Nagoya Aquarium

Since I had been foiled by an early close on Saturday, I made it a point to go to Nagoya Aquarium on Sunday. Sadly, I hadn't counted on one thing...



Large cultural attractions, at 2:00 Sunday Afternoon are filled with screaming children.

ooops.



Now, thats not to say I didn't enjoy it. The fish are awesome, and I had fun trying to get good pictures. But the sheer size of the crowd was pretty mind-boggling, and about half way through I got really antsy, and pretty much just jetted for the exit.



Well, that was two lessons learned. Make sure you go to attractions before they close, and don't go on Sunday afternoon.

The Bright Lights of Sakae: The Sequel

Almost everything worth doing in Nagoya, especially at night, is in Sakae. I had two goals of my own this night, taking some pictures of Oasis 21 and the TV Tower with my beautiful Nikon, and eating some tebasaki (awesome teriyaki chicken wings).



Being major Nagoya landmarks, the TV Tower and Oasis 21 were pretty easy to find and photograph. I didn't take too much time, as I've already got plenty of pictures of this part of Japan. A few reprises with my new, better tools were all that was required. Then a quick stop downstairs for some Jamocha Almond Fudge from Baskin Robbins. Yes they have Baskin Robbins in Japan, only here they just call it 31.



The tebasaki proved to be a little bit more difficult to obtain. As long time readers will know I frequent a Nagoya chain called Yamachan that centers around providing chicken of all types. Chicken sashimi, chicken skin, chicken cartilage, and even a few things that I might want to eat, like chicken wings. There are literally dozens of Yamachan restaurants scattered around the Sakae and Fushimi area of Nagoya. Dozens. Yet Liz and I walked for a good 30-40 minutes, circling the center of Sakae and finding NOTHING. Of course if we hadn't been looking than we would have seen about 10 of the places. *sigh*. My GPS (Grant Positioning System) has been getting wonky lately, I suppose I need to see about getting it serviced. We ended up in Kanayama, over in my old neighborhood, and finally found the cluster of three restaurants on the same corner. Why you need three all right there, I'm not quite sure, but it was great for us. Tebasaki, Takoyaki Gyoza (gyoza filling in takoyaki dough, minus the octopus) and more made the long search more than worth it. Liz was actually pretty happy to have discovered the delicious new restaurant.

Nagoyako

Rather than continue on to Nagoya, I decided to take a quick side trip to Italy. I mean, Japan is great, but Italy, now that is one awesome country!



Let me back up. I got back on the train to at Maibara, but that far down the line from Kanazawa it was standing room only. Luckily, I got to stand next to a man who'd, at 1 in the afternoon, obviously been consuming more than his fair share of Asahi Super Dry. I saw him stagger down the hall to the snack cart, buy another can, and then stagger back to his spot. Yikes.



I met up with Liz (couchsurfer) at Nagoya station, and we decided to go to the port area for some tacos and to see the aquarium. It had been over a year since I'd been to Nagoyako, so I was looking forward to the trip. The redeveloped area is kind of silly, but I have to admit they've done a pretty good job. Of course, Osaka's port area is a little better, but I won't hold that against Nagoya!



The taco's were pretty good, but I was really eager to see the aquarium. Unfortunately, like everything else in Japan, the fish closed early. Yup, 5:00 PM, Saturday evening, was closing time. Now, I know that it was February, and not exactly peak season, but honestly, 5:00?!?!? On Saturday?!?!? That just boggles my mind. So with time on our hands we walked over to the Italian village, where you could cram an entire Italian vacation into about 30 overpriced minutes. We just wandered the streets and had a good time laughing about how it was all so real, yet so fake.



A trip up the ferris wheel also helped to quell my pangs of sorrow at the shuttered aquarium. The sunset, and the panoramic view of Nagoya was amazing.



It was a pretty windy day though, and while the car was very stable, it wasn't entirely stable. There was a bit of rocking back and forth, and the noise was actually quite loud. Poor Liz wasn't very fond of heights, and the racket and movement rather unnerved her. The glorious view helped make the experience worthwhile though!



It's been said before, but I'll say it again, Nagoya is a great city to live in, with lots to do and see. But as a tourist destination, it leaves a bit to be desired. Osaka does everything Nagoya does, but better. Well except for chicken wings, Nagoya has better chicken wings!

Nagoya and Hikone in HDR

While I'll have a full update on my weekend in Nagoya next week, here is a collection of HDR images I took in and around Nagoya. First up is a view of the sunset from the big Ferris Wheel in the Nagoya Port. Followed with my favorite photographic subject, the Nagoya TV Tower, and Oasis 21!








The next few are all from Hikone, a small city on Lake Biwa, near Maibara. For those who have never taken the train from Nagoya to Kanazawa, Maibara is a major JR junction about an hour from Nagoya (two hours from Kanazawa) that links the Hokuriku (My part of Japan) bound trains with the Shinkansen and the rest of JR. Maibara is notable over other stops because the train pulls in and the pulls out in the opposite direction so as soon as it stops everybody jumps up and turns their seat around. This can be very disconcerting the first time you see it happen.

Delicious Dinner of Distinction

Sunday night we met up with Yukari and the rest of The Sakae Gang (TM) for dinner and art. First we took in the delicate beauty of Yukari's pressed flower art. She had not only dried and pressed a wide variety of beautiful and delicate flowers, but had also arranged them into art, using flowers as the medium. So to make a castle, for example, she used white and red leaves for walls and roofs. Some pieces were miniature fields of flowers, some landscapes, some just beautiful displays of floral art. It was all very cool, and certainly a new experience for me.

After that we headed next door (literally, it was in the same hotel) to a very traditional Japanese restaurant with the works, tatami flooring, sliding paper doors, a waitress in Kimono, and personalized menus! The food was amazing, both visually and gustatorially. We had 8 small courses, covering about every facet of Japanese cuisine.


We started with Haruku Tofu, a pinkish tofu with a very delicate flavor. This course aos had a lilly bulb, and a veggie translated as Bracken, but I doubt thats correct! Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of this dish.

Next on the Menu was Shiitake Bud soup with clam and pressed kelp. It was light and flavorful, and quite tasty.


Then we had the sashimi course, with flatfish, tuna (of course!) and small fish.



Following that was a baked course with trout and beef with a long sliver of very hot ginger. Hmm hmm good, I do loves me that ginger!



We then had a steamed course with bamboo shoots, cherry blossoms, Canola flowers and sticky flavored rice.



Next up was tempura with Smelt, and flowers.



Then we cleansed our palate with steamed white rice, pickles, and red miso with clams.

Dessert was strawberries with grapefruit with some green tea.

For drinks we got a very nice bottle of cold Sake. It was wonderful, a truly excellent vintage from Nigaata (I think.)

Well there we go, our wonderous dinner!

And here is the group.



and the waitress.



Oh, and today makes 6 months. Wow, how time flys. 6 months already. YIKES!

Very Old Friends

With eager anticipation to meet up with my very first visitor, I started off early Saturday morning. With missing the right bus, and getting on another that was only half right (it did go to the station, but took its sweet time getting there) I missed the 7:30 train to Nagoya by about 5 minutes. Leaving of course a whole hour to kill around the station. I walked around, checked out a few temples nearby. There was a truck driving around with a loudspeaker saying something (loudly) in Japanese. Remember, this is BEFORE 8 in the morning on Saturday. This would not stand in America. The driver would be dead before 7:15!

Once safely ensconced in the direct Shirasagi #4 to Nagoya, I curled up with Bill Bryson's book Down Under. I must say he is one hilarious travel writer. Good stuff indeed, he made the almost 3 hour train ride quite bearable. Of course I can hardly complain about that little train ride, when poor Matt had left for the Airport about the same time as I had gotten home and gone to bed the night before! Yikes.

I had a pleasent Italian lunch with my old co-worker Eiko. (I learned that I have lost my proper fork certifications, and am not qualified to use that utensel anymore. I couldn't pick up a slice of proscutto with a fork. I wished I could use chopsticks. I think I need to leave Japan. Now.)

Then it was time to head to Central Japan International Airport! The excitement was too much for me, so I fell asleep on the train for about 20 minutes! (I think that was the glass of red wine talking. Red wine at lunch, even a single glass, knocks me out.)

