Discovering Nagoya’s Culinary Delights and Bullet Trains | Japan Travel

Hi Evan! Hello, hello! We're at— where are we?

How was the announcement? We're in Kobe.

Kobe? What are we doing here?

A lot. Yeah, we're gonna go to the park.

We're gonna go out now. There's no one in line.

Yeah, we're the first ones up.

Oh, will we be the first one? No, not quite, but we're very early.

Yeah, but we're here early. Yeah, we're here before we're supposed to be here. Okay, we're ready. Let's go! So we're gonna go. First stop is Chinatown.

We have arrived in Chinatown, but the first thing I need is coffee. Yeah, instead of going to the Starbucks right here— wait, Starbucks right here— we're gonna go to this coffee— wait, wait, wait, here, this coffee.

I was just trying to look it up and see how—

how what?

How the ratings were, but okay, whatever. Okay, fine, we can just go.

Well, I have pretty high expectations in Japan because they very value their food. Okay, so yeah, maybe even the 3-star, it's a 5-star to us. I'm joking.

Wow, okay, well, let's go then. Nina's doing her first sip of kabe coffee. Kabe coffee.

I can just tell it tastes milk right now.

It's a latte.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Cheers.

You could try the mocha. Mocha, it's a little sweet.

Oh, very hot. Oh, very sweet.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, let's go.

Good.

Chinatown.

Evan, do you want to tell us where we're going? Famous bakery.

What's the They sell bakery stuff, pastries. Okay, uh, there's only 6 spots inside and usually crazy lineups. People usually wait 30-40 minutes to get some of the food.

That's a long line.

Yeah, but it's, it's open now, so okay, let's go.

And probably no lineup.

We went to the wrong store.

Well, it's French store.

Yeah, right now we're in the right store, the bakery.

Yeah, okay, that looks more more like it.

Yeah, it smells more like it too.

We got 3 different kind of bread, the pastry. Now we just need to find a spot that we can sit and taste these yummy pastries, right Evan? I don't know what he's doing. What are you doing, Evan? What are you doing?

I'm trying to find you a better coffee.

Oh, okay.

I'm gonna find you a better— she doesn't like her coffee.

Well, it's fine, almost done. I just need to— I just want to sit down and eat our bakery. So yeah.

Oh, okay. You can do that then.

Yeah, we passed the other area that we could sit. You just kept walking.

Oh, you want to go back?

I didn't want to stop you, but it's okay. We already passed way too far now.

Way too far? Yeah, it's not that far.

I think it's around there, but anyway. No, no, it's okay.

Way too far.

Great, find a different spot. Why are you laughing so hard?

It's just back there. Way too far.

The sit-down spot, it's actually just here.

Not even way too far. It's a little—

30-second walk. Yeah, just right here. We can sit, we can sit here. What do you call these? What do you call these?

A pagoda?

A pagoda? Yeah, yeah, okay. Sit down here, eat. So they say this one is the number one. Yeah, it's like the most famous, the most famous one. So Evan's gonna taste it. Let's try that. It looks like a cannoli, it has like a stuffing inside. So good, yummy.

Oh yeah, it's cannoli.

Let me try it, let me try this small bite. Mm, I like the crunchy quality. They say the second best one is a croissant, so I got a croissant. And I love croissant, so which is a win-win.

You know, that's croissant. She went into the store thinking, oh, I want to get a—

it's good, crunchy. I went into the store and I told him, it's like, I love croissant, I want to get a croissant, but I don't know what's good here.

So she asked what's good here, and they said number 1 is this and then number 2 is croissant. The croissant! Oh my God, I'm so excited! She kind of had a big moment.

No, I didn't have a big moment.

In a Japanese restaurant. It's fine, it's fine. You're here, you're a tourist, it doesn't matter. You know, Nina can get very excitable around croissants. How is it?

It's good. You want to try it?

It's crunchy. Yeah, I have this.

Yeah, okay. I noticed there's Spider-Man everywhere. I think they must film it here. That's why, like, you see Spider-Man everywhere. Yeah, so this is the Kobe beef area that Evan wants to take me. Yeah, but then probably closed. Probably closed.

