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Woke up very early this morning. I guess we're all getting a little bit over novelty of sleeping on the floor. As nice as the ryokan was, it is still a thin mattress on a hard floor, with a pillow which is soft on one side, and ******* the other (one side of the pillows are soft, and one side are traditional "bean" pillows which are like laying on gravel).
We went down for breakfast, of similar content to yesterday's breakfast, and needless to say, far too much food. When returning to the room, we again ran into the owner of the ryokan who generously offered to drive us to the train station. The Yamakyu ryokan thoroughly deserves the incredible reviews it receives. The rooms, the food and especially the staff make it a pretty special place to visit.
So we returned to our room, packed the backs, and met the owner down in the lobby, fixed up the bill and got aboard the bus for the trip down to the trainstation. With about 25 minutes to spare, Veronica and Angela went across the road to buy sarubobo dolls while Charlotte and I reserved the train tickets, and stayed at the station to mind the luggage.
The train pulled up at the station, right on time, and we found our seats. So far so good. Then we realised that the seats we had been assigned were right on top of the heat inlet for the cabin. After sitting on top of the cabin heater for about half an hour, we all started to feel a little sick, and had to move seats, which isn't technically allowed since the whole train is reserved seating. But we just couldn't stand it. As a matter of fact, about an hour into the journey even after we'd moved seats, Charlotte had to run to the toilet to be sick, as if suffering from heat stroke it was that hot. I don't think Angela and Veronica were too far behind, but they survived the trip. Even in the coolest seats in the cabin it was still insanely hot, to the point where we had to strip the girls down to their singlets just to get them cool. We also got the only train in the history of rail transport in Japan which had no vending machines or cart service, so we couldn't even buy cold drinks.
After an eternity, we arrived at Nagoya station, and were finally able to get off the damn train, and finally get some fresh air. We went outside, into the bustling streets around Nagoya station, and found our way to the hotel with ease. It always helps when the hotel is across the road. We dumped the luggage and returned to the station, which also seems to double as the centre of the shopping and dining in this part of town.
It as really busy, but we eventually found a coffee and bakery on the 12th floor of the Nagoya station complex. Just out of interest, Nagoya station is apparently down in the Guinness book of records as the largest station complex in the world. Fascinating, huh?
After an elevated, but otherwise ordinary coffee and lunch, we still had an hour to kill, so we went for a walk to another shopping complex just as tall, only a block away. The Midland Square shopping and office centre had an observation deck on the 46th floor, so we decided to head up and have a look. The shopping complex offered some very nice views of some very ordinary scenery. The only interesting things to note was Nagoya Castle to the South-East, which stuck out as a large green square in an otherwise sea of grey. This kept us entertained for 20 minutes or so, after which time we headed down to ground level again. Plummeting down in the all-glass lift from the 46th floor was entertaining, only because it made Veronica squeamish.
It was then time to go back to the hotel, so we had to go back through Nagoya station to get to the other side where our hotel was. Passing the shinkansen exit there was a relatively large gathering of general public, mixed with men-in-black style security guards, all surrounding someone, obviously of considerable fame. Assuming it was a Japanese celebrity that we wouldn't know, we avoided the circus, and exited the train station to walk along outside (as it turns out, parallel to the crowd inside). We caught glimpses of whoever was in the middle, and I originally thought it was Johnny Depp, but Veronica picked it as Steve Tyler. Just as she did, the men-in-black turned and exited out of the door immediately in front of us, leaving the trailing crowd inside the door. As he headed towards the carpark, Steve Tyler looked at us, gave us a smile and a nod with a hat-tip, before continuing on to a convoy of silver vans. It seemed that he took a small double-take when he saw a non-Japanese family standing there waiting for him to pass. My only regret is that I didn't have the camera out of my pocket ready to snap a photo quick enough, so I only got him side-on when he had passed. Oh well. We all know what he looks like.
