A short walk from Maizuru Park, we reached Fukuoka Castle Ruins. I was expecting to see remnants of the main keep but there was not so much to see.
MARCH 17, 2020
We passed by MAIZURU PARK but none of the trees had any flower blooming.
A short walk from there, we reached FUKUOKA CASTLE RUINS. I was expecting to see remnants of the main keep but there was not so much to see. What survived were some turrets and guard towers in the castle grounds. Portion of the moat was also noticeable.
We went to ICHIRAN TENJIN NISHIDORI afterwards and ordered the premium tonkotsu (kamadare style) again. This time, we did not buy the set because we were still full from breakfast. I bought extra osukaran vinegar (¥120), Ichiran’s original premium vinegar, and added it to the broth. That brought out a nice touch of sourness although my conclusion is not adding the vinegar is still better.
I shopped for tea bags and tea leaves in the store recommended by Hisako-obaasan. It was difficult to spot because there was no English sign but good thing she sent me a picture of the store.
We went back to Canal City and spotted a Studio Ghibli shop…
…then went to HAKATA GION TETSUNABE for early dinner. We ordered the bestselling tetsunabe gyoza, which were bite-sized pieces of gyoza served in hot skillet.
We went back home afterwards because Hisako-obaasan and Masanobu-ojiisan prepared a yummy light dinner for our last night in Fukuoka.
They served us okonomiyaki, homemade umeshu, sake, and a side of salad with prosciutto.
What a perfect way to cap off our last night for this Kyushu region trip!
Finally the day to explore Nagoya – hello Day 4! This was more of a shopping day though so don’t expect cultural or technological tours. 🙂
In the morning, I went to Osu Shopping District and went around different anime shops such as Geepress, Mandarake, and Yellow Submarine.
Finally the day to explore Nagoya – hello Day 4! This was more of a shopping day though so don’t expect cultural or technological tours. 🙂
NOVEMBER 24, 2018
In the morning, I went to OSU SHOPPING DISTRICT and went around different anime shops such as Geepress, Mandarake, and Yellow Submarine. My only purchase was the earphone plugs I badly wanted ever since losing my Luffy plug 2 years ago. I also tried looking for a Sailormoon action figure for a friend but oddly enough, I didn’t find any.
When it was lunch time, I went to Maidreamin which is one of the popular maid cafes in Japan. It was my first time to visit one and it was interesting. I had the omurice with curry sauce but I didn’t know that they will draw on the omurice using catsup… uhm, talk about a weird combination with my curry sauce. I couldn’t say no because it might offend them so I just said the first animal I could think of – neko (cat). Good thing the taste of the curry overpowered the catsup!
Some of the customers ordered the set menu which included a
dance performance from the maid of their choice. It was like watching a good
solo JPop act (but I still have my own reservations on this).
Near Maidreamin was the giant maneki-neko, the landmark of Fureai Plaza. At different times of the day, there were different performers like this guy who was doing different balloon artworks.
Next order of business was to find Ocha no Kakien for my fix of green tea! It wasn’t far from the maneki-neko and they were having a free taste when we got there. I was supposed to buy matcha but they had it in powdered form – which I had no idea how to mix. ☹ I ended up getting a genmaicha+matcha combination of tea leaves for ¥600 (already tried it back home and I super love this!!!).
I forgot what I was trying to look for during this time but
I remember seeing so many shops that cater to different shopping needs – shoes,
clothes, caps, bags, food… you name it! Be prepared to have tired feet and
empty wallets.
I saw a shop selling Cremia while finding the road going to
Sakae. So even if it was autumn season, I still bought ice cream. I looove
Cremia’s signature langue de chat cone.
I was also supposed to try Gaburi Chicken but still full
from lunch so that visit was postponed.
Last stop for the day was SAKAE, which is the popular shopping and entertainment district of
Nagoya. I went to PARCO to visit animate and try to find my sister’s
Nyanko-sensei plushie request. It was a surprise not to see this in any of the
anime shops we visited in Osu, especially since it had a recent movie release
in Japan. Anyway, luck was on my side because I found two different plushies!
I also dropped by Tower
Records. I initially planned not to buy anything but out of curiosity, I
asked the staff for the CD shelf of LUCK LIFE and Kenshi Yonezu. Lo and behold,
their shelves were facing each other.
