Hidden Relaxing Spot near Fushimi / Yaba-cho: The Flow Café and Lounge

Japanese required: Advanced (katakana / hiragana and some kanji)
Cost: 500 to 2000 on average, per person
Good for: Anyone (1-4 people for the Flow Café is best)

The Flow Café and Lounge, which is located near Fushimi, is a great place to have a meal and relax for a while. It has a calm atmosphere, and the mood is suited to just taking a bit of time sitting with someone and talking.

When I went there for the first time, I went alone to the second floor and had an enjoyable lunch of pasta. Though the lunch set menu options were a bit limited (two pasta dishes and one rice dish), the food was good. The room they seated me in was lit via a covered window, so it was dimmer than outside. I found it very relaxing, and the comfortable chairs made it all the better. All of the seats are made of soft materials (leather, fabric), which makes it easy to just sit back and enjoy the music (which includes quite a few songs in English). The way the restaurant is spaced made it feel that I had my own private area even with several groups of people around me. I had some white sauce pasta with corn and broccoli for my meal. There was so much sauce that even after I had eaten all of my pasta, there was a small pool at the bottom of the plate. Since it was a lunch set, I also had a croissant and a small salad as an appetizer.

About half of the regular menu was made up of pasta dishes, but there weren't any pictures. Because of this, it would be very difficult to order without being able to read Japanese. You can order a variety of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. I had some orange juice. I would recommend it for eating alone or with one or two others. The restaurant is rather small, and most seating areas are limited to about four people.

The second time, I went to the first floor with a group, and we all spent about two hours talking and eating. We had a separate room from the rest of the restaurant, and it had soothing background music with comfortable, leather seats. The food was alright but not memorable. I enjoyed the atmosphere and company more than anything. The room we had was oval-shaped, so it was easy to have conversations with a lot of people without moving a lot.

 I went there on a Saturday, so the only menu options were Eggs Benedict or traditional Japanese food. I'm not a fan of Eggs Benedict, so I had a Japanese meal instead. The menu had pictures of the different Eggs Benedict dishes, but the normal menu did not have pictures for anything but desert when I looked at it. This would probably be best to take a date or some friends for lunch.

In the evening, the Flow Garden opens, which is an open-air bar / barbeque on the third floor. I've never gone there, but, if the set up is as good as the other two floors, then it'd be a great place to relax and have a few drinks.

Overall, a great place that has variety to suit anybody's interests.

The Nagoya Aquarium: fish

Japanese required: Moderate (Must be able to speak to get in, the rest of the aquarium does not require Japanese)
Cost: Aquarium is 2000 for adults and high school students, 1000 for elementary to junior high students, 500 for children aged 4 and older. Three attractions and the aquarium costs 2400 for adults and high school students, 1200 for elementary to junior high, and are free for children aged 4 and older.
Good for: Anyone

Every time I've gone to a foreign country, or even a new place in a country, I try to go to the aquarium. Combined with going there once or twice with friends, I've been to the Nagoya Aquarium several times.The Aquarium's split into two parts: a northern building and a southern one. The displays between the two buildings are rather different: the larger animals (dolphins, orcas, beluga whales) are in the northern building while the smaller fish are in the southern building.

 I personally never really found the larger animal exhibits to be as interesting as the smaller fish at aquariums. Pretty much every aquarium will have dolphins, so they're not really anything new. One thing in the northern building that would have been extremely interesting to me would have been seeing some beluga whale babies, which was advertised on a sign. I was disappointed when I saw there were no beluga whale babies.

There's also the very common dolphin show, where they make the dolphins spin around in the water, catch frisbees, leap out of the water to touch balls suspended in the air, and the like. It might be worth watching a bit of the dolphin show even if you've seen the show many times to experience the slightly different ambiance of it being in Japanese instead of English. The seating area for the dolphin show is also the most comfortable place in the aquarium, so resting there isn't a bad idea even if you don't plan to watch the show.

The smaller fish exhibits were more interesting to me. There were quite a few fish that I'd seen before, but they were still interesting. There was a series of exhibits devoted to jellyfish, which is always fun. It was unfortunately too dark to take pictures of the jellyfish because a few of them glowed. There were also some long nosed fish (I don't know their name), which were fascinating when I first saw them and are still rather fun to look at. They hardly move in the water, but that only made it easier to look at them in a more close up environment, since they were held in a circular tank that I could look at from different angles.

The single most interesting exhibit for me was seeing an eel through a tank that had the under-ground portion visible as well. I've seen plenty of eels before, large and small, but I hardly ever get to see how they move their bodies below-ground. Their movements don't really change, but it's still fun to watch an eel swim up and down out of a hole for a few minutes.

The aquarium was quite a bit of fun for about two hours' worth of time. I'd recommend it for people who like dolphin shows, turtles, penguins, small fish, or have kids that they need to entertain for a while.

Kamimaezu: A Good Restaurant Experience

Japanese required: Moderate
Cost: 2000 yen or more per person
Good for: Single people, couples, small groups (up to around 4)

I went to Kamimaezu and had lunch at a restaurant located on the second floor of the Orchid Garden near the subway station (a post about the garden will come sometime in the future). The restaurant itself is pretty decently sized, and it has a few windows to look down at the orchids which gives it a more open feel. There are several tables, and all of them seat a maximum of four people.