Aerosmith are playing here tomorrow night. I'm seriously considering heading to the venue and trying to find a scalper to get a ticket. I assume he'll be singing in English, and not Japanese?
After the circus left, we got ice-creams, and went back to the hotel for a rest, with Angela still suffering from a headache she acquired on the insanely hot train from Takayama.
After resting for a while it was time to go out and get dinner, but we didn't have to go far. Next door to the hotel was a vending machine restaurant which looked pretty good (well, the plastic models of food in the window did anyway) so we gave it a go, and we weren't disappointed. Big meals for around $8 each (and very similar to our favourite Kyoto restaurant) served very hot and very quickly. We were in, seated, fed and out in no time, so we went to the convenience store for desert, after which Veronica and Angela returned to the room, while Charlotte and I went shopping at the huge Bic Camera store just around the corner from our hotel.
An electronics fan could spend so much time, not to mention money, in such a store. First floor is nothing but mobile phones and accessories. 2nd floor, cameras. 3rd floor is nothing but computer parts, peripherals and software. 4th floor is all theatre gear. 5th floor is all toys and games, and after that I stopped paying as much attention. There was half a floor of laptops and tablets, a full home appliance floor, a general goods section and a few other large but less interesting groupings of products on the remaining floors. Just crazy, but fabulous.
I looked very long and hard at a few lenses I'd like for my camera, but honestly with the exchange rate factored in the pricing is no better than what could be found in Australia for the same items (with all of the bonuses like local warranty, etc). Ordering from Hong Kong as a grey import (like I did with my camera) is still pretty much the cheapest option for Aussies, usually by a considerable margin. There were a few things on sale that I didn't need, such as PS3 console bundles for 9200 Yen, or ~ AUD $120, but one does not need 3 PS3 consoles. The price and availability of decent home theatre gear (think Onkyo, Denon, Marantz etc) was also enough to make me a little sad in comparison to the stupid prices that Australians have to pay.
After shopping and contemplating spending the remainder of the trip's spending money, we returned to the room. Showers, and into bed, to rest up for tomorrow's trek. If all goes to plan we're heading to Nara, land of giant Buddhas, lots and lots of deer, and the largest wooden building in Japan. Should be fun.
We went down for breakfast, of similar content to yesterday's breakfast, and needless to say, far too much food. When returning to the room, we again ran into the owner of the ryokan who generously offered to drive us to the train station. The Yamakyu ryokan thoroughly deserves the incredible reviews it receives. The rooms, the food and especially the staff make it a pretty special place to visit.
So we returned to our room, packed the backs, and met the owner down in the lobby, fixed up the bill and got aboard the bus for the trip down to the trainstation. With about 25 minutes to spare, Veronica and Angela went across the road to buy sarubobo dolls while Charlotte and I reserved the train tickets, and stayed at the station to mind the luggage.
The train pulled up at the station, right on time, and we found our seats. So far so good. Then we realised that the seats we had been assigned were right on top of the heat inlet for the cabin. After sitting on top of the cabin heater for about half an hour, we all started to feel a little sick, and had to move seats, which isn't technically allowed since the whole train is reserved seating. But we just couldn't stand it. As a matter of fact, about an hour into the journey even after we'd moved seats, Charlotte had to run to the toilet to be sick, as if suffering from heat stroke it was that hot. I don't think Angela and Veronica were too far behind, but they survived the trip. Even in the coolest seats in the cabin it was still insanely hot, to the point where we had to strip the girls down to their singlets just to get them cool. We also got the only train in the history of rail transport in Japan which had no vending machines or cart service, so we couldn't even buy cold drinks.
After an eternity, we arrived at Nagoya station, and were finally able to get off the damn train, and finally get some fresh air. We went outside, into the bustling streets around Nagoya station, and found our way to the hotel with ease. It always helps when the hotel is across the road. We dumped the luggage and returned to the station, which also seems to double as the centre of the shopping and dining in this part of town.
