Originally we were supposed to spend one night in Kanazawa Dormy Inn, but to fully utilize our JR pass (which will soon expire), we made this a half-day tour. Or rather 3 hour tour. After spending 400 yen (ouch) and dumping our luggage at the station lockers, we set off for the city's main attraction - Kenrokuen.
Bus was 100 yen each (mini ouch) and admission was 300yen each (big ouch! that's 4.50 SGD per head!). This was the first garden that we actually paid admission for after coming to Japan this year. And honestly, 300 yen is quite cheap in contrast with other gardens that charge anywhere between 500~800yen per pax. We aren't that willing to spend on admissions - as Grace puts it, "it's not as if you can EAT the garden!"
But well this one is famous, one of the top three gardens in Japan. And it was huge! And filled with tour groups. Seeing them hurrying along behind the flag-waving whistle-blowing tour guides like ducklings struggling to keep up with mummy ducky made us appreciate the F&E experience all the more. Plenty of nice ponds and little hills, but the sky appeared to be quite bleak that day, ruining the chances of us getting some decent scenic shots. And there was Japan's oldest fountain too. After strolling randomly for a while Grace's stomach was protesting, so we decided to leave the garden.
Enroute to the station we passed by the Kanazawa castle, which was under renovation. I think it's only in Japan that you get to see SOOOOO many castles, nearly every major city has one! And since we've covered most parts of Japan over the last three years, the glistening white walls didn't wow us as much as Himeji castle did when we spotted it two years back. I admire the Japanese government for putting so much effort into conserving their culture and heritage (and charging a hefty admission too afterwards). Hardly anywhere else do you see hundreds of festivals at different prefectures/cities over a year, all with different costumes/decorations/processes.
We spotted a cool water clock in front of the Kanazawa station - it displays timing (up to seconds) with mini fountains!! Then we caught a train to Toyama, our second stop for the day.
Our sole purpose for coming to Toyama was for The Buffet. That's the name of a buffet restaurant chain (how very unoriginal). After trying it last year at its Sappuro branch, we loved it so much that we had to try it again. Little did we know that the standards in Toyama were considerably below that in Sappuro. We took a long time to find the shopping complex it was in, and had to ask for directions twice along the way and walk for a good 20 odd minutes. Price was 1580 per pax, 90 minutes. But the spread was much less that Sappuro's. Alas, we ate our fill, but was overall disappointed with the variety. Will definitely go back to Sappuro one day for The (REAL) Buffet again! :)
Long walk back to the station. We managed to catch the limited express bound for Takayama (one every 3 hours or so, missing it would have been disastrous). Another 3 hours dozing on the train, which was traveling at local train speed for most of the journey (probably because it was in mountain regions). Eventually, we reached Takayama, and found our Superhotel without much difficulty. After a relaxing bath at the hotel's onsens (I chose it particularly for its hot springs...and partially because it's new), we retired to bed early to prepare for tomorrow's ascent to Kamikochi.
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