- We had big plans to get up early to go to the zoo...and decided that was too much work - so we slept until 11 instead :) It was well-worth it and we had a pretty awesome day, despite sleeping in.
- First, we found a cheap place to eat (YAY) at the recommendation of our hostel owner. It's called Matsuya and is a very cool, good fast food chain restaurant:
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| First, you enter, decide what you want, put in the correct amount of money and push the button under the food that you want... |
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| Then you find a place to sit... |
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| And about 5 minutes later, they bring you your order! |
- On our way to the train station, we got random energy drinks by standing in line and then catching them out of a machine that throws them up.
- After that, we stopped by the tourist info center in the train station - and got information and answers to some of our questions in English! Woohoo!
- Sidenote regarding Japanese fashion: in Korea, everyone generally seems to rock the same look, however fashion-forward it is; in Japan, everyone kind of has their own style - from simple and/or conservative to rocker chic to Korean-ish to crazy.
- Sidenote regarding Japanese men: I think Korean men are more attractive than Japanese men, though I'm not sure why. Rachel disagrees. However, after seeing how non-clingy Japanese men are towards their girlfriends, I’m kind of starting to side with Rachel.
- We made it to the right subway stop and met with Talu and Yukina. Yukina is the girlfriend of my new friend Daisuke, who was introduced to me via Facebook by Anthony, whom I met in Pohang about 2 weeks ago. Whew! But yay connections! Anyway, she met us to show us around Nagoya Castle. When we entered, there was an English tour about to start (which Yukina planned for us to go on). Our tour guide was so sweet! She was really kind and very knowledgeable. And she was excited when we said we had all afternoon to stay at the castle because she got to show us everything. The castle is actually a recreation, as the original burned down after an air raid in 1945. The outside is an exact replica while the inside is a museum. I was most impressed by the foundation, which survived the fire.
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| One of the four watchtowers |
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| They are rebuilding the living quarters of the palace in the exact fashion the original was built in, including using authentic materials and processes. |
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| The main castle |
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| The foundation :) |
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| Nagoya from the top of the castle |
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| COLORGUARD!!! Before I posted this picture, I jokingly thought that this might be Aimachi (or a feeder guard for them), since I was in Japan. I then Googled it and found out that they are ACTUALLY based in Nagoya so it really COULD have been them. OMGeeee! |
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| Loooong way down |
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| The castle |
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| Yukina, Talu, Rachel, me and our fantastic tour guide :) |
- Next, we passed by a Buddhist temple to get to Osu shopping area. This was a covered marketplace, much like others I’ve seen in many towns in Korea. But this one spanned a grid of several blocks and there were sooo many things to see and places to shop. Lots of shops that the locals would need on a daily basis but also a lot of international shops offering products from all over the world. I found some fabric that I'm hoping to make into a quilt. There was even a pawn-type shop that had BASKETS of those old American buttons with ALL kinds of sayings on them that all of us have and can’t seem to get rid of. Rachel and I were wondering where we could sign up to sell to this place! There was also a booth selling Turkish ice cream, which is ice cream mixed with a gummy substance, so it’s very gravity-resistant. Talu said it wasn’t as good as really Turkish ice cream, but the man serving it was hilarious and used the fact that the ice cream defied gravity to tease his customers. Yukina’s reactions were fantastic.
- Afterwards, we said goodbye to Talu and met up with Daisuke. He and Yukina went in to kiss/hug but only jokingly, and then pulled away saying that's not what you do in Japanese culture. It made me like them both a lot haha. They took us to the other side of the train station and across a "scramble" (an intersection where pedestrians can cross any way they choose when the green man lights up). I talked with Yukina most of the way and she was asking me how she could improve her English. First, I made sure to tell her that her English is already very good - I don't think I heard her make any mistakes today. Then I told her to speak it as often as she can and tell people she's open to being corrected, which are both things I learned from Winter. It's such a paradox, interacting with people who speak 2 or more languages (primarily non-native English speakers) - I am completely amazed at their abilities but most of them are very cautious/nervous about speaking English. Anyway, we walked to a really yummy chain restaurant that basically serves food that is good with beer - so anything fried :) We got like 8 or 9 dishes for 4000¥ (about 60000₩ or $55), which isn't too bad here. They brought the dishes one by one, so dinner lasted about 2 hours and we had lots of time to get to know each other. Daisuke and Yukina spoke Japanese to each other and English to us and consulted his electronic translator every once in a while to make sure they were saying things right (which was so cute).
- After dinner, we had to say goodbye to them :( It was really sad because I honestly don't know when - or even if - I'll see them again! They were so helpful to us (they even spent about 10 min at the station giving us step-by-step directions for getting everywhere we are going tomorrow) and really gracious to spend time with us today - I feel like I could be good friends with them! :( I really hope I'm able to see them again someday.
- Rachel and I then decided to head down to Nagoya port. We had wanted to see it during the day but didn't have much time left. Plus, we wanted to get as much use out of our all-day subway passes as possible. I wish we could have gone during the day! There is an aquarium, beautiful views, and a museum aboard a ship that went to Antarctica. It was still really peaceful and beautiful but would have been even better during the day.
- After that, we got to ride a near-empty subway train back to Home Sweet Hostel :)
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