It as really busy, but we eventually found a coffee and bakery on the 12th floor of the Nagoya station complex. Just out of interest, Nagoya station is apparently down in the Guinness book of records as the largest station complex in the world. Fascinating, huh?
After an elevated, but otherwise ordinary coffee and lunch, we still had an hour to kill, so we went for a walk to another shopping complex just as tall, only a block away. The Midland Square shopping and office centre had an observation deck on the 46th floor, so we decided to head up and have a look. The shopping complex offered some very nice views of some very ordinary scenery. The only interesting things to note was Nagoya Castle to the South-East, which stuck out as a large green square in an otherwise sea of grey. This kept us entertained for 20 minutes or so, after which time we headed down to ground level again. Plummeting down in the all-glass lift from the 46th floor was entertaining, only because it made Veronica squeamish.
It was then time to go back to the hotel, so we had to go back through Nagoya station to get to the other side where our hotel was. Passing the shinkansen exit there was a relatively large gathering of general public, mixed with men-in-black style security guards, all surrounding someone, obviously of considerable fame. Assuming it was a Japanese celebrity that we wouldn't know, we avoided the circus, and exited the train station to walk along outside (as it turns out, parallel to the crowd inside). We caught glimpses of whoever was in the middle, and I originally thought it was Johnny Depp, but Veronica picked it as Steve Tyler. Just as she did, the men-in-black turned and exited out of the door immediately in front of us, leaving the trailing crowd inside the door. As he headed towards the carpark, Steve Tyler looked at us, gave us a smile and a nod with a hat-tip, before continuing on to a convoy of silver vans. It seemed that he took a small double-take when he saw a non-Japanese family standing there waiting for him to pass. My only regret is that I didn't have the camera out of my pocket ready to snap a photo quick enough, so I only got him side-on when he had passed. Oh well. We all know what he looks like.
Aerosmith are playing here tomorrow night. I'm seriously considering heading to the venue and trying to find a scalper to get a ticket. I assume he'll be singing in English, and not Japanese?
After the circus left, we got ice-creams, and went back to the hotel for a rest, with Angela still suffering from a headache she acquired on the insanely hot train from Takayama.
After resting for a while it was time to go out and get dinner, but we didn't have to go far. Next door to the hotel was a vending machine restaurant which looked pretty good (well, the plastic models of food in the window did anyway) so we gave it a go, and we weren't disappointed. Big meals for around $8 each (and very similar to our favourite Kyoto restaurant) served very hot and very quickly. We were in, seated, fed and out in no time, so we went to the convenience store for desert, after which Veronica and Angela returned to the room, while Charlotte and I went shopping at the huge Bic Camera store just around the corner from our hotel.
An electronics fan could spend so much time, not to mention money, in such a store. First floor is nothing but mobile phones and accessories. 2nd floor, cameras. 3rd floor is nothing but computer parts, peripherals and software. 4th floor is all theatre gear. 5th floor is all toys and games, and after that I stopped paying as much attention. There was half a floor of laptops and tablets, a full home appliance floor, a general goods section and a few other large but less interesting groupings of products on the remaining floors. Just crazy, but fabulous.
I looked very long and hard at a few lenses I'd like for my camera, but honestly with the exchange rate factored in the pricing is no better than what could be found in Australia for the same items (with all of the bonuses like local warranty, etc). Ordering from Hong Kong as a grey import (like I did with my camera) is still pretty much the cheapest option for Aussies, usually by a considerable margin. There were a few things on sale that I didn't need, such as PS3 console bundles for 9200 Yen, or ~ AUD $120, but one does not need 3 PS3 consoles. The price and availability of decent home theatre gear (think Onkyo, Denon, Marantz etc) was also enough to make me a little sad in comparison to the stupid prices that Australians have to pay.
After shopping and contemplating spending the remainder of the trip's spending money, we returned to the room. Showers, and into bed, to rest up for tomorrow's trek. If all goes to plan we're heading to Nara, land of giant Buddhas, lots and lots of deer, and the largest wooden building in Japan. Should be fun.
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