I bought LUCK LIFE’S latest EP (Naru) and Kenshi Yonezu’s Lemon EP with DVD. So happy for Kenshi Yonezu because he has two whole shelves dedicated for his music. ❤
LUCK LIFE! 2018 discovery ❤
Why aren’t you on Spotify? 😦
Kenshi Yonezu’s shelf 1/2 (So happy for him!!! <3)
Kenshi Yonezu’s shelf 2/2 (So happy for him!!! <3)
Spot flumpool – they’re on hiatus though ☹
No pictures anymore but after PARCO, I shopped for new coats
in GU then spent a lot on food
souvenirs in DonKi / Don Quijote
(mostly Kitkat and instant noodles). Sad wallet but happy heart.
Back at the area of the hotel, I followed the staff’s
instructions on where to find the nearest money changer. It was a surprise to
find out that Kintetsu Nagoya Station a fifteen-minute walk. Perfect discovery
because it would be an important train station for the next 2 days. Initially, I
was thinking of boarding the train from Fushimi to Nagoya then walk to Kintetsu
Nagoya. What a nice discovery!
Dinner was at CoCo
Ichibanya where I got the hamburger curry with cheese. I liked that they
have options on the serving size for rice since I don’t eat much rice.
It’s the continuation of the Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei (聖地巡礼 – anime pilgrimage) in Gifu Prefecture – but this time in the town of Hida-Furukawa.
Just in the area of HIDA-FURUKAWA STATION, I was already able to capture 3 shots similar to Kimi no Na wa frames!
It’s the continuation of the Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei (聖地巡礼 – anime pilgrimage) in Gifu Prefecture – but this time in the town of Hida-Furukawa.
NOVEMBER 21, 2018
Touchdown Hida-Furukawa Station!
Just in the area of HIDA-FURUKAWA STATION, I was already able to capture 3 shots similar to Kimi no Na wa frames:
No train was passing by at the time though…
Then from the train station, it was a 5-minute walk to HIDA CITY LIBRARY. I showed an image of the Kimi no Na wa poster to one of the librarians and she gave me an ID pass. Picture taking was not allowed and complete silence must be observed. Not surprising though that the area for Kimi no Na wa fan dedication was already gone during this visit as it has been 2 years already since it premiered.
Look who I met in the library again!
Next stop was SAKURA BUSSANKAN/GIFT SHOP where they sell various Kimi no Na wa souvenirs such as the container similar to kuchikamizake and Taki’s bracelet. They also offer a 30-minute kumihimo braiding lesson so that you can craft your own bracelet. Fee ranges from ¥500 to ¥1,500, depending on the type of bracelet. I wanted to try it but I was too shy to ask. 😦
Kuchikamizake (but cleanly processed and prepared!)
My happy face after going around Hida-Furukawa
Since there was nothing to do anymore and there was still more than 2 hours before the train back to Nagoya, I decided to go to one of the recommended GOHEI MOCHI places in the tourist map. Gohei mochi is a sticky white rice cake coated in miso sauce and has this grilled/smoky taste. It is a featured snack in Kimi no Na wa as seen in this frame with Taki, Tsukasa, and Okudera:
Apparently, gohei mochi is a popular snack in the region because I saw lots of stalls offering this in the other areas I visited in Chubu region. Didn’t enjoy this so much though… After an hour, it was time to go to KETA WAKAMIYA SHRINE, the last stop in this Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei. It was about a 30-minute walk and I didn’t see any mode of public transpo in the area.
These kids were walking in the same direction and I got surprised when they turned around to say “konnichiwa!”. So kawaii!
Finally reached the shrine!
Still had about an hour left before the train arrives so it was a deliberately slow walk to take in all the sights of this small town before I leave.
Good thing there was a waiting area in the train station because by the time I got there, the temperature was already 5C. There were also vendo machines which had hot tea so I was saved.
Back in Nagoya Station, dinner was supposed to be in a mazesoba restaurant because they had gyoza but the line was still long even if it was already past 9PM. Settled for this restaurant which serves oyakodon, one of the famous Nagoya-meshi. I got this set which had oyakodon + soup + kushikatsu with miso sauce. I also ordered my favorite Japan alcoholic drink – chu-hi. I chose the yuzu flavor since I hadn’t tried it yet.
Everything was yummy and the serving size for oyakodon was
big that I had to force myself to finish it. I am not sure if I understood it
correctly that the restaurant uses Nagoya cochin for their chicken dishes – a
premium chicken breed which has a flavorful meat than the usual.
