I know I owe you guys and gals some posts from my November Japan trip in Aichi Prefecture. First and foremost I want to thank you Aichi for the awesome trip! We came to Japan as a group. Media and agencies from Vietnam and Singapore were also in the tour.
This has been my second chance to go to Japan, the first time is when I went to Tokyo and Kyoto respectively and it was also Autumn Season in September. My recent trip to Japan however was in Aichi Prefecture and its on the first week of November! I was really not sure on what to expect in Aichi, all I know is that they house Toyota Museum, so our trip is a good eye opener that there is so much more to see!
Our itinerary includes a place where we experienced both Sakura and Autumn season in one go, follow this series of posts to believe. This will be a lengthy post and also full of pictures. Yay, so here we go~
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| My airport fashion, lol! |
Flight
There are 3 airlines that flies directly to Nagoya: Cebu Pacific, Jetstar and Philippine Airlines. To be able to arrive early in the morning we need to take Singapore Airlines. Our route was Manila-Singapore and Singapore-Nagoya. It was a long trip indeed, good thing that they served us good food, I mean just look at this:
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| Lots of option of beverages from Singapore Airlines |
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| Yummy In flight Meal |
Airport
Singapore Airport, which is in the list of top 10 airports in the world according to Skytrax have this train system for transfers between Terminals, hope we have this in NAIA.
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| Skytrain going to our Terminal |
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| Playground inside Singapore Airport |
In Japan you do not have to worry because there are wifi rental, internet sim cards and foreign money exchange kiosks inside the airport. I don't have any pictures of Nagoya Airport upon arrival because we moved fast upon landing, our first stop was Handa City.
HANDA CITY
Handa has on old town feel and there are barely people on the streets. It has laid back atmosphere. We would be visiting the Red Brick Building and Kunizakari Sake Brewery.
Red Brick Building: Old Kabuto Beer Brewery
Handa Red Brick Building is one of the five largest structures bult during the Meiji period and also a very rare surviving example of a brewery building. Its made of multi-layered cavity walls and brick-arch floor construction which is rare nowadays.
Kunizakari Sake no Bunkaken Museum
In contrast to the red color of our first stop, Sake Brewery on the other hand is a dark colored structure. This black building was used as a sake brewery for 200 yrs already so it will make you feel the history. In front of the entrance there is a hanging sugitama (pine cone ball) it means new sake is made. As sugitama dries and change its color it lets people know how mature the sake is.
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| Sake brewery. 1st floor is storage and 2nd floor is the museum |
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| The Sake |
They have different flavors of sake, I don't really drink but I love the peach sake because it taste like juice.
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| Sake for sale |
At the end of the tour you can have sake tasting of the different types of sake.
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| Sake Tasting |
"Himakaso"
We were transfered from Handa to Himaka Island from Katana Fishing Port by a chartered ship. We will have lunch at "Himakaso".
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Lunch time at Himakaso
One thing to look forward when eating at Himaka Island is the fresh octopus! They also serve fugu or blow fish. One thing to note is that most of the food served is raw. You may request for non-raw meal though.
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| Seaside view |
We also had an experience of drying out octopus.
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| Dried octopus! |
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| Octopus Statue of Himaka Island |
Himaka Island is also a place to buy a lot of dried goodies. They also have green tea ice cream (not in pictures) which is really good.
MINAMICHITA TOWN
Kaieikan Shachitei: Minamichita Hot Spring Resort
For our first day we stayed at Minamichita Hot Spring Resort. This is a ryokan type of accommodation which means traditional Japanese inn which usually feature tatami-matted rooms and communal baths.
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| Photo of my tatami matted room |
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| Beautiful sea side of Minamichita |
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| Sunset view |
We were able to wear yukata at dinner. We can actually use this all around the hotel, but the weather is really cold so we prefer not to. I've worn this also before going up the ryokan to try their hot spring bath! Kimochi~ I was a bit aloof at first because its nude bathing. But hey, men and women's side is separated so don't you worry. However I am still a bit uncomfortable, glad that I was alone when I went in hehe. Its a very relaxing and such a worthwhile experience.
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| Wearing yukata |
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| Traditional dinner in a ryokan for our group |
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| Authentic Japanese Cuisine at Ryokan |
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| Cooking inside is a big shrimp! |
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| Fresh Sushi! |
We strolled and found a single K Circle Convenience Store. Minamichita Town is far away from the City and its very peaceful. Might be a perfect place to unwind and just be one with nature.
Inside my room its so quiet that its killing me, so I turned on the tv and watched japanese shows. I like how fascinating japanese commercials are.
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| Oyasumi Nasai! |
My first day in Aichi is a very long tiring but fun filled day. I will be posting about my succeeding days in Aichi prefecture on my next posts, I don't usually post a lot of photos in one go so I hope you enjoyed this entry!~
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