Day Twelve: Nagoya

Nagoya, Japan's forth largest city (known for its focus on commerce), loomed ahead of us after 50 minutes of travelling. Inside of the Shinkansen we were oblivious to the rain as the train sped past the skyscrapers and highways of Nagoya. As we stepped out of Nagoya station (itself a massive skyscaper), my stomach spasmed, probably reacting to having a Calorie-Mate block (essentially a meal in a box) for breakfast. Calorie-mate didn't seem too bad when I ate it: it was essentially just four 100kcal biscuits but my stomach seemed to disagree.

Walking away the station, we spent sometime getting our bearings before retreating into a nearby subway entrance because of the rain. We decided on heading to the nearby Midland Square development, a brand new complex filled with shops, offices and restaurants.

We headed up to the top floor of Midland Square, to have lunch at one of several “sky” restaurants present in the skyscraper. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant, which, much to Simon's disappointment, cooked all their dishes in peanut oil. With lunch service about to end, we heading down the lower part of the complex for lunch at a faux-Italian pizza place, which served surprisingly good pizzas.

After lunch, the rain cleared up, so we visited Nagoya Castle: the ancestral home of the Tokugawa shoguns. The current castle is ferro-concrete reconstruction of the original (which was destroyed in the second world war) but this didn't stop it from being a marvel to gaze upon. Part of me, deep down, prefers Japanese castle design to its European equivalent. It's probably because the emphasis Japanese castle design places on symmetry and grandeur (European castles are far more utilitarian in their design), which creates breath-taking castles, such as Nagoya.

Escaping the castle, we bumped into some Sumo (in training), who we diligently stalked: in order to get pictures of them (obviously). We lost them on the subway and ended up heading to Sakae, the city's entertainment and shopping district.

We visited two malls that afternoon: the other-worldly Oasis 21 and the comparatively dour Sunshine Sakae (which had its own ferris wheel). None of us bought anything, mostly because the clothes on offer seemed to be designed more for women than for men (and the fact that every shop assistant had exactly the same haircut). We also saw Nagoya TV Tower:an elegant silver tower that was dwarfed by Nagoya's other skyscrapers. Bemused by the city, we set off (but not before trying to find the Nagoya Robot Museum, which seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth).

We took the Kodoma (the slowest Shinkansen) back to Kyoto, as we missed the Hikari. Thankfully, it wasn't raining when we reached Kyoto, though Riddhi was no where to be seen, which was slightly worrying (he said he'd be back before we visited Nagoya) We headed off to dinner at a Tempura place in Porta, the underground shopping centre mentioned previously, and then went hunting for some fruit, which was supprisingly difficult to get hold off in Japan.

The night ended with us watching J- dramas, which were hilariously bad. We couldn't even watch Vampire Love, the most popular J-drama in Japan, without laughing our heads off. Eventually, it all proved too much for me. Feeling exhausted at around 1:00AM, I crashed in the spare bed in Riddhi's room, wearing a yukata (a light cotton robe).

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Part of trip: Japan

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