Before heading back to the hotel, we passed by Club Sega and I saw one of the UFO machines containing Nyanko-sensei pillows (from Natsume Yuujinchou). Ugh, if only I had good skills or at least a really good luck.
NYANKO-SENSEI!
Anyway, that’s it for Gifu prefecture and the Kimi no Na wa pilgrimage. Kyoto adventure will be up next!
For the first day of my one-week trip, it was dedicated to doing the Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei (聖地巡礼 – anime pilgrimage) in Gifu Prefecture.
First stop was Takayama and from Nagoya Station, the train ride (reserved seating) was almost 2 hours.
It has been more than a year since my last Japan trip and this year, I chose Nagoya as the point of entry/exit. This year’s Japan adventures were even made more special by the fact that this is my first ever autumn experience.
NOVEMBER 21, 2018
For the first day of my one-week trip, it was dedicated to doing the Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei (聖地巡礼 – anime pilgrimage) in Gifu Prefecture.
First stop was Takayama and from Nagoya Station, the train ride (reserved seating) was almost 2 hours. Plenty of time to catch some sleep especially since I was still tired from the plane ride. I slept during the early part of the ride so when I woke up, I was not surprised to see trees and mountains everywhere – a sign that TAKAYAMA STATION is somewhat near!
When we reached the station, we were greeted by enthusiastic locals and activities: 1) free wet wipes handed out for free (with image of Takayama in front); 2) free ocha upon exiting the station; 3) traditional dragon dance with mostly kids as dancers.
Free ocha
Drainspotting
After watching the performance, we walked towards the first destination of this seichi junrei. It was good that the temperature that day was about 8C so walking outside was bearable…
Enjoying ashiyu (foot bath) on a cold autumn day
We eventually reached HIDA-SANNOGU HIE-JINJA after 15 minutes of walking.
First torii
Surrounded by autumn colors
Autumn colors on a bright day
A short walk from the first torii led us to this torii, which was used as a reference in one of the frames in Kimi no Na wa.
The main shrine proper was not big so it only took us a short time to go around. One sight inside that was difficult to miss was the Great Cedar of Hie Shrine, standing tall at 39m. This tree is assumed to be more than 1,000 years old already.
Great Cedar of Hie Shrine
One of the few lanterns around
Since we didn’t eat breakfast and it was around 12PM already, we walked to KIHACHIRO BEEF BUN for lunch. I read online that this shop’s beef bun was regarded as #1 in Rakuten as it is famous for being made with Hida beef and Takayama vegetables. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to try it.
Kihachiro’s beef bun for ¥500
After one big bite — 10x better than siopao!
Not far from Kihachiro was KIBUN-YA, a stall that sells gyu-takoyaki – made from Hida beef instead of the usual octopus. Unfortunately, it was closed during this day (Wednesday).
But I guess that was a blessing in disguise because we were able to catch the 1PM train to Hida-Furukawa. The station master told us that the next train after that was past 3PM. Yikes.
And that’s it for the seichi junrei in Takayama. Next post will be the continuation, but this time in the small but lovely town of Hida-Furukawa.
Our first stop for our last day in Kyoto was KINKAKU-JI (UNESCO) – also known as the “Golden Pavilion”. It is one of the famous Zen temples which has its top 2 floors covered in gold leaf. This golden structure overlooks a pond, which is a real sight to see.
Near the exit, there is a spot where one can write in an ema but what we did was light candles. There was a variety of candles depending on which one you want to wish for – career, health, and safety among others.
MARCH 10, 2017
Our first stop for our last day in Kyoto was KINKAKU-JI (UNESCO) – also known as the “Golden Pavilion”. It is one of the famous Zen temples which has its top 2 floors covered in gold leaf. This golden structure overlooks a pond, which is a real sight to see.
Near the exit, there is a spot where one can write in an ema but what we did was light candles. There was a variety of candles depending on which one you want to wish for – career, health, and safety among others.
We decided to have lunch @ KYOTO KATSUGYU – a restaurant famous for Kyoto-style Wagyu beef and aged beef; interesting for us since we were used to pork as key ingredient of the katsu. Another interesting thing about the katsu in this place is how they deep fry the beef for only 30 seconds, which results to medium-rare meat (which is my preferred done-ness!)
After our early lunch, M suggested we go to KYOTO INTERNATIONAL MANGA MUSEUM. Good thing Shu, our Airbnb host, was kind enough to let us leave our luggage in the unit longer than the check-out time. In the museum, most of the manga were in Japanese (obviously). While I could not read kanji, I still felt in awe handling physical copies of manga, especially titles that I encountered from childhood up to present. Before leaving, I bought a few souvenirs to take home, including earphone plugs with Law and Luffy from One Piece.
