September - Nagoya

Okay, so for 16 days, I was sent off as an intern to Nagoya, the 4th biggest city in Japan to help out at the office until the next intern who had visa issues arrived.
My shinkansen ticket there and back was covered and I saw for the first time, Mount Fuji from afar on a clear sunny day

And I pretty much sh!t my dacks after the realisation that I climbed that beast of mountain only 2 weeks prior. If I saw this from afar and was then invited to climb this mountain, NO way would have been my answer.

I was lodged at a business hotel with incl breakfast, lunch and dinner paid for plus a daily allowance on top of my living allowance aka wages.
Yeah I know and that's the bathroom!

Fortunately the office was only busy for the first week I was there and I spent the rest of the time planning my trip back to Kansai to visit friends for the first time since coming back to Japan and also other tourist spots which Nagoya had to offer.




Firstly, I went to check out Tagata Jinja,
known for its Fertility Shrine where it pays
tribute to a large wooden Phallus.
There is also a 2-day Fertility Festival here every
Apr or May and I knew I wouldn't be back here for
that and hence the journey there.













Then the next day, went to check out Inuyama Castle and also Nagoya Port.
Inuyama Castle is one of 4 castles in Japan which are considered National Treasures and it is also the oldest castle in Japan and in its original preserved form. What I liked most about the area were the old fashoned Japanese streets, with very little tourists and lots of time to just wander around and check out the little tiny stores.














These cute little statues were awaiting me at Nagoya Port, where the famous Nagoya Aquarium can also be found. However, the weekend before, when I went to visit friends back in Kansai, they took me to the Kaiyukan, Osaka Aquarium
and I didn't feel like seeing anymore fish tanks for a while...





I also went to check out 1 of the 3 most sacred sites in Japan called Atsuta Jinja. This shrine houses the Japanese Prince's sword, the Kusanagi and it is safely hidden somewhere out of view, so it did make me wonder why I bothered to go there, however there were lots of Japanese people there paying their respects at the shrine and the paths leading to the shrine were quite nice as well. However if knew that I wouldn't end up having time to check out Nagoya castle, I definitely would have skipped out on this shrine.

Since it was my last weekend in Nagoya, I went strolling throughout the busy area, close to my hotel and really enjoyed the atmosphere Nagoya had to offer. Wide footpaths, less traffic, amazing food and lots of good no-name bands playing at the park nearby, funny thing is, the park is also called "central park" however, it is probably only 1/20th of the size compared to the real one in NY. In one of the photos below, you might be able to make out the Central sign with the Park bit being blocked off.

The picture on the left was a night shot of the beautiful fountain and tv tower situated behind it at Central Park.










The picture on the right was taken on top of Oasis 21 in Sakae during sunset. The view was amazing!




Osu-Kannon, nothing too special about it, dates back to the Kamakura period and I think acted as a lookou since its situated in between Kyoto and Tokyo. Situated in the middle of Nagoya made it really easy for me to go check this place out in between after work and visiting a dear friend of mine and her new born baby.





So that's 2 weeks worth of my whereabouts for September folks =D