2018-06-10, Higashiyama Botanical Garden and Moricoro Park

Hi there.  My friend Shioli from Hikone came to stay for the weekend and we did a little touring around.  I met her in Nagoya and we walked over to the 'Chicken Wing Summit' - yes, evidently there is such a thing... I think this was the 5th year.  One of Nagoya's special food is chicken wings.  I believe they are usually fried and then seasoned.  The seasoning is different from store to store and there is a competition at this festival - like the clam chowder or chili competitions in the States.  We tried a few different kinds and they were all delicious but there were clear winners for us.  Since it would do nothing to help my diet we only had a few.... 

Different varieties that were available.

 

After that we  went to the botanical garden on the way home to look for hydrangeas, which we found.

Shioli

On Sunday we went to MoriCoro Park - the site of Expo 2005.  It is a nice place to walk around, green and quiet.  And huge.  There's a bus that runs around inside the park.  There are gymnasiums, different gardens, water play areas, bike paths, and somewhere a special pool and ice skating rink.  And... a recreation of Mei and Satsuki's house from the animated movie 'My Neighbor Totoro' by H. Miyazaki.  Shioli really wanted to go in so I went with her.  And actually I was glad I did.  It's like a museum (of a country house) from the period  the early 50s I think).  They change the clothes and furnishings seasonally as would have happened in real life.  You can open drawers and closets and peek in here and there.

This was one of the areas in the park.  I don't know why there was 'steam' in the little stream.  Maybe it was just a way to keep the plants moist.

The Japanese garden.

Across the street from the park is an IKEA.  We decided to go for lunch and then walk around.  I didn't realize you couldn't just go in and out.  You have to follow the arrows one way so you end up having to go through EVERY department.  It takes forever!  Not my cup of tea.

But the lunch was good.

Back to the botanical gardens.  The pictures are all mixed up but it's too hard to fix them.  Sorry.

I love bamboo groves!  Especially when they come with a black cat!