Nagoya Train Station
We took the train from Ichinomiya to Nagoya..... Five of us.... Mr Bean & me, Bro Z, Bro R & Sis I. It was an almost one hour trip to downtown Nagoya, one of the major cities in Japan. Since we were planning to save our allowance, we decided to walk our way to our destinations. Following our map and the direction given by the subway security officer, we headed for Nagoya Castle.
Shinkansen in the background
Rice fields by the railway tracks
At the Cultural Village on the way to Nagoya Castle
We had to walk for almost an hour to the destination. When we arrived at the castle, we were totally exhausted. We argued whether to go inside or not because we had to pay about 500yen per person per entry. But we decided to go in as in could be our once-in-a-life-time chance to visit such a place.
Resting....
The palace complex was demolished by Allied Air Force bombers during the WW2 air-raids in 1945 and the only buildings still intact were the donjons. However, we can still see the ruins of the castle just a few hundred feet from the donjons. Read more about it HERE.
Nagoya Castle
The castle complex also served as a cultural center and a museum that houses many historical artifacts of medieval Japan. It’s really a wonderful experience to have visited such a historical place. At the top of the biggest donjon, there’s an observation platform and a souvenir shop.... Unfortunately, the souvenir items there were much too expensive........I only bought a souvenir for my wife there.... for the others.... maybe later....at the less expensive place.
It took us about 3 hours at the castle and our next destination is the electronic center (I don’t remember its name) that sells electronic items for bargain prices....(just like Lowyatt in KL or Al Fahidi in Dubai). We didn’t buy anything though, because we weren’t looking for any electronic items. Then we stopped at a t-shirt shop to buy some souvenir t-shirt to bring home. The old lady who owned the shop was so grateful that we visited her shop.... she gave us a very good discount.
Hard Rock Café Nagoya
Then we went to look for Hard Rock Cafe – Nagoya (tipikal orang Malaysia....HRC mesti kena pegi). But first, we had to walk back to the city center..... then we had the trouble of asking for the direction to the place. We met some school girls and asked them in English.... They took us to HRC Nagoya while talking among themselves and laughing.....(hehehe... mengumpat lah tu)...
We asked the English-speaking ladies at the HRC for the direction to the “hyaku-en” shop....(kedai 100yen.... kedai RM2 la tu)..... We found it at top floor of a shopping mall and we spend almost an hour looking at everything and stuffing them in our shopping basket.... mostly souvenirs for our family and relatives.
We took the train back to Ichinomiya.... and on our way back to the hotel....we stopped by at another 100yen shop in Ichinomiya.... so...another round of souvenir shopping......
In the airport-bound train
We got back to the hotel.... took our luggage and checked in our rooms. The hotel room was also as small as the previous one...but it’s actually better in terms of service. We had to wake up early for our morning flight to KLIA tomorrow. At the airport the next day, we met with two of our colleagues... just touched down that morning.... Obviously, they’ll be spending a few days of Ramadhan in Japan (Ramadhan was only a few day away).
What a memorable trip....
P/S:
Flashback: Japan 2005 (Part 1: Ichinomiya)
Had I started blogging back then, I would have blogged about it. It was my first trip overseas since I first started working in 1996 (the Bintulu recruitment trip didn’t count as overseas trip).
A few weeks after I got my Masters Degree, I had the opportunity to go for a business trip to Japan. We were introducing a new line of products, LCD projection TV aka Grand Wega (GW). I was involved with the project, so they sent me to one of our sister companies in Japan to study about the products.
After nearly 10 years working, I was really looking forward to this trip. I would be going with a young engineer friend of mine...let’s call him Mr Bean...hehe. It was also his first trip overseas.
So, on the afternoon of 28th September 2005, after returning back the rented graduation robe and mortar, my family sent me off at KLIA. While waiting to check in at the Singapore Airlines counter, I came up with this crazy idea. We were supposed to come home on Saturday the 1st October 2005, but I coaxed Mr Bean into staying one more extra day in Ichinomiya. He said.... “Whatever you do, I’ll just tag along”.... (We’d be in big trouble when we reported back to work....but we didn’t know that then). We went up to the counter and asked for a change to our flight schedule....the clerk changed it without a fuss..... Now we’d have an extra day to go sight-seeing.....
After bidding farewell...hugs and kisses.... to my family (Mr Bean came alone by the ERL), we board the aero-train to the International Terminal. We boarded the flight and guess what..... They put us into the Raffles Class....an equivalent to a Business Class in other airlines. How convenient.....
