NORITAKE GARDEN, NAGOYA, JAPAN

ノリタケの森 . 노리타케의 숲 . Noritake的森林

Mom did not manage to get tickets to a baseball match, so Mom said we should do a city tour instead because this was Grandma's first visit to Nagoya. Mom bought the Meguru Nagoya Sightseeing Route Bus メーグル、なごや観光ルートバス One-Day Pass, and our first stop was the Noritake Garden ノリタケの森.

 

Meguru Bus Stop, opposite the Garden

Lovely place for a picnic

Fountain Plaza 噴水広場

  

Multipurpose Hall 多目的ホール on the left (toilets are here)

Mom and me went to the Craft Center and Noritake Museum クラフトセンター・ノリタケミュージアム

Mom said we'd skip the ceramic painting workshop because
it would be expensive to have it delivered to Singapore

Grandma of course went shopping

  

Kiln Wall 窯壁

 

Chimney Plaza 煙突広場 - but I think I only saw 4 out of the 6

 

 

I got bored because there was nothing for me to play, and Mom kept telling me to be careful of the plates and bowls because she could not pay for them if I broke them.

 

After visiting Noritake Garden, we also saw the Osaka Castle 大阪城, took a picture at the Nagoya TV Tower 名古屋テレビ塔, and shopped at Oasis 21 オアシス 21, before returning to the JR Nagoya Station.

 

 

We met up with Aunty Chihiro and family again at the Hitsumabushi Bincho ひつまぶし備長 restaurant in ESCA エスカ for a delicious dinner!

 

The ESCA underground shopping avenue

Long dinner queue at 5.30pm

Kids set 1300円 + 1 scoop of ice-cream for desert
I've seen eels on Discovery Channel, but I've never eaten one before

Adults' Hitsumabushi ひつまぶし set 3100円

Top up 150円 to include one piece of unagi liver in the soup

     Address:    〒453-0015 愛知県名古屋市中村区椿町6番9号先 エスカ地下街内

     Tel:            052-451-5557

     Directions:        Linked to the Nagoya Station via an underground shopping street

     Opening Hours: 11am - 3.30pm / 5pm - 10pm

 

Spot me!

 

Mom's Notes

• The Meguru pass offers great value for money and convenience, having had the experience of navigating on my own on public transport to the various key attractions in Nagoya city. What I liked about the pass was that it brought us right to the attraction's doorstep, but the bus got really crowded most times that we never got a seat, so younger kids may not take well to this
• Although the Noritake Garden was a lovely and tranquil place to relax and have a meal, there really wasn't much that kids could do there, except to run around the garden
• The charcoal-grilled Hitsumabushi (eel) dinner was simply amazing, and Marcus enjoyed his very much too! Although it was relatively expensive, it was definitely well worth the price. As with most popular Japanese restaurants, do not expect to linger after your meal as the tables need to be quickly cleared for other diners waiting in the queue

 

     Address:    〒451-8501 愛知県名古屋市西区則武新町3-1-36

     Tel:           052-561-7114 / 052-561-7142
     Directions: Click here

     Opening Hours: 10am - 5/6pm (restaurant opens till 10.30pm)

                             Refer to the calendar for the days the garden is closed

     Admission Fees: Free, except for the Craft Centre and Museum Adult 500円 / 

                              Teen (15-18 years old) 300円 / Child (below 15 years old) Free

 

 

EXPO 2005 AICHI COMMEMORATIVE PARK, AICHI, JAPAN

愛・地球博記念公園 . 아이・치큐하쿠 기념공원 . 爱知世博纪念公园

Today, we left Kyoto for Nagoya.

I was excited to meet Aunty Chihiro in Nagoya again!

 

Back to Kyoto Station for breakfast

Breakfast @ Café Du Monde カフェデュモンド and Mister Donut ミスタードーナツ, Level 2

We were taking the 11.33am Hikari shinkansen ひかり新幹線, so we had some time for shopping at Kyoto Station.

 

Mom bought lots of Kanbanyashi tea 上林直営小売店 from JR Istean 京都伊勢丹

 

Finally, time to board the shinkansen for Nagoya!

I was so excited because it was my first time taking a shinkansen!

 

Finding our way to Platform 11
Shinkansen regular one-way (KYO-NGO) ticket prices - Adult 5070円 / Child 2530円

37 mins later, we reached Nagoya

Bye bye super fast train!

After we checked into our hotel near Nagoya station 名古屋駅, we had lunch first before taking another train ride.

 

Grandma had saba set 650円, Mom had kitsune udon 350円, I had katsu tamago teishoku 690円

 

Mom said we were going to the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park 愛・地球博記念公園, also known as the Moricoro Park モリコロパーク, which was a special and memorable place for Mom because she was working at the Expo for about 4 months in 2005. I asked Mom if she lived in Nagoya before I was born, and what an Expo was...

 

From Nagoya station, take the Higashiyama line 東山線 to...

...The last station - Fujigaoka Station 藤が丘駅 (30 mins) and go to Exit 3 ...

... Down the steps to the Linimo リニモ station

Linimo train stops and fares (numbers below are child fares)

This MAGLEV train has no driver

At the Expo Aichi Commemorative Park Station 愛・地球博記念公園駅 14 mins later

Head to Exit 5, where you will see this panel

View of the park from Exit 5

It was a very hot day today, and Mom said we would take the FREE park shuttle bus 園内無料バス to tour the park, as well as go to our destination later.

 

Next to the Linimo station was the Global Citizen Centre 地球市民交流センター Gymnasium

Buying Yakult first for the hot day; 2 bottles for 90円

Waiting for the park shuttle bus in the shade, near the convenience store

Looking out at the large park
Shuttle bus bus stand circled in red

Shuttle bus timing and route can be found here

 

At 2.50pm, the bus moved off with 5 passengers inside, including us.

 

Ice skating rink アイススケート場

Expo Museum 愛・地球博記念館
Unfortunately, not enough time to pop in for a visit

Flower Square Lounge 花の広場休憩所

Ferris Wheel 大観覧車

Amusement rides at the Ferris Wheel

I was so hoping to go to the Children's Plaza - Water Area こどものひろば-水のエリア,
but Mom said she did not bring any change of clothes

 

Ice Skating Rink アイススケート場 and Heated Swimming Pool 温水プール

Kaede Pond かえで池

And this is our stop about 20 mins later - Japanese Garden 日本庭園

Continue to read about our visit to the Satsuki and Mei's House サツキとメイの家 in the park!

 

 

 

Mom's Notes

• Check the Shinkansen time schedule here
• Note that separate train tickets need to be bought to take the Linimo, and IC cards like Manaca マナカ, Toica トイカ, one-day rail passes cannot be used here. Linimo has its own one-day train pass (Adult 800円 / Child 400円) and the train schedules can be found here
• Taking the shuttle bus is the best way to move around the large park, or otherwise, a bicycle can be rented at the cycling station near the park entrance
• Commentary is provided onboard the shuttle bus, but in Japanese
• With lots of possible activities in the park, a day-trip would be more fulfilling, and during summer, bring along lots of water, slap on sunscreen and a hat as the sun and the heat was really scorching and there were few shady areas to take a respite from the heat
• I was told the park gets very crowded during the weekends and school holidays, so please take that into consideration when planning a visit there
• Click through for the park map (Japanese) or park map (English; somewhat fuzzy)
• To learn more about the World Expo that took place in Nagoya in 2005, click here (English) or here (Japanese)

 

 

     Address:    〒480-1342　愛知県長久手市茨ケ廻間乙1533-1

     Tel:           0561-64-1130
     Directions: As above. Or, take the Meitetsu Bus 名鉄バス and alight at the Expo 2005

                     Aichi Commemorative Park Station 愛・地球博記念公園駅

     Opening Hours:  Apr-Oct 8am - 7pm
                             Nov-Mar 8am - 6.30pm

                             Click here for the timings of the other facilities in the park

     Admission to the park is free. Fees apply for some facilities within the park.