Kansai BANZAI!!!
think its my 4th or 5th time to Osaka already... Extremely happy to come here, despite its not the first time... just love the atmosphere... had orginally planned to visit the Osaka Castle, fatigue almost got the better of me, almost wanted to give up and just go to shinshaibashi and namba.
but in the end i forced myself to wake up and dress up to ask the concierge on the directions to go Osaka castle. they recommended taking a train but i decided to tracked my own way there without a map... that wasnt too difficult since it was a straight road down from the hotel, that was merely my guess. i decided to ask ard to double confirm my guess. ask a japanese student, but all she gave me was a long sentence which i assumed was that she doesnt speak english(which is one of the reason why i think working in japan holds much prospects). den i headed in the direction which i told was correct, came across a convenience store, despite the busyness, the lady over the counter hurriedly dish out a map and told me in japanese that its very far away to walk... but nonetheless very helpful to tell me that i am heading in the right direction. God Bless her kind soul...
Proceeded along the road anyway, until i came across a signboard which states that ahead lies the ruins of the Naniwanomiya Palace, which is basically nothing left except a huge park, which leaves me wondering what happen to the castle. but there were plenty of people hanging out, pinic-ing with family, playing badminton, throwing baseballs. Almost wanted to turn back after roaming the park, cos initially i thot tts it, this is Osaka Castle... until i caught a glimpse of a tall majestic building not too far away, den i knew that was it.... hurriedly, i rushed over, to my surprise, the whole area was jam-packed people, families, couples, taking photos of the blossoming cherry sakuras... not a single green patch can be seen as every single spot is covered by people... but i must say the peach cherry blossoms is indeed beautiful, i never regretted walking through all that much to get here... After marvelling at the sakuras, its time to turn my attention to the castle itself, grand a majestic... i can imagine the shoguns and the samurais in the past hanging out and around in the castle... fending the castle from attackers and the deeps moats all around.. glad i made the trip!!!
took a train to Shinshaibashi, quite proud of myself cos I figured out japan’s railway system myself… haha… big deal… but nonetheless, next time I can travel on my own further, maybe to Kyoto!!! Or Sendai!!! Or Hiroshima? Sendai is where Rukawa and Sakuragi, characters of Slamdunk originated from… so I am quite interested to visit, thou it just gonna be a small backward village.
I must say that I am learning new things every time that I come to Osaka, the last time I came, I found the early morning wet market where the fishes were brought to the market and skinned live… now I found the Osaka castle.. shopping in shinshai and namba is always enjoyable… I just love walking along and buying food off the streets… think I got some ideas of what kind of food to serve in a café now. Plus, after so many trips to Japan and eating all kinds of different Japanese food, I finally tasted the authentic Japanese sushi… now I understand why daming say after u tasted sushi in japan, you will feel that sushi in Singapore is crap. In Singapore, sushi slices is small and the rice is huge, but here the raw fish slice is so big that it can go around the rice, and the fish is more fresh and tender… wasabi also taste a bit different… think I shall make it a point to taste sushi more often here… the only thing left is I haven drank sake in japan.. haha..
Ended up buying a nice looking overcoat in Uniqlo and a sling bag from muji… think I am becoming spendthrift… sigh, I better curb my spendings… these are unnecessary actually, cos I got similar stuff but it just look nice… and I had a taste of the popular crepes here, the sushi and shopping at 100 yen… and bought the famous Osaka cheesecake from Rikuro’s… After combing and backtracking the paths which I took when I first come to Osaka, I finally found the dragon balls which I like so much… I know I promised to get it this time round, but they are not exactly cheap with each of them at close to 30 bucks and there are 7 of them, as I had already spent a lot for this trip, I shall make it a priority to get it the next time I come…. Hope I come again soon, I dun mind a japan flight every month…I just love japan… they can gimme Osaka every month also… haha…
but in the end i forced myself to wake up and dress up to ask the concierge on the directions to go Osaka castle. they recommended taking a train but i decided to tracked my own way there without a map... that wasnt too difficult since it was a straight road down from the hotel, that was merely my guess. i decided to ask ard to double confirm my guess. ask a japanese student, but all she gave me was a long sentence which i assumed was that she doesnt speak english(which is one of the reason why i think working in japan holds much prospects). den i headed in the direction which i told was correct, came across a convenience store, despite the busyness, the lady over the counter hurriedly dish out a map and told me in japanese that its very far away to walk... but nonetheless very helpful to tell me that i am heading in the right direction. God Bless her kind soul...
Proceeded along the road anyway, until i came across a signboard which states that ahead lies the ruins of the Naniwanomiya Palace, which is basically nothing left except a huge park, which leaves me wondering what happen to the castle. but there were plenty of people hanging out, pinic-ing with family, playing badminton, throwing baseballs. Almost wanted to turn back after roaming the park, cos initially i thot tts it, this is Osaka Castle... until i caught a glimpse of a tall majestic building not too far away, den i knew that was it.... hurriedly, i rushed over, to my surprise, the whole area was jam-packed people, families, couples, taking photos of the blossoming cherry sakuras... not a single green patch can be seen as every single spot is covered by people... but i must say the peach cherry blossoms is indeed beautiful, i never regretted walking through all that much to get here... After marvelling at the sakuras, its time to turn my attention to the castle itself, grand a majestic... i can imagine the shoguns and the samurais in the past hanging out and around in the castle... fending the castle from attackers and the deeps moats all around.. glad i made the trip!!!
took a train to Shinshaibashi, quite proud of myself cos I figured out japan’s railway system myself… haha… big deal… but nonetheless, next time I can travel on my own further, maybe to Kyoto!!! Or Sendai!!! Or Hiroshima? Sendai is where Rukawa and Sakuragi, characters of Slamdunk originated from… so I am quite interested to visit, thou it just gonna be a small backward village.
I must say that I am learning new things every time that I come to Osaka, the last time I came, I found the early morning wet market where the fishes were brought to the market and skinned live… now I found the Osaka castle.. shopping in shinshai and namba is always enjoyable… I just love walking along and buying food off the streets… think I got some ideas of what kind of food to serve in a café now. Plus, after so many trips to Japan and eating all kinds of different Japanese food, I finally tasted the authentic Japanese sushi… now I understand why daming say after u tasted sushi in japan, you will feel that sushi in Singapore is crap. In Singapore, sushi slices is small and the rice is huge, but here the raw fish slice is so big that it can go around the rice, and the fish is more fresh and tender… wasabi also taste a bit different… think I shall make it a point to taste sushi more often here… the only thing left is I haven drank sake in japan.. haha..
Ended up buying a nice looking overcoat in Uniqlo and a sling bag from muji… think I am becoming spendthrift… sigh, I better curb my spendings… these are unnecessary actually, cos I got similar stuff but it just look nice… and I had a taste of the popular crepes here, the sushi and shopping at 100 yen… and bought the famous Osaka cheesecake from Rikuro’s… After combing and backtracking the paths which I took when I first come to Osaka, I finally found the dragon balls which I like so much… I know I promised to get it this time round, but they are not exactly cheap with each of them at close to 30 bucks and there are 7 of them, as I had already spent a lot for this trip, I shall make it a priority to get it the next time I come…. Hope I come again soon, I dun mind a japan flight every month…I just love japan… they can gimme Osaka every month also… haha…
posted by EniGmAtiC NoStaLgiA at 4/07/2008 07:39:00 PM
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