Matt was pretty happy to see me, had this crazy "I'm in Japan!!!!" grin on his face. I am pretty familiar with that grin myself. We went down to Sakae and found a hotel, and I showed him around the TV tower and Oasis 21. We then met up with Jared and Johanna and went to a pretty good izakaya. I had Mochi Pizza, which was a bit strange but quite good. Matt tried Yakisoba for the first time. A good time was had by all, and we parted ways before the last train.

The next day was a whirlwind tour of Nagoya. The Castle, Osu, up to the top of the TV tower, everywhere that it took me four months to see! I finally bought my camera that I've been lusting after for 6 months. (20k yen cheaper than I'd ever seen it, comparable to the Amazon price I was going to use, and came with a free tripod!)

And then it was time for Dinner, and what a dinner it was. But dinner will have to wait for another entry...



Kanazawa station.



Matt in front of my favorite photographic subject.



Snazzy izakaya.



Matt at the castle.



An angry deer at Nagoya Castle.



proto-elvis dance off. Japan is weird!

Farewell Nagoya

Tomorrow morning I leave for Kanazawa. I'll admit that I'm still rather in shock about the whole thing. My adventures in Osaka really drove home all the reasons that I like Nagoya. It is a nice city, big without being too big, exciting without being too exciting. Fun, livable, lively, interesting, underlooked, underappreciated, all of those describe Nagoya. It may not be as famous as Tokyo, or Kyoto, or even Takayama, but Nagoya does have some charms of its own. It has been my home for these past four months, and I have come to realise that I will indeed miss it. My little shoebox really has become Home. Who would have thought that?

The night before I left for Osaka, I convinced Johanna to head out to Sakae to see the city from the top of the TV Tower at night. Neither of us had been to the top at night, and it seemed like a good way to say goodbye, both to a good friend, and the city. The view was amazing, even if the top observation deck was rather chilly! We chatted, primarily about how amazing and rather surreal life is right now. How the last 4-6 months have passed in a blinking blur, and yet the time we spent in training in early September seems so long ago. It is so strange, June was yesterday, yet September was 10 years ago. I suppose life is like that sometimes, but my situation seems to have enhanced the effect.

Despite having spent two days in close company, Jared and I headed to Sakae one final time for a quick bite to eat to break up the time I've spent packing like a madman. We hit up an Australian bar, as I felt like a burger, not Japanese food. The burger was servicable, but the beef was... strange. All it really did was make me miss Dad's burgers. Now that was a wonderful burger. *sigh* Well at least the company was good, if a bit exhausted. Then we said goodbye, and thats it. Life continues on, and I head over the horizon, to see what lies on the western shore.

Exits Stage Left.




A nice view of the TV Tower and Oasis 21. I've taken a lot of pictures of the two, in all different weather, but they really are photogenic landmarks! Especially at night. And really, the new paint job on the TV tower looks nice.





I like this shot. Really it looks kind of like some science fiction film, maybe Blade Runner.



I sent a postcard or two with a similar (better) shot to this. But I had to take a crack at it and add my own spin to the scene. I like it, that whole area is nice, but there has never been much cause to go North of the Tower like this.



Jingu Nishi subway station. My gateway to greater Nagoya. Goodbye Meijo Line, and goodbye Nagoya.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

So I checked online this morning, and the quake yesterday was magnitude 4.7. Enough to rattle your teeth a bit, but no lasting damage. Let us hope they stay that way!

Its been a rough week so far, I'm saying goodbye to everybody I know, again. I also wrote varous Christmas letters and postcards, and actually thinking about all the people I was writing too, well it made me miss em. So there has been a lot of good byes, and ruminating on other good byes. But.. As I was walking home through the snow this evening listening to Christmas carols, it really hit me just how beautiful and magical it was to be alive, and here, at that moment in time. It was a nice feeling, and rather bolstered my spirits. Sadness at parting is not bad, but one must remember that there are new horizons and new opportunities coming. Oh and look for an entry detailing some of the 'usual suspects' sometime soon.

Speaking of the snow, it snowed all day today, and is forecast to keep it up through Saturday at least. So it looks like we may have a White Christmas around these parts. Like I mentioned earlier, Aichi is not the snow capital of Japan, and in fact they really aren't used to this much of the fluffy white stuff. This means that a few flakes hit the ground and blammo the train schedules are shot, traffic gets insane, the whole ball of wax. I saw a taxi with chains on this morning. There was like 1/16th of an inch of snow, and he's sporting heavy duty chains! Sheesh. Of course I can't fault him too much, its all they have, nobody around here has snow tires, they never need them. Well they need them this week.

This morning was chilly. I sorta hadn't paid my gas bill in... a while (read, since I've been here) so they kinda cut off the gas. Now my heating is all electric so that was fine, I've paid that bill. But my hot water on the other hand. Whoops. I sorta thought I was only getting the one bill a month, cause you know its all blue envelopes and Kanji, it pretty much all looks the same to me. Well I've learned my lesson. I obviously didn't take a shower, hypothermia first thing in the morning doesn't appeal, but I still chilled down even just cleaning my face and such. Well the bill is paid and its back on tonight, phew. Hot bath time!





What I woke up to this morning.



My train pulling into Okazaki Station, 15 minutes late! Luckily, I too was 15 minutes late, so it worked out ok.



One of the Meitetsu Super Limited Express trains.



Snowball fight!



Walkin home through the neighborhood

Shake it up baby now.

So this past evening I was sitting at my computer listening to Christmas Carols (thanks Liz) and doing what I do best, surf the boundless bounty of the internet! I just ate some heat 'n serve beef curry on microwavable rice, and was sipping some of Grants Heartstoppingly Decadent Hot Cocoa, and a suddenly a huge truck goes by. At least thats what I thought... until I realized that I couldn't actually hear any trucks. And that my that isn't how the apt. rumbles when a truck goes by, its more like things are moving kinda back and forthish. Oh yeah, huh, this is an earthquake! It was actually a very frightening realization. I waited for it to keep going, and or get worse, but luckily it died down after a few seconds and all was well. Quite mild, I'm sure the locals hardly noticed it, but I sure did. I've decided I like my earth staying quite still, thank you Very Much.

Recipe for:
Grants Heartstoppingly Decadent Hot Cocoa

Start with whole milk, and standard Mix, Swiss Miss is fine if you don't have anything better.

Make the hot cocoa as normal, but leave some room in the Mug.

Add a splash (or two, or three you lush) of Baily's Irish Cream

Tumble in a few mini-Marshmallows

Place a nice dollop of whipped cream on top, as much as you feel your cardiologist would allow.

Finish off with a dash of cinnamon over the top, and

Enjoy, be sure your will is filled out, cause the only thing worse for your body has got to be chewing glass shards covered in bacon grease, but dang if the Hot Cocoa isn't a lot better tasting than that!

Let it snow

There was a 30% chance of snow in Nagoya this weekend. Sunday morning dawned bright and blue, and I thought there was no chance of any precipitation. You'd think living in Colorado all my life would have prepared me for the fact that weather can change, and change quickly! Around 1 the thick storm clouds rolled in and snow started spittin. So I headed out to experience and capture Nagoya in snow.

The snow was really quite beautiful, big fat lazy flakes, and lots of them. It has been quite cold for a couple of weeks now, but it just doesn't feel like winter without a little snow. Of course I'm going to get a lot more of that when I make it to Kanazawa, but from what I hear it doesn't snow very often in Nagoya. When it does snow here, it usually isn't much, so yesterday was actually a bit of an anomaly. A white fluffy beautiful anomaly.

I moseyed around my neighborhood, Nagoya-ko (The Port), and Sakae. I picked yesterday of all days to finally head up to the top of the freshly repainted TV Tower. While the view distance was a bit on the short side, it was still quite impressive. I may have to go back next weekend at night and see how it all looks. I'll bet it looks pretty spectacular. It is so strange to realize that NEXT weekend is Christmas, and also the last weekend I will spend in Nagoya. Good thing I have a Christmas party on Friday, a party on Sunday for actual Christmas celebrations, possible Saturday night Christmas eve Karoke, and then something put together by the Sakae gang to say farewell to me! A busy weekend indeed.






now thats something you don't see everyday!





Oasis 21 from the first floor of the TV Tower.



Sakae from the top of the TV Tower.





Sakae in the snow.



Ate some tastey thai food in this building. A curry stir fry.





Home at last!