sponge Cake of Fukusaya 福砂屋 

The sponge cake originated from Portugal. It was really to my liking. I especially like the top. It is one of the must-try in Nagasaki, I think. I wonder how it would taste if we visited the actual shop in Nagasaki. Would they taste the best while they were baked and served hot? Haha, my wife and I shared a cute story in HK as we travelled all the way to visit the original shop to buy wife biscuits. I was under the impression that the biscuits would be very different. Well, similar to those that I can buy in Sogo. The journey was really far. 

We hope we can come back to Nagasaki another time. We didn't really explore the place much. 

Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Yatai Experience

Yatai, Fukuoka

One local thing that we wanted to try is to visit the Yatai, the mobile food stall. Actually, I didn't know such Yatai exists and my wife read to discover it. My job is to search for the congregation of Yatai and feast on some local delicacies. My wife has been talking about 明太子, so we definitely would have to try it. We found a few of Yatai along the river en route to Canal City.  Not sure why we didn't a whole group of Yatai but there were still some with queues.  As usual, my wife walked up and down to recce which stalls have the most customers and which stalls at least have things that I could eat. 

I already knew that I would feast on Ramen. No doubt about it, so no matter which Yatai, I would order Ramen. I am a "mee" person actually. My wife has no problem guessing what I like to eat for breakfast. Back to Yatai, these mobile food stalls made me recall those stalls at Chinatown. My parents brought us to some stalls with wooden tables for dinner. The concept was the same but the atmosphere was different.

We queued at one very popular Yatai among the rest and waited for our turn. The Yatai was typically small and like "western bar" concept. We got our seats next to another Jap couple - actually we were surrounded by locals, not much tourists.  The Jap couple besides us ordered Ramen and so did we. My wife spotted the couple drinking the soup in the bowl after they finished the noodles, and she followed suit. The soup was nice. We also ordered chicken satay (grilled chicken yakitori) besides the 明太子.  The yakitori tasted a bit different, a bit fatty and I just ate without thinking.  Later, my wife told me they were chicken skin! At least not chicken buttocks or chicken feet.  

The "lead actor" came - the 明太子 and it was made up of many many fish eggs. "Mentaiko" looked too "egg" for me. However, since the locals like it and we have ordered, have to go for it. My wife asked me she didn't know why many like to eat Mentaiko.  To me, it tasted a bit saltish. Fukuoka shops have different cans and packages for Mentaiko souvenirs as gifts.  Want some Mentaiko?

Yatai experiences were fun. It was a place where locals ate and drank. It felt like a open-air pub.  The bill was not cheap though, and I could sense from my wife that she preferred to dine elsewhere since the cost was similar to that in restaurant. 

Walking Fukuoka History Apr 14 - Beppu to Hakata

Waking up early to go to a very old traditional onsen in the neighbourhood near Beppu Guest House was one thing we did. We didn't bath in the GH (a small episode that I was locked insides the toilet, trying very very hard to unlock myself). There seems to be a "warning notice" about the lock in the shared toilet - all in Japanese words and I was without phone. Prayed and finally got out after a while. Thank God.

We googled our way to the onsen. It was really very traditional and locals went to onsen before they went to work. I bought a towel (not sure why they issued me a pink towel) and off we went in. The public bathroom usually hangs a blue cloth for gents and pink cloth for ladies. It was very hot and I saw a group of very old tanned uncles soaking in the bath. It looked very hot. For the moment, I looked fair compared to most of them - they were red due to the steamy bath. The pool was really small, like the baby pool in the swimming pool. Without delay, I went on my routine of public bath, bathing and soaking and bathing. HOT. Ouch. After about 20 mins plus, went out to look for my wife. We stayed for a while to cool down with tea. This is really a very traditional bathhouse. 

We had our cute chicken pie for breakfast and got on with our journey to the Beppu Train Station to Hakata. Beppu Town is the typical old town - peaceful and quiet and a place for relaxation. I like old quiet town.  

It was interesting that the trains arriving at Beppu sounding a very cute lullaby "Beppu Beppu Beppu....". For a while, I imitated the lullaby and gonna miss Beppu while anticipating what's would be in store for us in Hakata. 

Hakata - It took us about 2 hours+ to reach Hakata from Beppu, can't rem exactly. We checked in at our favourite Route Inn hotel and as they have specific check-in time, we went around Hakata shopping centre. There, my wife, started to measure her buy in terms of handkerchiefs. Yup, each handkerchief cost 500YEN. It is interesting how she likes japanese handkerchief. She can spend most of the time on them. Of cos, we dun forget the japanese umbrellas. I can't rem when she started collecting the handkerchiefs. At times, I wonder why we need so many handkerchiefs haha. 

We went for evening walk by taking the 100YEN bus. Hakata operates a 100YEN bus which brings u to places within city area. It's economical and saves walking time. We planned to go "Canal City" and we wanted to try local Yatai. Our first stop was a temple - looked quite old as well. There was a very gigantic display and my wife helped to pose in the photo to show the contrast.  I noticed that my wife got very interested in looking at the wishes the locals put on string. We saw them a few times and she was interested. I believe it is knowing and trying to understand the culture of the people in the country that we visit. 

We saw people (likely they knocked off from work) streaming slowly into the temple for prayers. One thing that I rem from visiting japanese temple is the sand that they put on the temple ground. Something different from the grounds when you visit other temples. 

Off we went off and walking through a long stretch of shopping arcades. Made me remember the ones in Hokkaido. I like to hold my wife's hand while we strolled down the arcades. She recently said we have been holding hands even after x years of marriage.