Time for us to head to Osaka after the short trip in the museum! It was quite confusing inside Kyoto Station because there are different platforms, depending on your destination. When we found ours, we had to figure out which side would take us to Osaka. We asked a kind Japanese lady and while she did not speak any English, when a train arrived, she motioned to us not to get inside because that was not the train bound for Osaka. We had to wait for the right one otherwise we might end up in a different place.
When we arrived in our Osaka Airbnb, we took time to rest our feet and we only went out for dinner.
[Just like in previous posts, I was supposed to share here the details of the Airbnb but unfortunately, host took down the listing already. 😦]
We went straight to Shinsaibashi-suji to check out shops we may be interested to check out on another day. Afterwards, we went to one of the ICHIRAN branches in Dotonbori. The one we went to was a different style because instead of the individual counter, there were tables for groups (ideal for family and friends).
Just like my Ichiran experience in Tokyo, I also enjoyed this one and it was interesting that we could freely talk with each other because of the set-up. We went home after finishing our big ramen bowls because the trip to Kobe would require us to leave early.
We went straight to Akihabara, and Mark and I were in pure bliss because we were in the popular anime place! We visited the big DONKI (DON QUIJOTE) store first to buy all sorts of pasalubong, mainly food (instant noodles + chocolates). After that, we headed to RADIO KAIKAN and went crazy at each floor. We were not allowed to take pictures, especially in areas of action figures. T.T
JANUARY 18, 2016
We were greeted in the morning by the first snowfall in Tokyo for 2016. Toshi-san’s prediction that we would be able to experience it was right on mark. We were not able to witness the actual snowfall but seeing that much of snow was already enough to make me happy. The last time I saw snow was back in January 2014, which was also my first time to see it.
Thick snow covering the roofs of every house and building
More snow!
We started the day quite late, leaving the lodging at past 1PM. We had our late lunch in the food court of SOLAMACHI, and I picked the store which sells Japanese curry dish.
We went straight to Akihabara, and Mark and I were in pure bliss because we were in the popular anime place! We visited the big DONKI (DON QUIJOTE) store first to buy all sorts of pasalubong, mainly food (instant noodles + chocolates). After that, we headed to RADIO KAIKAN and went crazy at each floor. We were not allowed to take pictures, especially in areas of action figures. T.T The place has all sorts of merchandise for anime lovers — manga, action figures, CD copies of the shows, drawing guides, OST CDs, etc.
I wished we could have stayed longer so that we could visit more anime/manga places in Akiba. *sigh* We went to Shibuya afterwards to do some more shopping…
Hello there, Hachiko! We finally met!
Our first stop was TOKYU HANDS, which has 7 floors and per floor, it has 3 sections (A, B, C). The place sells all sorts of items — ballpens, friction pens & highlighters, brush pens, postcards, stationery, bags & wallets, cosmetics, etc. Shopaholics will definitely love this place!
I was excited and itching to go to our next destination, which was recommended by Mark since he absolutely loves the same show to… ONE PIECE MUGIWARA STORE in Parco Shibuya. YAAAYYY!!! Good thing it was just walking distance from Tokyu Hands. So happy to see huge figures of Zoro, Luffy, and Chopper outside the store. I splurged on the One Piece gachapon machines outside, and bought some more keychains inside the store. I also bought a Perona cellphone audio jack, but I AM SO SAD TO SAY THAT I LOST IT HERE IN MNL. 😥
We went to look for ICHIRAN after our shopping trip for One Piece goodies…
There was a line but we decided to stay since it seemed like we would not wait that long. We ended up sitting in separate cubicles so we were able to experience eating alone.
It was interesting how we ordered our ramen — we were asked to “create” our ramen using a vendo machine, which would let out a small paper slip after you paid for it. Then, the waiter would hand out a paper so that you can check your preferences when it comes to flavor, richness, garlic, sliced pork, green onions, original red sauce, and noodle texture. This part resembles the way Ramen Nagi in MNL does things so it was familiar to me at that point.
I liked the way they cook their ramen because it is not that salty. It was good but still not decided if that is indeed the best ramen.
We called it a night after this dinner since we still had to wake up really early the next day for Tsukiji Market.
Anne Goes to Places 