We'll probably have to come back, but we'll see what we can find.

Well, it's, it's 9 o'clock right now. What time do they open?

Uh, most places are 11, like the restaurants, the Kobe beef places, but we might find something.

Okay, okay then. We've been walking around trying to find a good Kobe beef restaurant. Yeah, most of them are closed. Yeah, and then I need to— no, I'm melting, melting, I'm melting. Yeah, but I'm melting, I'm sweating. Like, I don't know if you can see, I'm sweating, and I need to use the bathroom. So we're just gonna go to the one that we saw, 4.2. It's not too bad, 4.2.

And then we'll probably eat at 9 AM for breakfast.

Yeah, that's what we're gonna do.

It's 6 o'clock somewhere in the world.

Yeah, let's go.

Want a little update, Evan?

What's the update? You know what's the update.

We didn't go to coffee. We didn't go to eat.

It was all you can eat and not coffee beans. I mean, we're in coffee, but it was not coffee beans. Yeah, so Mino went to Starbucks.

Yeah.

And she got an iced Americano.

Yeah, because it's so hot.

And I got the banana something brand new.

Frappuccino.

Yeah. This is a mini Frappuccino.

Is this the largest one?

Oh, wow.

Wow. Oh my God, it's amazing. It's not, but this one doesn't come in bigger sizes.

Oh, I see. It's only the small size. Okay, cool.

Good. That's really good.

Oh my God.

What did we do? We spent an hour in— almost an hour in a Japanese store has like 5 levels. Yeah, it sells all sorts of stuff. Yeah, yeah, and I got some stuff.

You got some? What'd you buy?

Oh, what did I buy? Some stuff. Yeah. Oh yeah, some stuff.

Not telling, not telling, not telling what we bought. Okay, yeah, great, not telling.

Perfect. Okay, we're gonna go back to Chinatown, walk around, and come back here to eat some kobe beef.

Yeah.

This place is just keep on going. Yeah, it's like we don't know where the ending is, but Evan told me that we need to go back soon because it's 10:30, 10:40 right now. They open at 11:30, but we need to get there earlier. 11. So we need to get there earlier so that we can have a seat.

Yeah, hopefully we get in. We have no reservation.

Yeah.

I don't know if it matters, but we'll see.

We'll see.

All right, this is the one. I'm so hungry, I need to eat now. I'm actually shaking.

My face is so red. Yeah, this is really It's really hot outside.

I'm glad I'm sitting down to eat. I'm starting to feel a little better after the soup. I was so hungry.

Yeah, the food comes out so fast.

This is special Kobe beef, and that one is the tenderloin.

Tenderloin?

Yeah, I just tasted the tenderloin. It melts in your mouth.

I'm gonna try one.

So not tenderloin, Kobe beef. Try the Kobe beef.

This is the Kobe beef?

Yeah, this one.

Oh my God, it's just— Yeah, try it.

Oh, so good. Yeah, yeah, so good. Yeah, get yours, Evan, get yours. Oh my God, just the sauce, just the sauce if you want.

This is the tender one.

Yeah, how is it?

Oh yeah, does it good?

Oh my God, which one's better?

Both.

What's better? I think tender one's a little less fatty. Okay, so I'll go tender one, but okay, they're both awesome.

Holy cow, lunch is done. Yeah, how are you feeling? That was great.

That was great.

Yeah. Okay, where we going next?

We're going to go to Nagoya.

Nagoya.

Going to catch the—

we got to catch the train.

Okay.

To get to the bullet train. Kind of on a timeline.

Oh, why?

Well, the train, the bullet train leaves in 18 minutes.

Oh.

Otherwise we got to wait another 45 minutes.

Wow.

Not the end of the world, but, uh, hopefully we get there. We're not going to rush, but we're going to go.

We found our way, bought our tickets.

We're going to go to Nagoya.

Evan is very excited.

It goes 200 miles an hour. Bullet train. 320 kilometers an hour. Bullet train.

Crazy.

1 hour to get from Kobe to Nagoya and then back tonight so we can get back on the boat to go to sleep.

