Thursday, May 10, 2007
April 17, a simple tour of Osaka.
In keeping with the running theme of “Less, but awesome”, we didn’t do tons of stuff today, but we had a great time.
Do to geographic concerns (it was close to the hostel), our first stop was Osaka castle. We ended up getting on the loop line at rush hour, but we got seats before tons of people showed up, so we were okay.
We got to the castle a bit before it opened and walked around a park surrounding the castle to burn time. Our first impression was…well, the park was a shantytown. People had built homes all over the park out of tarps, planks, and ropes tied between trees. I wondered why they weren’t just kicked out, but I guess that’s for the Osaka Police to know.
Walked along a bike path for a while and saw a bunch of cats getting hounded by ravens. Jess walked over to say hi and the birds flew off. The cats remained indifferent to her presence.
We walked around to the front of the castle when it opened. We slipped in while 50 tour groups had their pictures taken in front of the castle. Slick.
It was a recreation of the castle and the outside was certainly magnificent. Gold trim and everything. The inside was a museum, but it was a seriously neat museum. We started at the top and got a really nice view of the whole city. Floor 7 was a history of the man who united Japan (before Tokugawa). There was no floor 6, oddly.
Floor 5 was amazing. There was a painting commissioned about the big final battle outside of Osaka between Tokugawa and the entrenched forces that was, essentially, the last battle in the unification of Japan. It was really just amazing. We stood and watched for 10 minutes while a video explained all the details, pointing out all the generals involved, little scenes within the picture, and all the big battle fronts. The second half dealt with the aftermath: celebration for the victors, people fleeing Osaka, and bandits taking advantage of the confusion. Really an amazing painting, though we didn’t get to see the original.
The fourth floor had weapons and armor, so I was stoked. There were lots of full suits of armor, some truly legendary sword blades, and all sorts of other intricate pieces. The third floor had other weapons: bows, long pikes, etc. Second floor had information about the castle restoration, the first floor was just the entrance. Really interesting sight.
We had lunch on the way out. I had katsu don and udon, and jess had hamburger…which is really more like meatloaf the way they serve it. Good stuff. We got some vanilla-grape ice cream afterwards, too, which Jess just LOVED.
Then off to the Osaka Aquarium. Wow, Wow, WOW! I think I took more pictures here then anywhere else on the whole trip.
Otters up close, sleeping on their backs and playing in the water. Sea lions at play! Dolphins! And the gigantic main tank that had a freakin’ WHALE SHARK! WAAA! Absolutely amazing! There was this huge central tank with stingrays and all manner of huge fish and this younger whale shark just swimming around. The fish tended to follow the manta ray and the whale shark around, which was entertaining.
There was also a tank themed after the Amazon rainforest with some of the biggest fish I’d ever seen! Huge!
After that we hung out in a mall where I played at an arcade I found a bunch. Shooting games, a Taiko drum game, and a whole lot of Mario Kart 2. The arcade machine actually prints and accepts cards that list your progress in the game. I saved mine, I unlocked a few neat cups, so I felt good.
After that, we had lunch at the food court. Jess got some pizza and I had Okanomiyaki. Pretty good again, but the really interesting part was that I got some shaved, dried fish or octopus or something on top, and when I opened the box, the stuff was moving all over! It must have had to do with the drying and re-moisturizing, but the little flakes were wiggling and shaking all over. Weird, but tasty.
After that we came back to the hostel and rested up.
-N
In keeping with the running theme of “Less, but awesome”, we didn’t do tons of stuff today, but we had a great time.
Do to geographic concerns (it was close to the hostel), our first stop was Osaka castle. We ended up getting on the loop line at rush hour, but we got seats before tons of people showed up, so we were okay.
We got to the castle a bit before it opened and walked around a park surrounding the castle to burn time. Our first impression was…well, the park was a shantytown. People had built homes all over the park out of tarps, planks, and ropes tied between trees. I wondered why they weren’t just kicked out, but I guess that’s for the Osaka Police to know.
Walked along a bike path for a while and saw a bunch of cats getting hounded by ravens. Jess walked over to say hi and the birds flew off. The cats remained indifferent to her presence.
We walked around to the front of the castle when it opened. We slipped in while 50 tour groups had their pictures taken in front of the castle. Slick.
It was a recreation of the castle and the outside was certainly magnificent. Gold trim and everything. The inside was a museum, but it was a seriously neat museum. We started at the top and got a really nice view of the whole city. Floor 7 was a history of the man who united Japan (before Tokugawa). There was no floor 6, oddly.
Floor 5 was amazing. There was a painting commissioned about the big final battle outside of Osaka between Tokugawa and the entrenched forces that was, essentially, the last battle in the unification of Japan. It was really just amazing. We stood and watched for 10 minutes while a video explained all the details, pointing out all the generals involved, little scenes within the picture, and all the big battle fronts. The second half dealt with the aftermath: celebration for the victors, people fleeing Osaka, and bandits taking advantage of the confusion. Really an amazing painting, though we didn’t get to see the original.
The fourth floor had weapons and armor, so I was stoked. There were lots of full suits of armor, some truly legendary sword blades, and all sorts of other intricate pieces. The third floor had other weapons: bows, long pikes, etc. Second floor had information about the castle restoration, the first floor was just the entrance. Really interesting sight.
We had lunch on the way out. I had katsu don and udon, and jess had hamburger…which is really more like meatloaf the way they serve it. Good stuff. We got some vanilla-grape ice cream afterwards, too, which Jess just LOVED.
Then off to the Osaka Aquarium. Wow, Wow, WOW! I think I took more pictures here then anywhere else on the whole trip.
Otters up close, sleeping on their backs and playing in the water. Sea lions at play! Dolphins! And the gigantic main tank that had a freakin’ WHALE SHARK! WAAA! Absolutely amazing! There was this huge central tank with stingrays and all manner of huge fish and this younger whale shark just swimming around. The fish tended to follow the manta ray and the whale shark around, which was entertaining.
There was also a tank themed after the Amazon rainforest with some of the biggest fish I’d ever seen! Huge!
After that we hung out in a mall where I played at an arcade I found a bunch. Shooting games, a Taiko drum game, and a whole lot of Mario Kart 2. The arcade machine actually prints and accepts cards that list your progress in the game. I saved mine, I unlocked a few neat cups, so I felt good.
After that, we had lunch at the food court. Jess got some pizza and I had Okanomiyaki. Pretty good again, but the really interesting part was that I got some shaved, dried fish or octopus or something on top, and when I opened the box, the stuff was moving all over! It must have had to do with the drying and re-moisturizing, but the little flakes were wiggling and shaking all over. Weird, but tasty.
After that we came back to the hostel and rested up.
-N
Labels: Aquarium, Arcades, Castle, Japan, Osaka
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