After finishing the aquarium, I headed for Osaka Castle. I meant to quickly snap a few pictures of the outside and check out the museum inside and then go eat takoyaki at a certain place (at a different station). My plan was foiled! But it was okay! While I was walking up to the castle, I stopped to read some sign about it, and this man started talking to me. He pretty much decided that we were going to hang out and he was going to tell me all about the castle and the grounds (mostly in Japanese, with the occasional English word and quite a few gestures). I would have found this extremely sketchy anywhere else in the world, but he just wanted me to enjoy Osaka! It was fun! I looked at a lot more of the grounds than I would have otherwise, and I learned things! The museum was really interesting too; it would be cool if the inside of the castle looked like it really used to, but since it doesn't, the museum is definitely great. There were a lot of cool screens (including some depicting gruesome war scenes!) and interesting stuff about early Western influence on and/or opinions about Japan.
Afterwards, my friend-of-the-afternoon bought me takoyaki and then we went to a shrine across the street and then he showed me a kendo training center nearby where we could watch them practicing, and it was awesome.
After we parted, I headed back to Osaka Station intending to get the train back to Kyoto. As we reached the station, I spotted the Umeda Sky Building again, and I changed my plan. "It is on your left," I told myself. "If you remember what direction it is in, you have to be able to find it when you get out of the station." So I did, although it was difficult because I had to make a lot of turns to get out of the station, and then once I got out, although I could see the building, it wasn't a direct route to get there. But I made it and went up to the observatory which was SO AWESOME. I'm so happy I couldn't find the building during the day because the view was so great at night! And the ground up there had glow in the dark bits and there was random cool lighting and it was really lovely. I stayed there for a while enjoying the view (inside and outside) and then headed back to Kyoto. It was a lovely lovely day in Osaka!
Oh, wow!! That is am amazing castle!! Love it!! The bonsai are sure pretty - I don't think I have ever seen so many that were flowering before. My favorite pics are the one of what looks like a moat (the autumn colors are lovely), and the night view from your mystery building - WOW!! :-)
ReplyDeleteThe bonsai were so tiny too! Chibi (mini) bonsai!
ReplyDeleteAnd doesn't just look like a moat, definitely is a moat! The colors were lovely, ne? And they weren't even fully changed yet!
Beautiful pictures... the night scene is especially amazing! How awesome that you were able to make a new friend that afternoon to provide you with an even more interesting and enriching experience. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThat night pic is beautiful - I'm glad you were able to visit the tower after all your trying. The bonsai is really neat - I think The Amazing Race might have stopped there a couple seasons ago when they raced through Osaka, as it looked familiar, and I know there was a kendo place nearby as well. Fun!
ReplyDeleteI was so happy I could get the night pic to turn out! It took a lot of messing with the settings on my camera, but it was worth it. Osaka was so beautiful at night!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look up the Amazing Race stuff that has been in Japan; it would be mucho coolio to see them doing their thing in places I've been!