Finally arrived to Nagoya.

Didn't take long.

Uh, I was kind of feeling nauseous. Maybe it's too quick, or I don't know, it's like not— my ears kept popping. Yeah, it was only an hour. No, not that long, but just I don't feel so I didn't feel so well sitting in there.

Well, let's get some fresh air.

Yeah, fresh air, Nina. Yeah.

What's our next stop, Evan?

First Nagoya stop is the famous Nagoya Castle.

What's in there?

I don't know, castle things.

Okay, why is it famous?

I don't know, but we're gonna find out.

Where are we right now?

Castle. Like, where the castle.

Okay, we made it.

We walk for half an hour.

This is the number one thing to do in Nagoya? Uh, among them.

Depends what number one is.

Okay, what's the number one thing to do in Nagoya? What bunch do you like?

Like, this is one of the most popular. This is the number one castle. Okay, then we're gonna go to the number one shrine. Okay, and then we're gonna go to the number one, like, shopping, nightlife, restaurant. Okay, active area.

Okay.

And we're gonna walk all of it.

No, I'm so tired.

Like 20,000 more steps. You ready?

No, I'm not ready. I'm ready to sit down. That's what I'm ready for. Where is this, Evan?

This is where the dignitaries would come carriage in from. Huh. This would be how they come into the palace.

Oh, I see.

You got fingerprints on the camera.

Yeah, perfect.

This is the main hall. Where is this?

Reception hall. Reception hall to do what?

Private banquets and meetings.

Private banquets and meetings? Yeah. It's small, probably not a lot of people. Evan has to duck to go through each, uh, what do you call those? Don't hit your head. Hello Evan, how was the palace?

Very simple.

Yeah, they kept it really well.

Yeah, very well maintained. Yeah, very simple, low ceilings. Yeah, but, uh, clean. Yeah, new.

Looks new.

Smells great. Fresh timber. Yeah, yeah, it's just, it's interesting because usually the kind of palaces we've been to in Europe is a lot more decorative, a lot more ornate, but this is very simple. Yeah, our first Japanese matcha, I think.

Yeah.

Very light ice cream.

Yummy.

Where we heading next, Evan?

Well, we're going to get out of here and then we're going to go to the temple.

We're taking the Uber to go to the shrine. Shrine?

Yeah, Shinto shrine. One of the most famous Shinto shrines in the whole country.

Hmm, that's Shinta Beef?

It's about a 2-hour walk, I think.

Oh, you didn't hear what I said. Shinta.

Shinta is a great restaurant in Toronto. Yeah, all-you-can-eat wagyu beef. If you're in Toronto, you got to go there. We take our team there a couple times a year.

Yeah.

Inna didn't want to walk the couple hours, so we're gonna taxi it.

I don't know if you can see, I'm sweating. It's okay.

Yeah, a little sweat never hurt anybody.

Not a little, it's a lot. My whole back is drenched.

We got more walking later today, so this is, this is your relax time.

Yeah, my break time, he said.

Soak it up.

Yeah, soak it up.

How was the shrine, Evan?

Uh, very relaxing.

Yeah, we finished pretty quickly.

Yeah, yeah, we don't want to throw any of the religious stuff here, but, uh, it's like, it's chaos. And that this is a big city, Nagoya, and skyscrapers and cars and traffic and crazy. And then you come here, it's just trees and meditating birds and yeah, just a very calm environment, sand. Yeah, it's very nice.

Nice little getaway from the craziness.

And now we're going into the heart of the craziness, which is the shopping district.

Okay, are you gonna buy something?

Maybe.

Okay, okay, I'll go. Let's go.

Oh, let's go. Nina got a mochi.

Yeah, this one is a fig.

Fig, fig, fig, fig mochi. Here she goes. Oh, there's an actual fig inside. That's cool.

Where's this, Evan?

Uh, we're still in the shopping district, but we're going to go to the most famous hair and fashion accessories.

Oh, okay.

In the city. Yeah, for me.

For you? Huh. Yeah. Wow.

I wonder what you're gonna get.

