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Published: February 12th 2010
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Welcome to Nagoya. After a 45 min train ride from Kyoto we planted our feet in Nagoya. Jill and Yuki have parted from us for 2 days while they visit some of Yukis family and relatives,so we'll meet up with them in Tokyo.And then there were 4. We found our hotel quite easily as its a 5 min walk from the train station. Our rooms weren't ready yet, and there wasn't really enough time to do anything we had planned on our agenda as they are farther out in the city,so we basically just walked around our area and explored a bit. And of course, in true Shannon fashion, found some very fabulous food. This will be another food blog, as thats pretty much all we did today. But before food, lets talk about the hotel room. Bonus of the hotel room? we each have our own room so thats great for me. We all know how much I love and crave personal space so me having a room to myself sounds fantastic. The reason why we have our own rooms is that,1. The rooms were really cheap and were only here 2 days so who cares, and 2. These are
the smallest god dam hotels rooms I have ever seen. I am pretty sure that this there are some walk in closets out there that would have more space. Theres really no where to put my luggage except on the floor by the door, but in order to open the door, it requires me to prop my luggage up. Not kidding. There is basically room for your bed,and yeah thats pretty much it. There is a small desk thats attached to the wall and as i write this i am sitting on my bed as that would be the bed/chair for the "desk" Oooo another combo that is also included is a shower/toilet. The tap for the sink and the shower are combined and the bathroom itself is very reminiscent of a train bathroom, or maybe a grey hound bus bathroom. All this being said, its really not that bad. For single travellers on a budget this is actually a great place to stay. Its cheap, great location and has everything you need. I think its almost pretty similar to a pod hotel, this could actually be a bit bigger. So I resigned myself to the fact that this was
a really small space, but enough for one person, and thats fine. It would actually be very cosy and sufficient for one person. Oh wait, theres a catch. My room became public meet and greet AND dinner table, so there is all 4 of us hanging out in 1 room. Hmmm plan foiled. And you really cant fit 4 people in here, but we did. Well so much for personal space haha!
So on to exploring a bit of Nagoya. Nagoya definitely has a younger, busier and maybe, dare i say a taste of edge? Across from Nagoya station there is a lot of pachinko slots, neon flashing lights, and upon further discovering, alot of shops that have very pretty naked girls advertising the good times inside. There is definitely more presence of a younger crowd, an indifferent generation, Maybe a youth that has embraced more north American culture then we witnessed in Kyoto. B Boys breaking beats and busting moves in the night outside the train station, a lot of Japanese business men dressed in suits that were prepared for work, but ready for a good time now, young guys hanging out at street corners, talking about
music and girls. Because of our agenda for tomorrow which would pretty much be our last day here, thats about all I will experience for Nagoya as a city itself, and I will have nothing to prove me wrong. I do feel though its enough to prepare me for Tokyo and big lights and buzzing energy.
So we asked around for the Nagoya specialty as in food, and our research has told us that chicken wings, white miso broth and pork katsu seem to be what Nagoya is known for. And it was really apparent when we started walking around that chicken wings is the thing here. Almost every place has its take on the wing, and even the local gift shop sells pre packaged vacum packed wings next to the souvenirs. (I really cant tell you how wrong, very very wrong that is that they sell chicken wings in sauce packaged like cookies. so disturbing) Bonnie and I took off on our own and found a goldmine for ramen soup. After all the looking in Kyoto, I know why they dont have it, because Nagoya has it all. In the train station there is like this underground hallway
that has about 6-8 different styles of ramen that is particular to a certain region in japan. We decided to go for the Nagoya ramen, and it was awsome. It may sound a bit strange how much I go into the specifics of food, but actually, the people reading this know me well enough to know that it would be weird if I didnt go on about it. So I continue..... On to my next great discovery. So while wandering looking for something else to occupy our time, we find ourselves at the Takashimaya department store which has a food floor in the bottom level. This place was insane. It was so crowded with people, and tons of glass cases on either side full of squid salad, katsu, dim sum, tofu and on and on. The japanese worker stand by thier food stations calling out to the crowd, selling thier wares( so to speak) beckoning people to buy at their counter. Bonus of not knowing japanses is that i can tune this out a bit because i have no idea what they're saying.And whats more is on the other side was full of deserts! crazy insane deserts! If only .................
so we had a little buffet of sorts back at the hotel,( in the comforts of my room of course) and I think i need to not eat tomorrow because i may still be full. Dam vacation food.
Heres an interesting side note, I have noticed that the cities here are extremely clean. But the hardest thing for me to find is garbage cans. Weird yes? Its actually an event now when we do see one. Do people just hold onto their garbage until they get home? Another thing, which is no surprise, but it is very common here for people to wear face masks. I would say 30% of people wear them. Super strange. I wonder if they do notice a decline in the amount of times they get sick, I know for myself if I got sick, I think I'd be pretty upset. You wear the thing everytime you step outside, looking like an idiot and still get sick? But im sure its probably to protect other people as well if they were sick to stop the spread. Mission Tomorrow, see a really big buddha. stay tuned.....
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