Day 7 in Japan

June 9, Friday – At around 8am, we departed to “Miwa Anjo” to take the bullet train to Nagoya. The train is really fast. We were all very excited to see the train. The trip to Nagoya took about 10 minutes. It will take about 45 minutes if we take the normal train. We bought a whole day subway ticket as we arrived in Nagoya. The subway system is very much like the one in Korea. They have a few special carriages for ladies only during peak hours. I think that it’s a good idea, to avoid being molested by guys. We took the subway to City Hall and walked for about 5 minutes before reaching the entrance of Nagoya Castle. Nagoya is famous for its castles. The castle is the same height as a 14 storey building. It was drizzling at that time. It was tough sightseeing with an umbrella.

At around 11.40pm, we departed to another place. We were able to see Nagoya Tower as we got out from the subway station. There is an amazing underground shopping complex near the tower. The architecture is simply fantastic! We had our lunch at one of the restaurants there. Nagoya is famous for “kisimen”, a type of noodle almost similar to “koay teow”. I ordered Salmon kisimen, it is very tasty. It cost 900 Yen.

After lunch, Pei Jiuan’s host mother brought us to some anime shops. It is like a heaven for an anime fan like me. I was excited to see all sorts of anime products, not sellable in Malaysia. I saw many “My neighbor Totoro” products in one of the shops, but the products are very expensive. The modeling shops are selling a variety of models, from the normal figuring to “Gundam” models.

At around 2.30pm, we headed to Osu shopping area. It is a very huge shopping area with many shops and the prices are reasonable. I did not shop much there. I came across a very nice shop selling much cute merchandise but the shop is not on business as they are renovating. There several small temples and a big temple near the shopping area. The Buddhist statues in Japan sure are nice. Malaysia’s one is much simpler.

At around 4.30pm, we departed back to Hekinan by train. We need to change train for a few stations before reaching Hekinan. My host father’s youngest daughter, Satoe, just came back from Kyoto. She is a business student studying in Kobe University. She had just graduated recently. It is nice talking to her. My host father brought me to a “yukata” shop to buy a set of yukata before dinner. The whole set, including bag and shoes, cost 3,900 Yen, slightly more than RM100. We also went to the supermarket to buy some souvenirs (food). My host father paid for them.

My host family sure likes Western food. Satoe likes spaghetti a lot. The restaurant that we went to for dinner have a variety of spaghetti, such as spaghetti fried with olive oil. It was tasty. They ordered some other popular dishes there. I like the one with the fried bread and cheese on top and rice in the bottom. It is really tasty!

My host mother helped me to dress up for my “yukata”. She even gave me a set of her old “yukata” as a present for my mum. That “yukata” itself cost RM600, it is handmade and the quality is good.