Nagoya – Anne Goes to Places

Japan, Day 7: Atsuta

This is the last part of my 2018 autumn trip in Japan. There was a bit of a mix up with the schedule so I ended up having free time from lunch onwards. Good thing I read a lot about Nagoya so I decided to have lunch at Atsuta Horaiken. The place is famous for serving hitsumabushi since 1873.

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

This is the last part of my 2018 autumn trip in Japan. There was a bit of a mix up with the schedule so I ended up having free time from lunch onwards. Good thing I read a lot about Nagoya so I decided to have lunch at ATSUTA HORAIKEN. The place is famous for serving hitsumabushi since 1873. From the train station, it was a about a 10-minute walk to reach the restaurant.

However, when I got there, the employee stationed outside the resto told me that the waiting time was 50 minutes. I told him it was okay so he asked me to return during that time. There was nothing to do around their area – not even a convenience store to check out. So I checked if the revered ATSUTA SHRINE was nearby… and it was! I walked for 15 minutes and reached one of the side entrances. I was trying to find my way to Hongu, the main shrine, but all signs were in kanji so it was up to my gut feel again.

Lo and behold, I was right again because I easily found my way to the main shrine.

It is said that the sacred sword Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, one of the Imperial symbols, is enshrined here. Atsuta Shrine is also revered throughout Japan, ranking second only to Ise Shrine. This probably explains why the building in the main shrine looks like the one in Ise Jingu.

Atsuta Shrine is dedicated to Atsuta-no-Ookami who blessed mankind with love.

When it was 15 minutes before my scheduled lunch at Atsuta Horaiken, I left the shrine and made my way back to the restaurant.

The employee I met earlier gave me the thumbs up to go inside and wow, I was just blown away when I saw the garden and main door because it felt like I was entering an old but well-taken care of traditional Japanese house.

Inside the resto, I waited for a bit before I was accompanied by one of their staff to the 2^nd floor where a table was assigned to me. I ordered the hitsumabushi which was priced at (¥3,900). My meal arrived after about 20 minutes – big bowl with rice and unagi, small bowl of soup, pickles, small jar with ocha, and a container with nori, wasabi, and green onions.

Hitsumabushi consists of a big bowl of rice, topped with unagi, and there are three ways to enjoy this.

1) As it is – take a spoonful of rice and a slice of unagi then place them in the empty bowl

2) With the condiments – do #1 then add nori/wasabi/green onions

3) With broth made from tea and dashi – do #1 then add the broth

After trying all three, you may now enjoy the rest of the food with whichever method works best for you.

I used the small empty bowl the resto provided so that I can decide later on how I want to eat the remaining portion. But, I couldn’t choose only one so I did all of them repeatedly, without any particular order.

I didn’t get to finish the rice because the serving size was like good for two. ☹ I went back to the hotel afterwards to do a final check on my luggage then went to the nearby airport limo bus stop. The bus ride to Chubu Centrair was about an hour and I did a last-minute souvenir shopping – bought two sets of uiro from the famous Aoyagi Uiro.

Had ebi fry for dinner before my flight back to Manila…

Can’t believe one week in Japan just went by. During my first day, my thoughts were about having lots of days to explore Japan. By the last day, I was already thinking when my next trip to Japan will be. Still undecided where to go next but I am sure it will be another awesome adventure. ❤

Japan, Day 5: One Piece Store and Osu

Got off at Kintetsu-Nagoya Station after the Ise-Shima daytrip and before reaching the exit of the building, one of the elevators grabbed my attention. THERE IS A ONE PIECE MUGIWARA STORE IN NAGOYA!!!

I was greeted by a big space dedicated to Roronoa Zoro, my favorite character! Apparently, November was his birthday month so they had that special space for him.

NOVEMBER 25, 2018

Got off at Kintetsu-Nagoya Station after the Ise-Shima daytrip and before reaching the exit of the building, one of the elevators grabbed my attention. THERE IS A ONE PIECE MUGIWARA STORE IN NAGOYA!!!

Of course, I got on the elevator and went to the paradise of One Piece goodies. I was greeted by a big space dedicated to Roronoa Zoro, my favorite character! Apparently, November was his birthday month so they had that special space for him.

