Nagoya Castle, Nagoya, Aichi, Part II (Picture heavy!)

Here we are, four years later visiting Nagoya Castle again, right in the beginning of April when the sakura just bloomed. This time, J. came along with us. I'd been talking nonstop about Yamachan, and being a fellow wings-lover J. had to come along and give it a try.

But of course we had to eat lunch first a Chinese restaurant called "想吃担担面" at Nagoya Station. We didn't expect much but it turned out better than we thought, especially the almond tofu and sesame tofu desserts. Totally delectable!

Nagoya Castle, Nagoya, Aichi (Picture heavy!)

Another highlight of our short trip to Nagoya was definitely a visit to its castle. There is a long history to this Nagoya Castle, but in short, the original no longer exists - it was burned down during the 1945 Allied Forces' air raids. The one standing today was reconstructed in 1959 (I believe) and even then, it's only a shell of its former self. Inside is actually a multi-leveled museum. 

Part of the castle's dried up moat.

If you're wondering, no, this was not the super boring museum I hinted at in my Nagoya City Science Museum post. In all honesty though, while the castle museum wasn't as fun and interesting as the City Science Museum, the site of the castle and its surrounding area was worth the trip, even in the sweltering heat and humidity. I swear I must have sweated a bucket that day. Urgh.

One of the turrets.

Yamachan versus Furaibou

For some Starbucks fan, visiting Seattle means getting a latte from the original Starbucks shop. For some fans of chicken wings, visiting Nagoya means beers and loads of wings from the Yamachan honten (the original shop), at least that was what hubby's colleagues, H. san and A. san said. They both are fans of the chain and were eager for us to have a taste of the famous wings at the very first shop where they rose to fame. Wings? Do you really have to ask? I was all in ^.^

Yamachan honten's signage. Their mascot is actually a cartoon of their CEO. Isn't that hilarious? They literally put his head on everything, from the napkins to the beer pints to the plates. They even had sheets of puzzle games, like find the 7 tiny differences between 2 pictures or connect the dots, etc., all with his face on it! LOL!

Nagoya City Science Museum, Nagoya, Aichi

Hubby loves astronomy so he was looking forward to visiting the Nagoya City Science Museum for its world largest solar-powered planetarium. However, the Sunday we went was also the first weekend of summer break for Japanese school children (their school year starts April 1 and they only get about 6 weeks of summer vacation at most), and needless to say tickets to the planetarium were sold out early on in the morning. 

Trains on display outside of the museum.

Nagoya, Aichi

Two weekends ago hubby went on a short weekend trip to Nagoya with 2 of his colleagues to visit a well known professor in their field. Being so spoiled I got to tag along again since I don't mind wandering around by myself while they go do their thing ^.^  

The best part about traveling on the Japanese shinkansen? The specialty bentos, duh! And of course the ride on the Nozomi (the fastest shinkansen service between Tokyo and Osaka) was super duper smooth. The trip from Tokyo to Nagoya took about 1.5 hours, with just one more hour to arrive in Osaka. Awesome, huh?

Hubby's specialty seafood bento from Sendai and my sukiyaki bento.

Kishimen

Kishimen is a trademark dish of Aichi (every prefecture/region in Japan has its own "famous" foods). It is flat and wider than udon, and supposedly a lot smoother and a bit chewier. I first had kishimen while visiting Nagoya and World Expo 2005 during my JET time, so when I saw this tiny kishimen house well hidden in a subway station near Minato Mirai, I dragged hubby into it.

We both ordered tempura kishimen.

While it was good, I must say the kishimen I had in Nagoya was better :P (no kidding, they're famous for it, after all!)

Tempura kishimen in Nagoya