And Back Again...
So, after the whirlwind tour of back home, it was off to Japan again, with a brief stopover in Taiwan, courtesy of China Airlines. Unfortunately, after trying to find some things to do there during my brief stay, and gathering a few suggestions, I found myself whisked out of Chang Kai Shek Airport by bus to a five-star country club - with no means of escape. It was, all in all, quite luxurious treatment, but I was looking forward to at least checking out what is (for the moment) the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101. Alas, I only got to see it from the air...
If you squint, maybe you can see mainland China across the water. They did have some nice fig bonsai on the deck, too.
At least I had a good sleep this time, so I wasn't too whacked out when I arrived in Centrair - and this time I knew where I was, considering that last year my three-year-old Lonely Planet Guide didn't mention anything about the new airport! I took the airport bus to Nagoya Station, where I had arranged to meet Rob, who had taken the shinkansen in from Kobe. We met up without too much trouble, took the subway back, settled in, and even had time to go for dinner and a beer or two at one of my favourite local spots - the best mexican restaurant in Nagoya.
The next day, we did a bit of touristing, up to Inuyama. As I've mentioned before, it's got the oldest original castle in Japan, and this time I was armed with a decent camera...
Much better, ne?
Of course, that meant climbing the perilously steep original steps inside - no lifts here...
...to some rather grand views of the surrounding countryside (well, maybe not quite countryside...) of Aichi and Gifu.
Some of the suits of armour inside...
And the pathway of torii to the fox-spirit shrine - and to prove that Rob was really here! ;) If it looks cold, that's because it was. This was mid-January, shortly after the only snowfall this year. Climbing around in that castle in socks had me barely able to feel my feet for the stumble back to the station, stopping briefly for a hot can of coffee - those vending machines can be a real blessing sometimes! We also stopped at a thin, but tall museum, which houses the mikoshi for the Inuyama Matsuri in April.
This one has lanterns for the night procession...
...and this one has the mechanical dolls that do acrobatics. I might have to try to get to it this year...
We got back in time for a quick tour of the recently-opened Robot Museum. A fascinating, and sometimes frightening, place with a brief history of robots from bad 1950's movies to Honda's Asimo, a gift shop full of amazing toys - including a strangely creepy robotic baby seal - and the centerpiece, a brainchild of somebody's utter boredom, a giant robotic arm that whizzed around making it's servos play Beatles songs!
The evening was spent (alas, no pictures) warming up with happy hour at the Hilton - the best place for a quiet drink in the city - with a 2000yen nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) on the 28th floor with views over the city at night, a great izakaya dinner and karaoke.
After a late morning sleeping off the night before, we went for a trip to Nagoya Castle. You've all seen the pics already, so I won't bother with those, except for the suit of armour they had on display inside, which I snuck a pic of when noone was looking...
And from the ancient to the ultra modern, to a night time wander round Oasis 21, a combination bus station/shopping mall/park/art installation with a glass bottomed pool suspended several stories above ground, which you can walk around for views of Nagoya's nightscape...
...the TV tower and electric dinosaurs.
Followed, of course, by an izakaya and a couple of favourite watering holes. The next morning, Rob had an early shinkansen to catch to Tokyo, so we went for a quick trip to Ousu.
Ousu Kannon shrine was a nice sight, but unfortunately, it was too early to see anything else around the area, since nothing else was open, apart from a little coffee shop that had a reasonable morning "viking" (buffet). Ousu is famous for being the closest thing to a Chinatown in Nagoya, as well as having a huge grey market in just about anything you can imagine, but mostly electronics and clothing, in a gigantic glass-roofed shopping arcade. It usually makes a great weekend trip to have a squizz not just at the shops, but also the shoppers, both for crazy fashions and boot-season (which, alas, is almost over - sigh!)
After seeing Rob off at the station, it was time to steel myself for a return to work, which is what I shall be doing now. Hopefully, soon I'll get to last month's trip to Kyoto... Good night all!
If you squint, maybe you can see mainland China across the water. They did have some nice fig bonsai on the deck, too.
At least I had a good sleep this time, so I wasn't too whacked out when I arrived in Centrair - and this time I knew where I was, considering that last year my three-year-old Lonely Planet Guide didn't mention anything about the new airport! I took the airport bus to Nagoya Station, where I had arranged to meet Rob, who had taken the shinkansen in from Kobe. We met up without too much trouble, took the subway back, settled in, and even had time to go for dinner and a beer or two at one of my favourite local spots - the best mexican restaurant in Nagoya.
The next day, we did a bit of touristing, up to Inuyama. As I've mentioned before, it's got the oldest original castle in Japan, and this time I was armed with a decent camera...
Much better, ne?
Of course, that meant climbing the perilously steep original steps inside - no lifts here...
...to some rather grand views of the surrounding countryside (well, maybe not quite countryside...) of Aichi and Gifu.
Some of the suits of armour inside...
And the pathway of torii to the fox-spirit shrine - and to prove that Rob was really here! ;) If it looks cold, that's because it was. This was mid-January, shortly after the only snowfall this year. Climbing around in that castle in socks had me barely able to feel my feet for the stumble back to the station, stopping briefly for a hot can of coffee - those vending machines can be a real blessing sometimes! We also stopped at a thin, but tall museum, which houses the mikoshi for the Inuyama Matsuri in April.
This one has lanterns for the night procession...
...and this one has the mechanical dolls that do acrobatics. I might have to try to get to it this year...
We got back in time for a quick tour of the recently-opened Robot Museum. A fascinating, and sometimes frightening, place with a brief history of robots from bad 1950's movies to Honda's Asimo, a gift shop full of amazing toys - including a strangely creepy robotic baby seal - and the centerpiece, a brainchild of somebody's utter boredom, a giant robotic arm that whizzed around making it's servos play Beatles songs!
The evening was spent (alas, no pictures) warming up with happy hour at the Hilton - the best place for a quiet drink in the city - with a 2000yen nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) on the 28th floor with views over the city at night, a great izakaya dinner and karaoke.
After a late morning sleeping off the night before, we went for a trip to Nagoya Castle. You've all seen the pics already, so I won't bother with those, except for the suit of armour they had on display inside, which I snuck a pic of when noone was looking...
And from the ancient to the ultra modern, to a night time wander round Oasis 21, a combination bus station/shopping mall/park/art installation with a glass bottomed pool suspended several stories above ground, which you can walk around for views of Nagoya's nightscape...
...the TV tower and electric dinosaurs.
Followed, of course, by an izakaya and a couple of favourite watering holes. The next morning, Rob had an early shinkansen to catch to Tokyo, so we went for a quick trip to Ousu.
Ousu Kannon shrine was a nice sight, but unfortunately, it was too early to see anything else around the area, since nothing else was open, apart from a little coffee shop that had a reasonable morning "viking" (buffet). Ousu is famous for being the closest thing to a Chinatown in Nagoya, as well as having a huge grey market in just about anything you can imagine, but mostly electronics and clothing, in a gigantic glass-roofed shopping arcade. It usually makes a great weekend trip to have a squizz not just at the shops, but also the shoppers, both for crazy fashions and boot-season (which, alas, is almost over - sigh!)
After seeing Rob off at the station, it was time to steel myself for a return to work, which is what I shall be doing now. Hopefully, soon I'll get to last month's trip to Kyoto... Good night all!
posted by Ia Ftaghn at 9:45 pm
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