Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎縣)

Before we reached Holland Village the journey was a very long one. We had to cross two prefectural boundaries: Kumamoto to Saga & Saga to Nagasaki. Mind you...it's so Dutch you'll have the feeling that you're actually in the Netherlands! As we entered the first item which caught our attention was a large, wooden ancient sailing ship mounted on the dock. We boarded the ship only to find all sorts of interesting navigation tools and other pieces of utensils. I took an interesting picture of the mast on board. Holland Village is not a village at all, but a fun land for kids. There is a small amusement park on site which is characterised by a windmill acting as a Ferris wheel. We didn't take a ride on the windmill but instead explored a number of mazes including the mirror maze. The mirror maze was quite a challenge. Multiple images of yourself reflected by the almost randomly arrayed mirrors made it particularly difficult to find the way out. Time was running short so we quickly boarded the ferry for Huis Ten Bosch. The ferry journey was a long 40-minute ride. While on the the ferry I took a picture of the beautiful scenery. Holland Village is nothing short of a beautiful, tranquil & heavenly resort. But mind you...the Japanese language still rules there. Even if you can speak Dutch it doesn't work there!

HUIS TEN BOSCH

Huis Ten Bosch (Dutch for House in the Woods) is a fairytale wonderland designed to fulfil almost every fantasy one could ever dream of. It can be seen as a Dutch town built beside canals. Museums of all sorts are seen everywhere. One of the more notable ones is the Ornamental Glass Museum. Musica Fantasia is a display of a myriad of antique musical instruments and curious music boxes. The most notable items are the punched paper rolls for specially designed pianos, organs and even violins. We listened to a mini-concert which was fully automated by the punched rolls. Very interesting, although the music sounded dry and clinical. Carillon Symphonica is a museum of more than 300 bells and chimes from ancient China, medieval Europe, Asia and Africa. The 9-metre tower of chime combination is the most spectacular item. Numerous souvenir shops, markets, shopping arcades, statues, fountains and other monuments are scattered all over the site. It takes at least 2 days to make a complete tour round this truly amazing complex. It even has its own shuttle service! Take a glimpse of me at the Main Entrance.

Accommodation is available in three magnificent hotels and a Forest Villa comprising a total of 865 rooms. The hotel where we stayed was Hotel Den Haag. The room was not significantly more spacious than most of our previous ones but it had a majestic feel.

DINNER BUFFET & NIGHT SHOWS We had a gorgeous but pricey buffet for dinner in Hotel Amsterdam. The steak served there was so tender and juicy we couldn't resist having more. The fruit, however, caught most of our attention. The Kyoho grapes, the cherry tomatoes and the ruby grapefruits were among our favourite items throughout the buffet. Another interesting item was a big pot of cold, thick pumpkin soup with a golden yellow lustre strongly appealing to both the eyes and the taste buds.

After dinner it's about time for some night show. We watched the Canal Fantasia which was a fun parade of hovering ferries. The night show was concluded with the Sound Galaxy, a spectacular laser show. After a brief night excursion and some souvenir shopping we were exhausted. It was time for us to return to the hotel.

The next morning was breakfast followed by a direct journey crossing the Nagasaki-Saga & the Saga-Fukuoka boundaries to downtown Fukuoka.