Kinyoubi mitemawaru (Looking around on Friday)

So, thanks to this stuff:

I actually feel pretty good, I don't know what it is, but it was in the "kaze" (cold, though kaze means 'wind') section. Japanese stores are great because there are funny illustrations for everything, so when I saw medicine under drawings of people with sore throats, headaches, and runny noses I knew what I was getting even if I don't know brands here. Of course it helped that I knew the word for medicine and saw that this store carried some. It works great and is less expensive than anything we have in America, I could have gotten it for even less if I had my national insurance card, but that comes week after next. Either way I wanted to share some of the fascinating things I found today exploring Nagasaki since this was the first day I really had time to look around.
First off I finally found out what this is for:

I've seen this running on nearly every sidewalk I've seen since I've been in Nagasaki, these tiles are to guide the blind. There are bumps when you get to cross walks and like most crosswalks in America there is a sound to indicate when to cross (in Japan it is a chirping sound).
Anyway, orientation ended at 2:30 today and I was so happy to finally have a chance to explore, it has been murder being in this beautiful city and being so worn out that I just don't want to do anything but sleep when I get home, I know things will be better now, but I hated orientation, loved what I learned, not how I learned it though, but what are you going to do? Kirk's host father actually saw my housemate and I starting to walk down the hill and offered us a ride, which was very kind of him, I thanked him repeatedly. So instead of a 45 minute walk down the hill to Sumiyoshi station it took about 5 minutes. the first thing I did, nay demanded, was that I was going to look for takoyaki (Octopus Dumplings). I found a little shop that was very baseball oriented and seemed to favor the Hanshin Tigers (Osaka's baseball team, and my host Father's favorite incidentally), there was a game on when I came in against the Tokyo Giants, who are their biggest rivals. The cool thing about this place though was that I got to make the takoyaki myself, there are grills on the table so you can make your own. The host comes and throws in some octopus bits, fish flakes, some kind of vegetable roughage, and then pours the batter. They give you something like a think ice pick to manipulate the takoyaki as it cooks. Fortunately, the host helped me out, but didn't do it all for me, and left once she was fairly confident that I knew what I was doing. I was amazed at how good they came out and how simple they were to make, I was pretty happy.

After takoyaki we (my roommate Daniel and I) wandered around Sumiyoshi for a little bit and stumbled onto Sumiyoshi Shrine. I still don't know a lot about these places, but I've found taking pictures and asking questions at home helps. So here is what I saw:

 This was the main gate and stairs leading up to the Shrine.

 This is for washing your hands before you do anything else.

 This is how you tell when something is sacred in Japan, whether it is a rock or tree there is always a rope around it with sutras.

 The main shrine/altar

 I don't know where that other gate leads, we weren't sure if we were allowed back there and when it comes to religious structures I believe in being cautiously respectful.

 These bells are used in offering petitions, though the correct usage is unknown to me presently.

 The altar

 We thought this sign was a prohibition to going up to the altar, but it actually just says to remove your shoes if you go up.

 Guardian dog, people had laid 1 and 10 yen coins at the feet of both dogs, I don't understand why though, and haven't had a chance to ask.

This was the view from the top of the steps as we were leaving.

After leaving Sumiyoshi we got on the train and rode it down to the Morimachi (Mori street) station and the Cocowalk mall. This place was huge and has a Ferris Wheel (kanransha) on the 5th floor and a movie theater on the 6th floor. We also found a Japanese arcade, these have survived very well in Japan and are actually filled with kids from school in the afternoon, unlike America where kids just stay at home and play games on their personal game systems.

 I couldn't resist.

 More on the adult side of the arcade you can bet on horse races and watch the race as the little figures move in a decently animated fashion.

 A series of pictures taken from the Ferris wheel at the Cocowalk mall

 I took this one for the sole purpose of freaking out my mother who hates heights.

 This thing was weird, you put in 100 yen and put your hand in it's mouth, it then reads your palm and gives you a fortune, I didn't try it, $1.25 is a little much to me for something that frivolous.

And here I found a mural for the Nagasaki Kunchi, specifically the dragon dance, that I will get to see October 7th-9th. If you want to know more about it you can check out the brief wiki article here:
http://en.wikipediaKunchi
And if you just want to reference the dragon dance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Dance