Otto's blog

After Kagoshima, I flew to Nagasaki (by propeller plane - my first time!). Of course we visited Glover House/Glover Park. The old, western-style houses there are very unusual for Japan, but actually, you can see many similar houses in my hometown of Brisbane in Australia. They are popular because they look very stylish and have character.
Our hotel was next to Chinatown, and from there it was a short walk to Dejima, where the Portuguese and Dutch traders used to live. The history of this area is very interesting! But I feel sorry for the Portuguese - they got kicked out for being Christian. How rude!
From there, we walked to the harbourside. There are lots of cafe-style restaurants here, with tables outside, so you can enjoy the fresh air and nice views - great! Such a comfortable place to eat & chat, or chat & eat even.
Nearby is the art museum, which was also a nice place. Well, the art was rubbish, but the building was nice. There`s also a big, grassy park beside it, and, while we were there, there was a visiting Navy - sorry; `Self Defence Forces of Japan` - ship. Luckily for us, it was open to the public at that time, so we could go on a free tour of it - cool!
In the evening I went drinking with my Japanese friend and his cousin, who live in Nagasaki.
I was really impressed with Nagasaki - it seems like a really pleasant place. They even have old-fashioned trams (streetcars)!
Have you ever been to Nagasaki? What did you think? Were you tempted to steal coins from the fountain at Glover House?

For Golden Week I went to Kagoshima, in Kyushu, to visit my wife`s mum`s hometown. It was up in the hills and pretty remote. There were lots of green fields, trees and mountains - very nice, scenic and natural. Unfortunately there were also a lot of snakes - I saw six in four days! Even though Australia has lots of dangerous snakes, I hardly ever see any, but I`ve seen quite a lot in Japan. If Australian snakes played hide-and-seek (kakurenbo) with Japanese snakes, I think Australian snakes would win.

After Kagoshima, we went to Nagasaki. I`ll tell you about it in my next blog!

Have you ever been to Kagoshima? If so, why? Do you have a snake fetish or something?

Hello. This is Otto from Teragoya`s Ichinomiya branch. Welcome to my first ever blog! I hope you`ll find something to interest you here. I will use English, but I will try to use pretty easy English so if you are Japanese or New Zealander, don`t worry - I`m sure you can understand! If you don`t, please send me a comment and I`ll try to help.
Also, you can send me a comment to answer questions that I include in my blog. If you want to practise communicating in English, this is your chance! Don`t worry about mistakes, just write what you think and enjoy thinking and writing in English. I`m looking forward to hearing your comments - really!
By the way, this photo is of Yuko, Nikko, Eriko, Rose and I celebrating Eriko`s birthday.
What kind of cake do you like? I like cakes with not many candles on top. Unfortunately I haven`t received one for a long time...