A Rest in Nagoya - 12th and 13th May 2015

The last two days I have been taking it easy. No walking, a bit of sightseeing, and a lot of eating. Yesterday Mr and Ms Ichino took me in to Nagoya, and while they had some social engagements, it gave me a chance to go see Nagoya castle. I had been there 10 years ago when I was an exchange student, but I think I appreciated it much more this time. The original castle, made of wood, burned down in the air raids of 1945, but they reconstructed a few years later. All the walls and foundations are still original though, and I walked around the ground for a good hour an a half just thinking about how an invading army would take the castle by force if they had to.

The main keep. It is surrounded by 7 metre high walls, and two moats.

After the castle I look around for an all you can eat place. I consider my days off the chance to make up for all the calories I whilst camping out and so all you can eat spots are the obvious choice, with Japan having lots of them at a reasonable price. On the 13th floor above Nagoya station I managed to find a organic farm restaurant that had a buffet by the name of "Moku Moku," which interestingly if you say it out loud is meant to be the sound of farm animals eating in Japanese. Well at least I ate like a farm animal, for less than $20 Australian I stuffed my face. This is what I ate:

First plate

Second

Third

Dessert

Second dessert

Third dessert

Lets just say I waddled out of there.

Today I left the Ichino's house, very much thankful for their kindness, and made my way to a hotel in the middle of Nagoya. The Eco Hotel Nagoya is the cheapest place I have stayed at; only 2500 yen a night for my own room. To give you an idea of how much a good deal that is, you pay the same price at the hostel down the road for a night in an eight bed dorm. Okay, so the room does resemble prison cell, it's tiny, bland, and frighteningly depressing, but for the price I'm getting it at I don't have a problem.

Just enough room to swing my arms

I'm just going to relax today, maybe head back to that restaurant, and catch up on the blog. I might even extend another night.