Nagasaki

Nagasaki was a little polarised. It was great and rubbish at the same time.

However it did contain the Australian Mick Johnno. More on Bill later.

The Hostel...

...was crap.

It had all the basic functions but the problem was that it was also a family home. The common room was their living room. The computer, slow as hell by the way, was their computer. In fact everything about it was bloody weird. When we first entered she tried charging us 500Yen (about 3.50 GBP) for a service charge. we are both to northern to mess with that none sense. We argued over the price and then paid what we thought was reasonable.

IN this hostel we were sent to bed at 11. You had an hour from 10 to be in the common room, whilst she watched Japanese versions of 10 Years Younger and X-Factor. BY the way if you aren't back for 10 you are locked out.

The Lack of hostel choice in Japan means that you have to succumb to their stupid bloody demands. After we were sent to bed, her husband threw two girls we had been talking to out of our room. Considering I'm 21 and Steve's 27 you think he could have trusted us not to commit mass rape, but apparently not.

When I woke up I was treated to about 10 mosquito bites on my legs, the window was shut so I'm assuming bed bugs, and a massive collection of blue stains all over my body. I had them like Cathy Shutt's birth marks (for those of you that know who I mean), all over me. My bright blue foot was my favorite. The photographed this as proof to show the world of the horror I was enduring.

More on this delightful place later.

In the morning me and Steve dragged ourselves up nice and early. The aim was to go to Battleship Island (I forget what its called in Japanese). Battleship island is where they filmed the movie Battle Royal II. It was once the most densely populated place on. However when the Coalmine, that was being operated by Japanese and Korean slaves ran dry in the 1970's the island was abandoned. It got its name from the fact that the entire island is built up like a battleship. 5000 people used to live on this tiny place. It also has Japan's first tower block on it, to give you an idea of the architecture. When it was abandoned however typhoons ripped it to peaces, making it look like something out of Mad Max or the surface in The Matrix.

The weather was too bad. The boat wouldn't run. I wasn't allowed to go.

Shitty Shitty Shit.

It was one of my main reasons for coming to Japan.

Attempt at picture upload from the web:











That worked fairly well, expect more Google images in the future, my own pictures may be a little awkward to upload, I will try my best.

Football!

To sooth me and Steve's loss we went to find the Atomic Bomb Museum. This wasn't to directly sooth us you understand, we aren't evil. It was what happened there however that did sooth us.

Steve engaged with some kids playing Football Tennis outside the Nagasaki training stadium (stuck onto the actual stadium). They were all about 11-12 apart from one kid who was like 16 and evidently looking after them.

We played football tennis with them, two on two, and were relatively effective.

I decided to up the stakes. Me and Steve convinced them to take us onto their training pitch to have a game of fives. This was absolutely one of the best things we have and will ever do in Japan.

The game was good, the kids skillful, adoptions of 'two touch' or 'next three is the winner' rules were adopted almost wordlessly, as if there is a purely football way of communication that only those engaged in a game of football can understand.

England Vs Scotland, with Japanese help.

England was losing until 'next three is the winner' when we convincingly crushed Scotland 3-1. The result was disputed however and we decided to decide it with penalties. Its OK sports fans. England won those too.

The pitch was essentially wet gravel and my shoes were destroyed. Only just recovered them in fact, a week later. Steve played barefoot. Glaswegian Ghetto style.

Best time ever.

More Nagasaki to come...