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.