The Way: Capturing the perfect moment: Sunset & Night view on Mt. Inasa in Nagasaki

People gathered at the top of Mt. Inasa in Nagasaki to take in
one of the top three night views in the world.

So, we have arrived in Nagasaki; our final destination for the Dinosaur Zoo tour. I have been here before when I first visited Japan (about 15 years ago), and aside from remembering that it really reminded me of Hong Kong, I can't even recall what had brought me here or how I managed to get here. Just that I was here at some point.

In any event, being there were two things that I really really wanted to do: 1) was visit , the abandoned Island fortress where they filmed the end of 007: Skyfall. The other thing was to see Nagasaki's mountain top night view, which is in the top 3 in the world, (alongside Hong Kong and Monaco).

Tried to make the trip out to Gunkan during the day, but unfortunately the weather was quite disagreeable, continually oscillating between blue skies and downpour. For reasons unbeknownst to us, our boat actually left 5 min early, and we missed it... but then we found out that there were two other tours that tried to go, but couldn't actually land on the island. As such, alongside the folks I was going with, we decided that it wouldn't be worth the 4500yen ($45) it would cost to "try", and we decided to let it go.

When I visited Nagasaki about 15 years ago, all I remembered
was that it reminded me a lot of Hong Kong.

As for the night view, the weather was still a bit unpredictable, but it seemed to be holding, so I thought it was better to try than not, so I went off on my own. That was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I made it there while there was still plenty of daylight, so I got to see it during the day, take in the sunset from the top, and then see it at night. The weather was simply perfect, and I can't even begin to describe the sunset. The pictures just don't even remotely do it justice. The fact that I was there alone actually made it all the better because there was no one to talk to, and nothing to distrct from the moment. There were other people up there, but they weren't talking to me, so I could just put on my headphones, listen to my music of choice and fully, quietly and peacefully completely embrace the moment. On my facebook page not too long ago, I posted a TED talk about the difference between joy and happiness. For myself, this moment represented perfect joy.

The view did look like the more remote areas of Hong Kong, and it reminded me of when I used to live there, climb a different mountain every weekend, and sit at the top reading books by myself all day.

It also reminded me of this time when I was sailing around the world on Peaceboat we were in really rough waters. About half of the ship's 1000 passengers (myself included) where absolutely sick as dogs, and just laying all over the floor trying not to vomit. One of my friends (at this point, I don't even remember who), suggested that we go up to the top deck to film something, but I was so damn sick, I didn't want to move. Nor did I wanna get soaked. Finally, as watching the waves does actually alleviate seasickness I decided to heed his words, and the two of us went up to the top deck while everyone else stayed below. When we came out the door, the storm had stopped, and the world's most epic cumulus cloud ocean sunset was unveiling itself. What's more, unbeknownst to everyone else, we were in the middle of a Dolphin Superpod. There had to be at least 1,000 of them. Jumping, flipping, twisting and playing as far as the eye can see. There were even a few sea turtles swimming alongside the ship. Nothing in life has ever beat that, but this sunset was an easy #2. As my Taekwondo teacher from Korea used to say, even when the olds aren't in your favor, or it may not make sense to anyone else, "Trying is important."