Huis ten Bosch

After all the events in Nagasaki, we all travelled to Huis ten Bosch on Sunday the 14th of October. The journey took approximately 90 minutes by train from Nagasaki. The train journey was enjoyable and a great chance to rest whilst taking in the scenery of Kyushu. Having lived in Holland for over 2 years, I was very interested to see how successfully Huis ten Bosch reproduced Dutch life and architecture. We stayed at the very impressive ANA Hotel, modelled on Central Station in Amsterdam. Nice rooms, good service, nice breakfast, and nice onsen.

If my memory serves me correctly, we arrived at the ANA Hotel mid afternoon. We all had coffee in the lounge and then headed to our rooms to get organised and relax. We had a nice big room with great views over Huis ten Bosch. I then headed to the onsen for a soak.

Around dusk, we walked to the main area of Huis ten Bosch in order to find a place to eat. There was a nice ambience to the place and the other tourists seemed to be enjoying themselves. I was very impressed at how authentic the buildings looked and was looking forward to a nice dinner.

We decided to eat outside at an Italian restaurant. There were plenty of tables and chairs to sit at. As there were 5 people in our group, and each table only had 4 chairs, we naturally asked if we could move an extra chair to our table. Unfortunately, the answer to the question was less than natural. It was in fact bizarre! They said "NO"! What? Why? Are you joking? I am still totally bemused by the response. I still cannot imagine why the answer was in the negative. Baffled. There was no shortage of tables and no shortage of chairs. The only real shortage that the restaurant may have faced was a shortage of customers. I can only come to the conclusion that they did not want our business. Tossers.

We therefore decided to eat at a steak restaurant. Although a little expensive (thanks Mum and Joep), the food was satisfying. However, Clara's dinner arrived over 20 minutes after the steaks. Everyone had finished whilst poor Clara was still waiting. The manager knew I was fuming and did not return after I had given him an icy stare and instructions to find out what was going on. I couldn't believe the standard of service. During my time in Japan, I cannot remember the last time I had cause for complaint. Then in the space of half an hour, it felt as if I was dining at Fawlty Towers.

"He seemed to view us as a colossal inconvenience right from the start." - Michael Palin.

Anyway, we all got fed (eventually) and I was enjoying myself despite the best efforts of people who work in the service industry, but have no desire to actually serve people.

After dinner, we walked around, chatted, and generally had a good time. One high point of the evening was the fireworks and laser display. Very impressive, if slightly short. Once back in the hotel, Clara was dispatched off to bed and I met my parents on the 12th floor for a couple of evening drinks. I stayed a little later, enjoying the views over Huis ten Bosch, and the peace and quiet of the empty bar.

The next day promised to be a busy one. Not only did we have to complete a full tour of Huis ten Bosch, but we had to return to Tokyo that evening. No rest for the wicked. We visited the majority of attractions and had a great time, despite continuing to experience very poor service. It was odd that the only place I have experienced awful service in Japan was in a Dutch theme park.After a great time in Nagasaki and Huis ten Bosch, we all returned to Tokyo with many great memories. Mum and Joep had a few more days to enjoy Tokyo and spent their time sightseeing or playing with Clara. I am sure they enjoyed their visit to Japan, and are sure to visit many more times in the future. Their return to Scotland marked the end of a busy 5 weeks and it was time for me to return to my normal routine in Tokyo.

A slideshow of some of the pictures from Nagasaki can be seen by clicking this link.