Nagasakiii

Yes yes I am hooomeee :D!!! That's how it felt anyway when we arrived in Nagasaki yesterday. God I love this place. Anyway, before that, we did quite a lot of travelling in and around Osaka, let me (quickly) tell you about that.

First of all, I love taking the train to all the random places, we've seen a LOT of very beautiful Japanese country side, really amazing views from those little commuter trains!!

Sooo... what did we do after Nara... oh yes, Ninja museum! Ff-ing AWESOME hahaha. It's in the middle of nowhere and it's basically what looks like a farmer's house but has all these hidden passages and secret revolving doors and places to stash weapens and stuff. A female ninja showed us all the tricks, really very clever!! Afterwards there was a ninja show by the men where they demonstrated various ninjutsu moves accompanied by funny dialogue and hilareous sound effects. Of course I filmed part of it, which I will try to upload when I am back in Holland ;)

Next up was Koya-san I guess, which is sooo beautiful!! Koya-san is a mountain (range) in Wakayama prefecture. It took us a while to get there, first by train and then this creepy cable car thing, but it was totally worth it! We first had a look at the temple complex there with this amazing pagoda that has a really beautiful interior (of course no photos allowed...) and then we headed towards this path flanked by gravestones as far as the eye could see. All in different shapes and sizes, various ones sponsored by Nissan, Panasonic (bit weird if you ask me). The path led to this mausoleum which was a bit creepy, dark with lots and lots of low hanging lanterns and a mizuko-kuuyo pyramid. That freaked me out. Anyway, the pictures speak for themselves I think!

Another trip we did (yes, we were very touristy in Osaka) was Himeji, one of the more famous castles in Japan. We met up with Patricia and Felix there and toured the castle (it was so hot, we have left DNA in the form of sweat all around the castle, I swear) and had a wander around a couple of Japanese gardens. Unfortunately they weren't very impressive if you ask me, wrong season. So basically just a bit of green. yay. Anyway, it was fun to hang out with Pato and Felix but eventually it was time to go home!

Our final day in Osaka was more relaxing. We slept in, and then headed to Shinsaibashi to the shopping street, where I didn't buy pink all stars. Thought about going back for them and then forgot about it. Maybe I'll find them here in Nagasaki, because... that's where I am now!! whaaa!!!

After dropping our stuff off at the hostel (the owners are superr nice!! Nana and Shingo. And they have a cute little kitten!! She doesn't have a name yet but she was so funny, she kept attacking my pen while I was trying to fill in the forms :p And speaking of cute baby animals...

After meeting up with Yuki and Ando and having cheap kaiten-zushi we headed to Sachi's!! Nanase was asleep unfortunately but Nono was awake enough to fart and sneeze in my face. What a pleasant child. BUT! What I wanted to tell you is that Sachi has bought a little Dachshund puppy!! Or so I've been told. I haven't actually seen it but oh my goodd!!! :D

Alright, will keep you posted on my fun times in Nagasaki!!

Loooveeeee xxx

Pictures:

Gion Matsuri Kyoto













Nara:





Ninja Museum!





Koya:





Himeji: