名古屋.

Here are three things I knew about Nagoya before I went there.

1.It's situated midway between Osaka and Tokyo.
2.Christopher Lambert made a film there."The Hunted."
3.They eat "strange" noodles.

My friend Mr Ko lives and works there.
He has always insisted "why don't you visit my home next timeyou visit Japan."
Never been there,only passed through Nagoya station en route to Tokyo.
Right.
I took him up on his kind offer.
This would be a good opportunity to confirm and increase my limited
knowledge about Nagoya.
Our last meeting had been in Osaka over two years ago.
Eating and drinking in Namba.
With this in mind our schedules were finalised months in advance.
He is busy,and we had to visit family and friends.

After visiting Asuka,five days into our holiday Hiroko and I took the
same shinkansen departing Osaka.
Her destination was Kyoto,meeting up with old friends.

I was going to visit Mr Ko.
Our arrangement was to meet on the platform at Nagoya station.
"Look out for a strange gaijin wearing a Tigers cap."
Instructions for my host.
You would think the chances of the two of us walking passed each other would be small.
Inevitably,the inevitable happened,we missed each other on the platform.
Anyway,about fifteen minutes later I called his mobile phone.
"Where are you Mr ko?""Where are you Chris?"
We exchanged locations and before I could catch my breath a young lady
approached.
"Are you Chris?"
Soon after,I would be introduced to Miss N by Mr Ko.
Then I was presented with a Dragons cap.
Oh.That's tough for a tigers fan.
Welcome to Nagoya.
People in this city don't wear watches they use mobile phones.
Mr Ko and I become good friends in Aberdeen so no mobile phone
jokes.Hmmm...
We said our hello's,did some shopping,then went to his apartment.
Nice place with a hi-fi made in Scotland.Interesting.
Schedules for friday,saturday,and sunday had to be explained.

Then we were ready to go.
Miss N likes kuri.So our first stop was her favourite kuri shop.
Yes.I can see the attraction of this shop too.The kuri tasted good
and not too sweet.A promising start and the first of many photo
opportunities.A good choice.
Next were the "strange" noodles.
Mr Ko managed to find a good Kishimen restaurant.
We all sat down and ate our flat noodles,then drank some tea.
Again a pleasant taste.
Another good choice,another photo opportunity.
My first impressions of Nagoya were quite promising.
Next on our schedule was a coffee shop.Just as we were getting
comfortable I could feel slight movement on the ground beneath my feet.
These were the aftershocks of the Tottori earthquake.Wow.
This was my first time,but probably just another day
for the Japanese public.A strange feeling,definitely not on
our schedule.No photo opportunity.
Now.
My thinking is that Mr Ko was looking forward to this part of the
evening.

Izakaya time.

Izakaya is my second favourite location for Japanese food.
Okonomiyaki always comes first.
Izakaya style is casual,which I like,and here we would meet
two colleagues of Mr Ko.
A gentle start with what I would call normal izakaya food.
Food selection was all down to Mr Ko.
Some salad,potato and other vegetables
all washed down with a cold beer.
First to arrive was colleague no.1 Mr H.
I always think the anticipaton of the first drink after a days work
is a nice place to be.He drank quickly,smiling.
Almost immediately I noticed a subtle shift in the
food selection process.
Mr Ko had a smile on his face.
Mr H was eager as the next dish reached our table.
He ate first,I think a favourite.
"Why don't you try this Chris."
Looked like a plate of beef to me.Little did I know
this would be my introduction.
クリスさん
これはタンです。
ごめんなさい。
I had a sudden flashback of Mr O and the bear in Sapporo.
Remember him/them?
This was going to be one of those nights.
Oh dear.Not again.
Everyone watched as I ate.I swallowed quickly and drank
some beer.
A mental image of the tongues place of origin sprang to mind.
Unsettling.
Apologies to all vegetarians reading.Again.
I'm sorry.
Colleague no.2 arrived.
He would be in charge of sake selection.
Therefore he became known as the sake master.
クリスさん.
これはサンマです.
魚です.大丈夫。
To me a fish is just a fish,but a cooked one is always easier
on the palate than a raw one.
A touch oily,but looked and tasted like fish.
Memories of the tongue were now beginning to fade.
The sake master was doing justice to his new found
reputation.
Sake selection was exemplrary.
クリスさん.
これは蛸です。
ほんと.
I've met octopus before.
This was rather chewy for my western palate,
but I finished it nonetheless.
My preference is for takoyaki.
As I said before,cooked is easier than raw.
By this time everyone was relaxed with their
new gaijin friend.Eating and drinking happily.
In my eyes people are the same the world over.
We are not so different.
Even I was trying to speak more Japanese than
I normally do.
"そえはおいしかっただがや."
Nagoya ben.Hmmm...
Mr Ko was definitely enjoying himself.
I know.
クリスさん.
これはとんぶりです。
何?
This was a strange one,some type of seed I think.
Another new taste for me.Should be okay.
Tasted fresh and healthy.
The sakemaster recommends mixing とんぶりand 納豆
together.Sounds like a good combination.
Well,he is the master.
More strange food,more reasonably normal sake,and more
normal beer kept arriving at our table.I was just thankful
that nothing on my plate was alive.
クリスさん.
これはなまこです。
すごい。
My stomach had definitely experienced new tastes and new textures
in Nagoya.Particularly namako.According to my dictionary it's a
sea cucumber.I will have to investigate this further.
Strange food was now off the menu,so therefore it was time to leave.
My stomach was full.
A memorable evening was completed by visitng a new whisky bar.
Then everyone made their way into the night.
Goodnight.
 

---

 
 

Tomorrow would be a day of contrast with "normal" food courtesy of Miss N.
On saturday I met six new people.
I will call them the HM family,Miss H,and the pianist.
Let me explain.
Mr HM is another colleague of Mr Ko.
Miss H is a singer and cousin of Mr Ko.
The pianist,well she plays piano for Miss H.
Sounds complicated,but this was all part ofour schedule.

Many things would happen over the course of the weekend.
Some strange and some normal,but too numerous to mention
everything,but I was treated like royalty.
Mr H was kind enough to invite me to his sumptuous family home.
Mrs HM made traditional Japanese tea.
This was a wonderful experience.
 
 

Miss N cooked a wonderful evening meal.
She worked hard in the kitchen allday.
The food was western style complimented with
wine selection by Mr Ko.
These are my abiding memories of saturday in Nagoya.
 

---

Sunday mainly belonged to Miss H.
She had travelled through from Tokyo in order to perform
along with local schoolchildren.
The concert was scheduled for 1400 hrs.
All my new friends were there except for the sake master.
He had a prior engagement.
Yet again another new experience for me,and although tired
I still managed to enjoy the show.
Miss H was in good voice,ably supported by the pianist.
They both sang and played well.
 

Many photo opportunities during and after the show.
My time in Nagoya was now drawing to a close.
This had been a wonderful trip.
 

Met an old friend,made some new friends.
Experienced an earthquake,ate some "nice" food.
Confirmed and increased my limited knowledge of Nagoya.
All these things and more have given me good memories
about my visit to the "Home of Pachinko."
Before catching my train back to Osaka,Miss N helped me choose some unagi pie for Hiroko's father.
As my train approached I thanked my old friend Mr Ko
and my new friend Miss N.
See you next time.