After Osaka Castle, we were quite hungry and after getting off the train, we ate at a small restaurant in the underground shopping mall. Most restaurants have plastic food displays of what they offer and it's pretty accurate in what you get.
Jacqueline wanted the egg and rice and I think she thought the egg would be cooked but when it arrived, it was a raw egg on the side, just like the display.
She looked at us when it arrived and I shrugged my shoulders and said she knew exactly what she was getting. She made the most of it and said it wasn't that bad.
Tony had the soba noodles and Brittany & I had the tempura with udon noodles. You can't beat a meal when it's filling and less than $5 a person.
We went wandering around town just to look around and I loved the mural at one of the stations. It was rather large so it was easier to film it rather than take multiple photos.
We wanted to catch a baseball game in Osaka but they weren't playing the week we were there so I went searching for the next best thing - merchandise. I am a huge Lilo & Stitch fan and know the Stitch is very popular in Japan. So popular that he's up there with Micky, Minnie and Donald Duck in terms of branding.We went to a department store that carried Hanshin Tiger merchandise. They had a whole section devoted to just their merchandise.
After we came back from our morning walk, we checked in on the girls. They had just woken up and we let them get ready while we planned what to do. We decided to check out Osaka Castle which was only a few stations away by train. This was a model of the castle and the moat surrounding it at the station when we arrived.
I wasn't quite sure which direction to go as I didn't have a map but we just followed where people were gathered including school children on field trips. It was a beautiful sunny day but it being mid June, it was hot and humid - close to 90 degrees so just walking was causing us to sweat like crazy.
I don't know what these statutes were for but I liked the backside better than the front.
As we approached the castle, we came across the moat.
Cliff notes version of the post below: the castle has been rebuilt many times and isn't as old as you would think
I knew the castle had been rebuilt/restored many times but it still didn't detract from the beauty of it. We took our time and marveled at how they were able to move and cut the large stones to have them fit so perfectly without anything holding it together.
Don't let the girls' size fool you, the stones were massive!
Even though it looks like the castle was right around the corner it didn't seem like it. We walked up huge stones and then reach another walkway and then walk up some more stone and then another walkway - this was called Marked Stone Square.
We looked back at the moat from our location and it was amazing, beautiful and very peaceful!
I had Tony stand next to the base for a better comparison. He's almost 6 feet and still looks tiny.
We were finally getting closer...
And closer...
And still another set of stairs to climb after we paid our admission (the girls were free!)
The main tower held the museum and most of it was in Japanese but it had air conditioning! There were 8 floors each covering a different part of the history of the castle. The 8th floor had the observation deck with panoramic views of the city.
If you want to see a panoramic video from the top click below. (I apologize for the wind noise- it wasn't that bad but I haven't figured out how to dub music over unpleasant sounds). They had wire surrounding the viewing area making it difficult to get good clear shots.
After we were done we walked around the courtyard but since it was so hot we decided to go back....
;;;but not before I caught a glimpse of this garden a took a few snapshots.
On our first day in Japan, Tony and I were wide awake by 5am. The sun was already out and we knew the girls wouldn't be up for a few more hours so we headed out to check out the town.We were hungry so we went to the only place we knew that was opened - McDonald's. We call it having brekkie at Macca's (it's Australian slang for breakfast at McDonald's). I will be doing a separate entry on just McDonald's since the regional differences fascinate me.
After eating, we walked around the streets of Osaka to get a better idea of what there was to see and do. The city was the least researched of the whole itinerary as there didn't seem to be quite as much to see as the other places we would be visiting so a day was okay with me.
I didn't realize at the time but we were walking through Dotonbori, the famous street that runs along the Dotonbori Canal. It's not much to look at in the morning as it comes alive at night with all the neon lights and lots of people.
Dotonbori Canal in the morning.
I fell in love with the hotel on the left with the painting of the women on the wall. It reminded me of a painting my sister-in-law has. We walked in the front to see what the name of it was so I could find out the name.
It's called Petit Hotel - Rose Lips. When I looked online later that night I found it was a love hotel! Japan is know for it's love hotels which are short term stays ranging from an hour but not more than a day for the purpose of couples getting it on. I should have known from the various pricing on the sides but it didn't occur to me at the time that this is what it was. These hotels are very common in Osaka and Tokyo but this was the first time I had confirmation of one. I want to visit one on our next trip to check it out, you know for journalistic purposes of course!
We actually saw another one on the way back to our room - A Year of Your in Provence.
We walked by a bike rack lot where you can park your bike for up to 24 hours
Japan has limited land so they make use of their air space and that goes for parking spaces. This car pulls in, the hydraulic lift moves it up to a designated spot and voila, you can park a dozen or so cars in this small space. When we came back with the girls, we showed them this and look a peek inside at all the cars. A friendly man came out and asked us where we were from. We said California/USA and he said he had visited California and was happy to make a connection. He said he was from Korea and Tony said a few words in Korean and his face lit up. He made some more small talk and we went on our way. As we left I said the only Korean words I know - kamsahamnida - thank you very much!