Evan, how was the, uh, the most popular fashion store?

It was a big flameout. It did not work.

It's a very tiny store.

Got 4.9 stars. You can't trust everything on Google, but it's been, it's been helping us for the most part. Yeah, but that's not even what it looked like.

No, maybe it's a different store, Evan.

No, that—

oh, watch out.

Oh, whatever. Yeah, back to the shopping district.

Where are we going next, Evan?

Oh, we're gonna go get some famous cutlet.

Okay, you want to go now?

Yeah, well, we're on our way. You want to go look at more makeup stuff?

Oh, we could take a look.

All right, we're here. Evan's craving for curry.

No, no, cutlet.

Cutlet? It's not curry?

No, no, it's a cutlet.

Oh, cutlet. Evan's been wanting the cutlet, so we're here. This is a famous one. Been found on the Google Maps.

5,000 reviews.

Oh wow, that's a lot.

Let's go, let's try it.

Evan, oh my goodness, this is what you've been waiting for. This is their famous miso sauce.

Famous miso sauce. Your mouth is drooling for it. Oh no. Yum, yum.

Hot.

Good. Worth the waiting. We didn't wait actually, not even 40 minutes wait. How was the food, Evan?

Oh yeah, that was good. We've been spoiled today with the Nagoya food. I'm liking it, I'm liking it.

How would you rate it?

Oh, I gave it 5 stars already on Google, uploaded the picture of the— yeah, no, that's good.

I like it.

And we got lucky that there's no lineup, cuz usually there's a giant lineup to get in, 40, 45 minutes to get in.

Great.

Uh, the real question is, are we going to go to the famous ramen shop that's 10 minutes away. Okay, uh, for Nina. Yeah, or we're gonna make our way back to the train station slowly.

I'm kind of— I want it, but then I don't want to get too full right now. I'm comfortable.

Okay, so that's a no. Oh, we can walk past it and see.

Okay, well, let's walk past it and see.

Okay, you can run on the spot for 10 minutes as we get there. Okay, okay, let's go.

We had a spontaneous stop spot at Apple because we lost our earphones.

Both of us.

Yeah, so we're just gonna, you know, I need to pick one up and they just happen to have one right here.

Karma is working in our favor. Yeah, and Nina practiced her Japanese and got us some earphones.

Good to go.

This is a famous ramen. So we're here. We ordered the soup ramen through the vending machine. Then I ordered whatever you want, like the thickness of the noodle, the flavor of the soup, and then whether you want onion or garlic. And then you help yourself with, uh, I think it's a tea or—

No, no, it's water.

Is it water?

Yeah.

Push?

Yeah.

Okay, water. That's cool. You have to have the soup first if you're eating ramen.

You're supposed to have good broth. Let's see.

Got the green onion, but the broth is good.

That's a good start. No, I don't know if we believe you. Let's see how the second one goes.

Actually very flavorful.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, good.

Thank you for the great experience, Evan. It, it's really good. We got the very— we got a very simple ramen, but like, it's just really flavorful. Yeah, it's just really Good.

You get to pick your noodle firmness and the broth richness and something else flavorful. Yeah, you just pick it. Yeah, and I went for the extra bold everything and Nina went for the medium and then we swapped.

Yeah, it's good.

You're glad we went, huh? We found some good food today, didn't we?

Okay, now time to walk back to the station.

Walk off. Yeah, we kind of had some food today. We got to walk it off and head on back to Nagoya. No, we're in Nagoya. Head on back to Kobe.

Ready to go back? Pull your feet up.

Huh?

Are you ready to go back? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm ready. My feet are dying.

There's two terminals for the port. There's two ports. I hope we get the right one.

Yeah, hopefully. We have to ask the taxi driver.

We made it back.

Oh, people are still probably still going out.

Yeah, you don't have to be back until 5 AM.

Yeah, yeah, there's people probably nightlife.

Okay, that was our time in Kobe and Nagoya. And next up, we're in Osaka, but we're going to Kyoto for the day. And if you want to see what we do, check it out right there next to us, YouTube Believe. And we'll see you there.