Spotlight Ekimae

Ekimae (or Nagoya Station - or MaeEki) is an extremely crowded and busy part of town. This is the main hub for trains going in and out of the city. Also, if you come in from the airport, the train will drop you off here. What's cool about this part of town is that although it leans heavily towards the business side of things (lots of office space, tons of commuters), it also has some popular draws. One of the places we like to visit is the pair of skyscrapers called the Nagoya Towers. In one of them, there is a pretty fancy Marriott Hotel (never been there). In the other is a shopping complex. The main department store is call Takashimaya. It's an expensive department store, but you can find good deals there on some quality stuff. Also, the shops around it have a wide variety, so window shopping is fun too. On the 12th and 13th floors, there are restaurants. There is a really great lunch place on the 13th floor called Tokyo Stock that serves curry and soup (a pretty small menu - maybe 4 to 5 daily choices, but it's delicious!). And just across the escalator is a Starbucks. If you're out walking around in the middle of the day, or if you happen to work nearby, then this is an awesome place to have your lunch break. The pic at the top is a photo looking out of one of the windows on the 13th floor. You can see one of the main streets with the office buildings around as well as the monument (called the Nagoya Station monument -- creative, I know) outside. Overall, I think I really like this part of town. Especially if I'm not there during rush hour.