Nagoya in 2 days - Merry Christmas!

Nothing is impossible! hahah We covered parts of Nagoya in 2 days and I had fun! This is my 2nd time in Japan and this trip has definitely rekindled my love for Japan. I can't wait to go back again!

Everywhere in Nagoya is pretty well connected but of course as tourist.. I guess we focused on the more convenient, centralized places. We stayed at Crown Plaza Nagoya, which is just located just outside the Kanayama train station. The view from my room was like an observatory deck. This pic was taken during sun rise :)

 One of the attractions in Nagoya is the Railway Museum. There were all sorts of trains displayed. From the earliest trains to the latest Maglev train.

We also visited the Nagoya castle. Parts of the castle were destroyed during WW2.

The best known monument associated with Nagoya castle, is the Kinshachi (golden dolphin). Different is so into this creature as it is totally shiny gold in colour. To Derrick, it screams HUAT AH!! Thus, he has to sit on the creature for a pic -_-!

Walking around the park

And I can't miss eating match ice cream with red beans and mochi in the cold... Shiok!

For Day 1, we had ramen for lunch. Nagoya is best known for Kishimen, a broad, flat noodle. I don't think we have this in Singapore yet. It is in between udon and the ramen we get in Singapore. Just like our kueh tiao. There are basically 2 soup base - miso or Soy sauce.

We ended day 1 queuing for miso pork cutlet rice at Misokatsu Yabaton.

And the food was fantastic! The katsu was juicy and tender. But i also realized that the pork they used is much fattier as compared to what we use in Singapore. With each bite, I can feel the fats spurting out in my mouth haha. However the sauce on the cutlet worked wonders as well. I usually do not eat a lot of rice but I had 2 bowls! The sauce was so appetizing, I had to finish every grain of rice in my bowl.

Maybe this chain of katsu come to Singapore soon haha

Day 2, we paid a visit to the Atsuta Shrine followed by a very good lunch! I think it's worth going back to Nagoya for it haha

The recommended lunch was Hitsumabushi (unagi rice) and the recommended restaurant is called Atsuta Horaiken Honten, which is located near the shrine. Even though it was a tuesday afternoon, there was a queue! The wait was 1 hour but it was definitely worth the wait.

 The restaurant structure is very old school and I read that it has a lot of years of history. This is the path way leading into the restaurant.. just like entering a garden..

 

Upon entering, we had to take off our shoes before proceeding upstairs to the restaurant.

 We had to sit on cushions

The highlight...Grilled eel rice. This is the most popular set. It cost 3,100 yen, approximately SGD38. The eel is very different from the eel we get in Singapore. This eel is thin and grilled till it is a little crisp at the top. The sauce also complemented the meal perfectly.

There are also steps we should follow to enjoy the meal. I liked step 2 the most. I really enjoyed this meal. Hopefully I can go back again! :)

The rest of Christmas eve was spent roaming the streets...

And we welcome Christmas Day the Japanese way.. Bento set filled with my fav rice (can be found in Singapore taka basement), Tebasaki (Nagoya fried chicken wings which can be easily found everywhere in Nagoya) and Christmas cake! hahahh I thought it was quite amusing to see people ringing the bell and screaming Christmas cake for sale along the streets. Japanese were all in a mad rush to get Christmas cakes and mind you.. they are not log cakes. But just regular cream cakes like strawberry short cakes hahah.  I guess cakes just symbolizes Christmas for them haha