First off was Nagoya castle. Again, the crowds were in full force (for the same reasons as I mentioned in the previous post).
Definitely another good place for cherry blossom viewing, especially with the backdrop of the castle.
Try out the mitarashi dango on a stick - has a sticky savoury taste to it.
Lunch was back at Sakae, this time at the SKE48 cafe. Smaller eating area, but a bit more cosier than at the AKB48 one. Less kids today, and more your standard wota customers. Nothing fancy like PV requests, just a straight-out food ordering.
Didn't originally want to order Aya Shibata's birthday special parfait, but given that everyone else seemed to be ordering it, I decided to go for it after Nannan's tomato risotto, which turned out to be not too bad tasting. Ended up being a fatty (and wallet-pounding), what with all that whipped cream on top.
I don't think I could really leave without me buying something from the adjacent SKE48 shop, so my wallet took another beating and bought the SKE48 Request Hour 50 2012 special boxset. As big as it is, I really like the design of the entire boxset and photo booklet. Definitely reeks of high quality.
Having some time to kill, I decided to head down to Toyosato, which involved a quick Shinkansen trip and a transfer to a local, non-JR train. Which proved to be an interesting experience - small, 2-car, one-manned trains hustling along a single-track railway going through unmanned stations in a fairly industrial and agricultural rural part of Japan, sights I rarely get the chance to see.
Why Toyosato, out in the middle of nowhere? It's a very quiet, small town where the main road is single laned and rarely any traffic lights. But no, that's not the reason. Well, it's because of one famous site in particular: the local elementary school. Or, you might know it as Sakuragaoka Girls HS.
Yes, this was the exact setting for K-On!, the anime.
And of course, the famous music room on the third floor, filled with various fan gifts, displays and replicas of the various materials that were featured in the anime proper.
Now apparently there was a shop and cafe within the school compound, but turns out I missed it (it was on the other end of the school which I somehow missed). Probably slightly too giddy and hasty after having been in the music room.
Ended up buying, of all things, a melonpan at the local bakery on my way back to Nagoya, for my breakfast tomorrow.
Whilst back at Nagoya, I decided to try out another local delicacy: the humble tebasaki. Simply put, they're just chicken wings but coated and fried in a really nice, spicy sauce. No one does it better than Yama-chan, I heard, so there I went. Ordered the ordinary version and a "kuro tebasaki", which was a not spicy but dark soy/teriyaki/miso-esque sauce base. Both were, to use a cliche, finger licking good.
One bad thing about staying in Nagoya, and it's to do with their TV programming. Although the channels are technically affiliated with their Tokyo counterparts, they're wholly different. I tried to stay up for AKBINGO that night, only to find out it was a repeat of the most recent episode aired in Tokyo last week. And no Ariyoshi AKB or, shockingly, SKE48 no Magical Radio 3 (despite it being, well, an SKE48 series) either. But there is this small little late night 5 min intermission short where a particular SKE48 member answers some quiz question. (And that's all). Tonight was Jurina.
Breakfast: Onigiri
Canned coffee of the day: WONDA Morning Shot (3/5 - very sweet)
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