Nagoya

Early in the morning, we went to the Jinya-Mae Morning Market in Takayama... again it was disappointing. Only a few stalls were set up. Hmn .... was it supposed to be like that every morning? Or were we too early? Hmn ....

 Jinya-Mae Morning Market

Stalls selling pickled daikon

In fact, I loved the pickled daikon, having tried them all over the places when they were tasters - they would be great to eat with rice; they were crunchy, sweet and tangy, and so refreshing to the palate. Some were flavoured with ingredients unbeknownst to me .... but I liked them all just the same ....

Our comfortable room in Takayama

We put away the futon mattresses for them ... the room fit the 3 of us just nicely ... 

We took the 10.00 a.m. bus to Nagoya - it cost ¥2980 and the trip took 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Nagoya wasn't that great this trip. Well, the city's probably great. But it's just that we did not have time to explore. So we did not see much. Our bus arrived at Meitetsu Bus Terminal at Nagoya Station at about 12.30 p.m., and we spent some time figuring out how to go about - we enquired at the Tourist Information Centre here. I was glad the lady staff spoke very good English. She suggested that we take the Meguru loop bus - a tourist sightseeing bus which would be making stops at all the notable sightseeing spots in town. A one-day pass would be ¥500.

We took a bit of time to look for our hostel at the Sakae area in Nagoya as well. We got a bit lost, and there was this kindly old lady trying to help me .... but we could not understand what each other was saying. Lol.

When we finally found the hostel, we dumped our bags and set off. We took the Meguru loop bus in front of Oasis 21 near the Nagoya TV Station and we went to the Toyota Commemorative Museum.

Nagoya TV Station
This 180m tower is a landmark of Nagoya, and the oldest radio and TV broadcasting tower in Japan built in 1954

Oasis 21

This is a bus terminal cum shops and eateries but they were all underground. Above ground, the oval glass roof was really a sight; there was water on the surface and even a walking path atop the roof! It certainly gave off that futuristic vibe .... 

Admission into the Toyota Museum was ¥500. We bought tickets from a vending machine. So cool. 

The Circular Loom
Toyota were loomers before they were automobile makers ..

So in the museum were exhibits of lots of fabric-weaving machines, detailing the evolution of the textile industry. 

Robots on display

Then only we saw exhibits on how Toyota started its automobile operations .... 

Making Toyota's first passenger car, Model AA

Main Toyota models on display

Very informative and probably if I were interested in machines, this place would be fun. It was crazy cold and windy by the time we finished; and I had plans to visit the Noritake Garden and the Nagoya Castle and the Osu Kannon .... sigh ... but it was dark already and too cold to be out in the open.

Dinner was at an eatery near our hostel ...

 My set meal had rice, salad, chawanmushi, sashimi, tempura and a miso soup; loved the pickles too!

Tempura
There were a few pieces - prawn, sweet potato, eggplant and the perilla leaf .... I liked the prawn and the sweet potato the most! 

After dinner, we went back to our hostel. My third regret for the trip - should have extended our stay in Nagoya for another day. Sigh.