Our first destination was Changi International Airport.... We had a few hours to kill there while waiting for the connecting flight to Nagoya Airport. Changi Airport Duty Free Zone was like a shopping mall.... (In fact I think it IS a shopping mall)..... People were everywhere...shopping, window shopping...or just hanging out at the cafés and restaurant....or the open internet booths. We had a dinner of BK burgers and hurried up to the boarding gate. It was almost midnight when the SIA flight left for Nagoya. We watched movies....slept...watch movies....slept.... just to kill the 7 hours that flight took.
We arrived in Nagoya new airport (Chūbu Centrair International Airport)...an artificial Island.... at about 7 o’clock in the morning.... It’s 7am in Nagoya, but it’s still 6am in Malaysia.... My body clock thought I was still in Malaysia.... and it told my stomach it’s time for waste disposal. So, I went to the “john” and did my business.... it’s there that I remembered that they don’t use water to “clean up”..... They use papers.... oh man!!! And I forgot to bring in a bottle.... So..... go figure..... and my butts would be unwashed until I checked in at the hotel....that evening.
With an “uneasy” feeling in my butts, we boarded a Meitetsu Airport Line train at the airport.... We reached the Ichinomiya station in less than an hour. Mr Y, our Japanese manager was already waiting. He came a few days earlier, probably to set things up for us. He brought us straight to the hotel to check in....but he said “just leave your bags here.... we’re going straight to the factory.....”. I wanted to tell him that I had to get my butts cleaned first....but I didn’t think he would understand..... so, off we went straight to work....(He was furious when we told him that we had changed our return tickets.....hehehe).
At work, we met a few of our friends who were already in the factory (for the same reason) since a few weeks ago. Most of them would be going back this week. Together with us were a few engineers from our sister company in Thailand....they were also there for the GW.
Early in the evening, Mr Y took us back to the hotel (Green Hotel...I think). The hotel room is small (maybe about 7ft x 10ft) but fully-equipped. It could fit a very comfortable double bed, a dressing table-cum-TV-rack, a small pantry..... and a really, really small bathroom/toilet with a bath tub. The bath tub was so small that I couldn’t fit into it. That will be my home for two nights.
I spent the best part of the evening just sitting around in my room, watching Japanese shows on the TV..... Then we went out to sample the Japanese life outside. We met with some of our colleagues at the train station that also serve as a shopping mall. Most of them were going back the day after. The small town fell silent after dark....not much activities....
I woke up early in the morning.....and after a light breakfast in my room (instant soup and 3-in-1 Milo I guess)....I went down to meet Mr Bean. It’s still a couple of hours before Mr Y arrived. So, we decided to try the Japanese breakfast. Steam rice, fresh veggie and broiled fish..... not bad at all..... Apparently, the hotel was run by a Japanese family (a middle-aged couple)..... the husband was the hotel manager and the wife was the restaurant manager. From time to time, the husband will leave his station at the front desk to help his wife in the kitchen....
Mr Y came on time......and off we went to work.....
At lunch, we joined our fellow Malaysia.... since they stayed in Ichinomiya for almost a month, they brought some dried food (serunding and salted fish mostly) from home. So, the lunch wasn’t so bad..... and Mr Y was paying for everything. Thanks a lot, sir.
That evening, what were left of our colleagues came to the hotel and we went for a walk around the town.....It was almost Autumn and the weather was very pleasant.... As I said, there’s nothing in the town after dark....most shops closed at about 730pm...except for the shopping malls and the 24-hour convenient store (Sun Kus... if I’m not mistaken).... We parted companies....and promised that our destination tomorrow would be Nagoya.....
We checked out of the hotel and checked in at another (remember that we “illegally” extended our stay.....Mr Y had, reluctantly, found another hotel for us). We left the luggage with the front desk and proceeded to our friends’ hotel....about 10 minutes walk from our new hotel.
I was desperate to call home....since the hotel didn’t allow international calls, I decided to buy a call card to make the call from a pay-phone. I went to Sun Kus and after a few chicken-and-ducks language exchange.....the clerk sold me a call card worth 3000yen. I went to the nearest pay-phone tried to make the call....
Guess what... the card won’t go into the slot.....I tried a couple of times...still to no avail....
It turned out that I had bought a pre-paid mobile card..... now, how do I make a call at the pay-phone using a mobile card? Silly me..... I tried to ask for a refund by they wouldn’t accept it.... They told me that I could buy a disposable mobile phone so that I could use the card....(pandainya diorang...)
Luckily, the next hotel had the international call facility....so, I managed to call my family....telling them that I was ok...and I was coming home.....
