We’re off to Nagoya today. It’ll be our first ride on the Shinkansen. We booked for a train leaving at midday so we didn't have to get up super early and the rush should have died down. We caught the train from our hotels station to Tokyo Station. No dramas today. Busy in parts but we had seats. We’d given up caring, I think. Gus has his stuff all over his lap playing his games, suitcase sliding around. Oh well.

We had some time to kill so we tried to find some brunch. I got us a waffle and danish and some water from a little convenience store. Gus wasn’t a fan. I could tell he was fading so I was looking around for something to give them. I saw a Starbucks. I asked if he’d have something cold creamy and sugary. He agreed. I got him a Merry Cream. A Christmas drink with strawberry and chocolate with little sparkling sprinkles on top. That was pretty tasty.

Went up to platform 14 and waited for our train. Now I didn’t understand that the model and train name are on the booking so you can book to ride on a particular train. We got this booking at the station ticket window so just got whatever. Because I didn’t research, I ended up on a train that only does 290kph not the newer 320kph trains. This will be rectified on Thursday.

Train arrived on time, we got on and our bags fit over head. We left on time, and we just watched Japan go by for 2 hours. There were two obligatory annoying Americans two rows in front. The ones who think there are the only ones who speak English. They didn’t say anything interesting though.

We got to Nagoya on time and got off the train on time. We needed to jump on a different train line to go the station near the hotel. It turns out it’s in a completely different building. We got to the platform. No fancy trains in Nagoya. Some of them look like they’re from the 70s. A few newer ones went past but there were a wide range trains banging about.

We get to the station near the hotel. We get out and it’s raining. We just decide to walk and deal with getting wet. I put my Google Maps away because I thought I knew where I was going. After five minutes something didn’t seem right. I’d taken the wrong turn and was headed in the opposite direction. It turns out the hotel is literally next to the station. We walked past it twice before I realised what it was. Google just tries to take you on footpaths. I’ll walk on the road, thank you Google.

This hotel has chips. I ordered some for a late lunch before we tracked down somewhere to wash clothes. The hotel said there is a laundromat around the corner, so Gus and I packed up a few things to was and went for a walk with our pink sack full of clothes. We found the laundromat; it was at a servo. There was no shop at the servo but there were washers and driers. Everything was in Japanese, so I used the Translate app on my phone figure out what was going on. A nice man who worked there came out of nowhere and helped me out and showed me the buttons to press for next time. I paid and machine eight started up. An uneventful hour went past. It is so much more chilled in Nagoya. When we left with dry clothes there was only a few people around. It wasn’t dead, wasn’t crazy.

I spotted a 7 Eleven and suggested we check it out. Gus likes to check for Pokémon cards. He spotted these battle deck box behind the counter. I thought it would be easy to ask for it as it had Pikachu on it. I just pointed at the Pokémon boxes and said “Pikachu”. The guy was lovely but had no idea what I was talking about. “Pokémon” did the trick though. Gus tells me I didn’t say it the Japanese way. I didn’t even know there was a Japanese way. He also found a Mario pot of noodles. He’s been asking for noodles, but we haven’t had a kettle. We do now. I got him some more chips to have with his Mario noodles, so he’s had something decent to eat.