After getting my fix of One Piece goodies, I went for a quick visit to BIC Camera to buy the newly-released TESCOM 2-way Steam Hair Iron TPW 2826 (2-in-1 hair straightener and curler). It was a quick trip

I initially wanted to eat in a kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant but was reminded of Gaburi Chicken restaurant so dinner was in Osu area.

Ordered their specialty karaage and a platter of yakitori to pair with drinks that resembled Chu-hi. I liked their food as it is but it was also good to dip in Japanese mayo.

That dinner was the perfect way to cap my fifth day in Japan. I still had a bit of regret not being able to eat sushi but that can be easily fixed with a good Japanese resto in MNL.

Japan, Day 4: Osu & Sakae

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. ❤

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.

That’s it for the first exploration of Nagoya!

Japan, Day 3: Obara Fureai Park

The bus ride from Senmi Shikizakura no Sato to Obara Fureai Park was about 15 minutes.

When we reached the park, I decided to follow the other locals and found food stalls. Perfect for my hungry tummy since I only had an onigiri for lunch. I checked out all the stalls and since it was very cold (less than 10C), I bought kishimen. Yay for my hiragana skills because I was able to read the stall’s food!

NOVEMBER 23, 2018

The bus ride from Senmi Shikizakura no Sato to OBARA FUREAI PARK was about 15 minutes. The rural area was a nice sight especially with shikizakura in full bloom.

Kishimen is actually one of Nagoya’s most famous dishes. Its broth is seasoned with tamari and it has flat udon noodles. Some of the common toppings are dried bonito shavings and thinly-sliced kamaboko (Japanese fish cake).

Kishimen — looks plain but broth is flavorful!

That hot broth hit the spot and definitely gave me warmth! I told the stall owner that her food was “hontouni oishii” (really delicious).

There was a stall with long line and I got curious what was sold there so I fell in line. I checked the stall’s name and read the hiragana park as “tamago” (egg) and saw in one of their smaller signs that they were selling “omelet”. I was still a bit cloyed from all the egg of the oyakodon (Day 1 dinner) so it was a bit of que horror when I learned this.

I decided to still buy one stick and I got fascinated with the machine they used to come up with the steamed egg on a stick.

True enough, I had a difficult time finishing one stick. Good thing there was that chicken sausage from another stall to serve as a taste breaker.

After eating, I went back to the parking lot and checked out the entrance area of the shikizakura area. I didn’t explore the place anymore because I was afraid of surprise uphill climbs and missing the last bus to Korankei.

After taking a few pictures, I saw a van beside the bus stop to Korankei so I asked the driver if it was going to that destination. He nodded his head and explained something in Japanese… so just to be sure, I went inside the hall center and found the three volunteers who were with us at the Senmi Shikizakura no Sato bus stop. I pointed to the van and asked if it was the correct vehicle to Korankei, and they responded yes. So yay, I boarded the “bus” and waited for 16:00 to leave.

Japan, Autumn 2018 – SOON!

Breaking my 2-month writing hiatus… So, I’m sharing day “zero” from my recently concluded Japan trip — this was when we flew to Chubu Centrair International Airport.

Breaking my 2-month writing hiatus… So, I’m sharing day “zero” from my recently concluded Japan trip — this was when we flew to Chubu Centrair International Airport:

We decided to eat dinner in the airport’s Sky Town (4F) and we chose Wakashachiya restaurant. The place is famous for serving curry udon so I ordered a set that comes with mini tendon bowl (shrimp and veggies tempura).

Curry udon
Mini tendon bowl

We went to our accommodation by boarding the airport limousine bus. I find this very convenient because I don’t need to drag and carry my luggage along stairs. You can find more information about the airport limo bus here.

I bought the tickets at Central Japan Travel Center, which is just a few steps away from the exit of International Arrivals. I also bought Kintetsu Rail Pass, Shinkansen tickets to Kyoto, and Takayama / Hida-Furukawa train tickets here. The staff can converse in English and they were very helpful with all of our needs.

Really excited to post all the places I had been to (of course, along with tons of pictures) during my one-week trip in Japan. It was one heck of a memorable trip because it was my first ever autumn experience. ❤