TTT2019: Day 10--Nagasaki

Nagasaki is not your normal Japan city.  From the 16th through 19th centuries, there was a lot of Portuguese and Dutch influence.  Then of course, this was the unfortunate city that was not covered by ground haze and smoke and steam when Bockscar, the B-29 Superfortress carrying Fat Man, a Plutonium Bomb, skipped Kokura, the primary target, and found Nagasaki to be clouded over, except for tiny hole, which was enough to drop the last Atomic Bomb exploded over a city, and ironically right above Urakami Cathedral, a Catholic church.  A double irony, was that Nagasaki was cloudy  at 11:12 AM on 9 August 1945.  It was not all a comedy of errors, as the drop was close enough to Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works, and six days later, Japan surrendered.

The population of Nagasaki was 263,000 just before the bomb exploded.  An estimated 39,000 were killed and 25,000 injured.  Today, the population is 426,000.

This is the city Kublai Khan tried to invade, twice, and failed, because of two typhoons, Kamikaze (divine wind). So from two successes, to total disaster to a now laid-back city where the Suica card still can't be used for their streetcars.

So off we headed from Fukuoka in this train:

The cherry blossoms were still not at peak, although there were several beautiful spots:

There were also forsythia bushes and tea farms:

Nagasaki is where the tokatsu is heavenly.  We were sent to streetcar stops away to Inaba in the Youmetown Mall in Ohato.  There was a waiting line, which was a bit worrisome, as we did not have much time to dally:

We settled on the 1420 Yen meal because, although smaller in amount, the pork was supposedly more tender.

By far, this is the best tonkatsu (pork cutlet) we have ever had.  I still wonder why Eddie Flores of L&L BBQ has not yet copied this dish.

Then, on to the Nagasaki Peace Park:

At the Peace Fountain, Mystery Lady recognized Jordan Kondo as an individual who recently won a Fullbright Scholarship to study at Ryukyu University.  Then some outdoor artworks:

That's the iconic Peace Statue in the background to the right.  Turning the corner, I ran into my Blue-Bar Pigeon:

There are similarities with Hiroshima:

Like in Hiroshima, the cherry blossoms were spotty.  However at the Atomic Bomb Epicenter, over which Fat Man exploded, the Sakura was at near-peak:

We were running out of time before our return train departed, so we skipped the Nagasaki Peak Museum:

The train ride back:

That white line is road lined with cherry blossom trees.

Back at Hakata Station, Mystery lady bought a Japanese Wagyu Beef bento, while I settled for sashimi and soba:

Tomorrow, on to Nagoya.

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TTT2019: Day 9--Fukuoka

Goodbye Seagaia Resort:

The train from Miyazaki took us to Kagoshima-Chuo to catch the Sakura Shinkansen.  However, just outside of Kagoshima is Sakurajima, and ash is today dropping over the city, less than 8 miles away.  This is the most active volcano in Japan:

My Sakura shinkansen lunch of teriyaki pork:

One thing I learned just on this trip.  You can ask the bento store to microwave your meal.  Thus, my recent bentos have been a lot tastier. because temperature is an important factor.  

While the volume of cherry blossoms was less than the Oita to Miyazaki portion of our trip, there were signs that Fukuoka could well be at peak.  Hakata Station is in the middle of Fukuoka City, and we are staying at the Hotel Nikko Fukuoka, a short walk to the station:

While peak might yet not have been attained, several sites close to our hotel were worthy of a few photos.  First, Tochoji Temple:

Kushida Shrine:

Reisen Park:

I might mention, that as off the charts Miyazaki is with respect to world-renowned cuisine, there are no tours to those wagyu beef, caviar and mango sites.  There is no restaurant noted for serving these offerings.  So the Nikko concierge, who recommended Yakiniku Champion, in Hakata Station.

Unfortunately, that was a Korean restaurant, so we asked our server, is there a nearby restaurant that served wagyu beef steaks?  Nope.  Well, what about cold soba?  Nope.  Well...we settled on ramen.  So he not only told us where, but walked us way out of the way to Ippudo.  This was the best meal I've had since I arrived in Japan a week ago:

Tomorrow....Nagasaki.

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TTT2019: Day 8--Miyazaki

Had nine hours of sleep last night and took a photo from our room of our first stop, Florente Miyazaki, which is about a ten minute walk to the left:

I might add that there are 45 stories with 743 rooms.  the 36th floor Club Lounge is above average, with something going on all day, including a very generous cocktail time with appetizers from 5-8PM, followed by "only" drinks until 10PM.  

Florante Miyazaki is a botanical garden that changes with the season.  Now, tulips.

Above photo shows the Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort.  Next, on to the dainty Miyazaki City Phoenix Zoo, where a lot of cherry trees were in bloom:

My free dinner in the Executive Lounge:

Next, on to Fukuoka, where I was last year at the Kyushu University hydrogen summit.

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