A bit of Sakae

Today morning I went to Sakae (the downtown-like mostly shopping/bar district) to order my phone.  I need a phone since the one at my place isn't really an outside phone.  I actually decided to get the iPhone due to the many apps that I can get that will help me with the language/reading and getting around and all.

So I went to this Softbank store in Sakae.  Softbank is Japan's #2 cellphone company after Dokomo.  It is also the company that most foreign people use since it is easy to communicate in english.  I went to the Sakae store since they have staff that speak english.  I waited a little bit and a person came that spoke english.  So I ordered an iPhone 4 32GB.  There is a waiting list so it will take around 2 weeks to get it.  The price is actually not that bad.

Softbank has a deal now that you sign up with them for 2 years and they deduct a certain amount per month to help with the cost of the phone.  So all together, the iPhone costs around $5 after 2 years.  I have to pay for the phone up front - around $700.  Then, each month I will get around $24 discount for 2 years.  The voice plans here are a bit different.  The basic plan (called the white plan) is around $12/month and allows you to talk for free with other Softbank phones (1am to 9pm) and during other time and to other phones, you get charged 25c per 30sec.  There is a system kinda fee for around $4/month.  The data plan is nice, however, for around $54/month you get unlimited data and text messages.  So basically, after purchasing the phone for $700, I will pay around $47/month for the service which is cheaper than in Canada.  A bit steep so I hope it will be worth it!  The good thing is that the phone will work anywhere in the world.  I also have access to the Softbank wireless spots that are at all train stations and many convenience stores.

I took some pictures from Sakae.  The famous Sakae TV tower in the distance.

Since the store was still cloosed (before 10am) I went around and to the OSU301 which is a very interesting indoor shopping arcade.  Many stores were still closed - but I have to come back when it's really busy.  There was one lineup of people to one store but I don't know what they were waiting for.

Nearby was a large park with a fountain and a small pond with tiny koi.

Next to it was the Nagoya City Art Museum:

Not sure what this globe thing is but it appeared all of a sudden when I was walking by.

The Nagoya TV Tower - landmark of Sakae:

Under the tower is a large park that spans a few large blocks.  Under the park is a pretty large shopping center and a maze of tunnels connecting to lots of places.

Hilarious - found an iPop corner at a music store in Central Park.

I also had lunch there at a nice Soba place.  I got seated and a younger waitress came who spoke very good english with american like accent.  Turns out she lived in BC for 2 years.  Soba was very interesting - it's definitely an acquired taste but I liked it.  Funny thing was that my dish looked identical to the picture and plastic replica on display.  Price was around $9.  It basically consisted of Soba (buckwheat) noodles, nice pickled mushrooms, green onions, some flaky thingie, seaweed, and a large serving of daikon radish.  The sauce went over the whole thing.

The multi-leveled train stations are quite interesting.  Here I found a model of one:

And an information board with the local bus routes, a map of all the exits/escalators on all the levels, and the timetable of the train.

Downtown Nagoya at night from my building at the university: