Finally, a little time to myself to get some blogging done. There's been a lot going on that I haven't blogged about, so expect more frequent postings in the next two weeks!
Anyway, here's part three of the Japan travelogue where we headed to Nagoya after a week of being in Tokyo. If you missed my Tokyo posts, you can read part 1 (northern and central tokyo) here and part 2 (western tokyo) here.
This is my first time visiting Nagoya, and it's one of the more populated cities in Japan so the lifestyle in Nagoya wasn't too different from what we experienced in Tokyo, or so I felt. Our stay at Nagoya was only two short days (one of which we spent settling down in our airbnb apartment), and we spent most of our time visiting touristy places.
If you do get to visit Nagoya though, I think two to three days will be best to cover some of the city's best sights. We only got to cover a couple due to time constraints.
Nagoya Castle was rated the No.1 spot to visit in Nagoya, so it was at the top of our list in our itinerary.
It's a short walk away from Sakae Station, with an entry fee of 800yen during the time of our visit cause there was some special exhibition going on. Otherwise, the standard entry fee is about 500yen.
They have really beautiful gardens, I can imagine just how breathtaking it would've been if it were the cherry blossom season, or if it were the peak of Autumn foliage... October is too early a time to visit Japan if you're intending to catch the autumn leaves.
Right outside Hommaru Palace
We got into Hommaru Palace, built during the era of Samurais, housing shoguns and feudal emperors.
Fun fact: Most of the original palace was destroyed during World War Two so what we saw was a replica?? But according to the information boards around the palace, they managed to "authentically reconstruct" the Hommaru Palace with whatever photographs/records that were left behind.
Some soft serve to go.
And some Samurais and Ninjas that were going around?? LOL.
And then further down was the castle museum!
The famed Nagoya Kinshachi (golden dolphins).
I didn't know the reason behind why Nagoya was often associated with a pair of these golden creatures (they were in Snapchat's Nagoya stamp) until I Googled and found out that they used to adorn castle roofs as a symbol of a feudal lord's authority.
Japan's history (especially during the Edo-Tokyo era) always intrigued me so if you're into those kind of things, or if you just want to capture some magnificent sights, don't miss the Nagoya Castle.
Our next stop was the Osu Kannon Temple!
@Osu Kannon Station
There was a shopping arcade just beside the Osu Kannon Temple so that was where we had our dinner fill! A pretty chill stay of two days where we decided to relieve our wallets from the crazy splurges at Tokyo.
One of the perks you should fully enjoy in Japan is trying out all of their prettily packaged bottle drinks. I tried all sorts of tea, juices, flavoured water, yogurt drinks and soda, but it was never enough.
My favourite few will probably be apple Qoo, that peach flavoured drink and jasmine tea below, and melon flavoured Fanta. Oh, and Meiji Strawberry Milk!!!! It was the BEST.
Japan also sells hot bottled drinks in their vending machines, which was perfect when evening came around and it started to become a little chilly.
For both days in Nagoya, we had convenience and department store meals. I miss the ample options I had for dinner (FamilyMart's oden is always so good) without having to pay a hefty price. And of course, many drinks to go too!! Singapore convenience stores please up your game.
That's it for part three on Nagoya. I guess the post is a little short LOL since we mainly visited tourist attractions and we didn't really get to explore the restaurants/eateries here...
Till the next update on Osaka!
Anyway, here's part three of the Japan travelogue where we headed to Nagoya after a week of being in Tokyo. If you missed my Tokyo posts, you can read part 1 (northern and central tokyo) here and part 2 (western tokyo) here.
This is my first time visiting Nagoya, and it's one of the more populated cities in Japan so the lifestyle in Nagoya wasn't too different from what we experienced in Tokyo, or so I felt. Our stay at Nagoya was only two short days (one of which we spent settling down in our airbnb apartment), and we spent most of our time visiting touristy places.
If you do get to visit Nagoya though, I think two to three days will be best to cover some of the city's best sights. We only got to cover a couple due to time constraints.
NAGOYA CASTLE
@Sakae/Shiyakusho Station
Nagoya Castle was rated the No.1 spot to visit in Nagoya, so it was at the top of our list in our itinerary.
It's a short walk away from Sakae Station, with an entry fee of 800yen during the time of our visit cause there was some special exhibition going on. Otherwise, the standard entry fee is about 500yen.
They have really beautiful gardens, I can imagine just how breathtaking it would've been if it were the cherry blossom season, or if it were the peak of Autumn foliage... October is too early a time to visit Japan if you're intending to catch the autumn leaves.
Right outside Hommaru Palace
We got into Hommaru Palace, built during the era of Samurais, housing shoguns and feudal emperors.
Fun fact: Most of the original palace was destroyed during World War Two so what we saw was a replica?? But according to the information boards around the palace, they managed to "authentically reconstruct" the Hommaru Palace with whatever photographs/records that were left behind.
Some soft serve to go.
And some Samurais and Ninjas that were going around?? LOL.
And then further down was the castle museum!
The famed Nagoya Kinshachi (golden dolphins).
I didn't know the reason behind why Nagoya was often associated with a pair of these golden creatures (they were in Snapchat's Nagoya stamp) until I Googled and found out that they used to adorn castle roofs as a symbol of a feudal lord's authority.
Japan's history (especially during the Edo-Tokyo era) always intrigued me so if you're into those kind of things, or if you just want to capture some magnificent sights, don't miss the Nagoya Castle.
Our next stop was the Osu Kannon Temple!
OSU DISTRICT
Osu Kannon Temple@Osu Kannon Station
There was a shopping arcade just beside the Osu Kannon Temple so that was where we had our dinner fill! A pretty chill stay of two days where we decided to relieve our wallets from the crazy splurges at Tokyo.
One of the perks you should fully enjoy in Japan is trying out all of their prettily packaged bottle drinks. I tried all sorts of tea, juices, flavoured water, yogurt drinks and soda, but it was never enough.
My favourite few will probably be apple Qoo, that peach flavoured drink and jasmine tea below, and melon flavoured Fanta. Oh, and Meiji Strawberry Milk!!!! It was the BEST.
Japan also sells hot bottled drinks in their vending machines, which was perfect when evening came around and it started to become a little chilly.
For both days in Nagoya, we had convenience and department store meals. I miss the ample options I had for dinner (FamilyMart's oden is always so good) without having to pay a hefty price. And of course, many drinks to go too!! Singapore convenience stores please up your game.
That's it for part three on Nagoya. I guess the post is a little short LOL since we mainly visited tourist attractions and we didn't really get to explore the restaurants/eateries here...
Till the next update on Osaka!
Check out my other posts on Japan:
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 1) - Northern & Central Tokyo
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 2) - Western Tokyo
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 3) - Nagoya
▶ Autumn in Japan (part 4) - Osaka
▶ Autumn in Japan - Video Travelogue
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 1) - Japan tips
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 2) - Osaka Day 1, 2 & 3
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 3) - Kyoto Day 5, 6 & 7
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 4) - Kyoto Day 8 & 9
▶ #TRIPPinJAPAN (part 5) - Tokyo Day 10 to 17