I went there by myself, and it gave me a very similar feeling to the Flow Cafe: a nice place to just chill out and relax for a while. The servers were, as per the norm, friendly, and I actually talked a bit with one of them about myself and shared some other small talk while I waited for my food. I ordered some pasta with an oil base and a mix of greens and meat. When I first got the dish, I was a bit suspicious of whether I would actually like it or not. Although the presentation was lacking, I actually really enjoyed the pasta.

After I'd finished eating, a Japanese couple caught my eye. They were the only other customers in the restaurant at the time, and the woman seemed like she was interested in talking to me. I smiled and bowed my head toward her, getting a similar response, which led to her walking over and talking to me. She offered to take my picture, and I accepted. After that, she invited me over to sit at their table (which was only a couple steps away from mine), and I fell into having a conversation with them.

 

I spent perhaps twenty to thirty minutes chatting with the two of them, finding out more about them as well as sharing quite a bit about myself. The woman admitted that she actually wanted to talk to me but felt too shy because she doesn't speak English. Once I did a Japanese gesture toward her (bowing my head), she felt more comfortable with the thought that I might actually speak Japanese. Once she realized that I am actually fluent, she opened up and I feel like the three of us became rather friendly in a pretty short period of time. They even took a picture of the three of us using their camera and printed it out for me to have.

The most surprising part was what happened after all of this. They paid for my food. This kind of generosity is rare, but the woman explained to me that she really enjoyed meeting someone from a different culture and said it was thanks for being good company. When I told this story to my friends (Japanese or otherwise), they were all as surprised as I was. Not only did I get to have a fun time hanging out with a pair of friendly people, but they also paid my way! While the food was good, the company definitely topped off my experience.

Kiso River Boat Ride

 
Japanese required: Moderate
Cost: 3400 for adults, 1700 for children
Good for: Everyone

The Kiso river runs through Inuyama. Inuyama is a quaint rural village with many different things to do and see. You can easily visit this town many times and find something new every time. The kiso river boat is a great way to spend the day. The meitetsu train ride there from Kanayama is 39 minutes and costs 650 yen. The bus that takes you to the loading dock for the river boat ride is a 5 minute walk from the Meitetsu InuyamaYuen station east exit and has a nice waiting area.

The view from the indoor waiting area makes it ideal for a picnic. There are plenty of tables, and they sell beverages and snacks. I packed a picnic lunch and was able to enjoy the full meal while waiting for the bus. The bus to the dock leaves roughly every 30 minutes and my group decided to let one bus go before leaving. This allowed us to have the place to ourselves, and it would be romantic if you were on a date. If you speak Japanese, you can have a friendly conversation with the couple that runs the bus stop and learn about the woman's homemade ginger "dog candy." The actual boat ride is about an hour.

It is a very calm and relaxing ride with a few small "rapid" areas. The drivers know a lot, but they can only speak Japanese. Even if you don't understand what they are saying, the many sights are impressive and enjoyable. I would suggest visiting the website for anyone that doesn't speak Japanese but still wants to know the history and some of the information shared by the drivers.

Overall, it is an enjoyable ride and I would recommend it for anyone.

Jokoji: Hiking and the Temple

Japanese required: Moderate
Cost: Transportation from your location to Jokoji
Good for: Everyone

Jokoji is a great hiking area with many scenic views. The actual hiking is not particularly tiring, so it's good even for people who have kids or aren't very athletic. I went to Jokoji near the beginning of Winter, so the leaves were changing colors, and it was very beautiful. All told, the hiking along with the temple took about four hours. I went with a group of people, so it probably took longer than it would have if I was by myself.

At the Jokoji station (which took 20 minutes to reach by train from Ozone), there's a really good view that exemplifies the beauty of the area. To actually start hiking, you have to cross a bridge. The stream below had very clean looking water, and the rocks were practically shining in the sunlight. The view made me have a very optimistic outlook on the beauty of the rest of the hiking trip, and I was not disappointed in the least. If anything, the rest of Jokoji had sights that were more spectacular than the one at the beginning.

The hike up the mountain had mostly light inclines, and several locations had stone steps in place to make it easier (though I hate steps, personally). After a bit of hiking, there's actually a very gorgeous lake and park. The lake itself isn't very big, but the view across it to the park and the tree covered mountain behind it was really fantastic. The park also made for a great picnic spot: there were several groups of people picnicking, and my group did the same thing. The air was very clear, and it felt very refreshing to relax after walking for a while.

After enjoying the picnic, my group went to Jokoji temple. The trip to the temple was the hardest because there were actual stairs instead of just an incline. The multitude of steps made the tip up rather painful and exhausting whereas the hike up the mountain had been a kind of leisurely strolling experience. That being said, the temple itself was gorgeous. There were numerous places to get amazing views, there were traditional Japanese statues and altars, and the trees were alive with brilliant splashes of color. The temple was rather large, and there was even a large, open area with chairs near a small stand that sold some warm food. I had a rice cake stick covered in sesame seeds. Despite the journey up being rather painful, there were actually a lot of elderly Japanese people in the temple. Judging from the small parking lot that I ended up seeing while I explored the temple, it's actually possible to drive all the way up the mountain (though most seemed to have parked their car lower down).

The entire trip was very great, and it was nice to go with other people. I'd say this trip works best for groups of people or couples, as there's a lot of places that make for great shared experiences. If you like easy hikes, then going alone might be a great experience as well.