Osaka Castle - surrounded by the beauty of autumn leaves and the serenity that you will be least expected to find in the lively city.
After finishing my high school education and those taunting exams, my friends and I cheered ourselves up by travelling to Japan - a bustling and compacted city ,yet always filled with charms and amazement. It has been 8 years since my last visit to Japan! I still remembered my first trip to Japan was the 2005 Aichi World Expo and my family spent like 3 hours waiting in the queue to get into the Hitachi Exhibition. It was a pretty cool 3D stimulation where you can feed bananas to monkey!
Official mascot of the 2005 Aichi World Expo - Kiccoro (Forest Child)
Anyway, let's get back to Osaka. This was a 8 days trip from 24/11/2012 to 01/12/2012 - with 3 days in Osaka, 2 days Hakone (a nearby hot-spring famous town) and 3 days Tokyo. This post will detail on Osaka. Hopefully my personal experience will help or inspire you to travel. Let's begin :)
24/11/2012
Landed in Kansei International Airport, the very first thing we did was to buy the Osaka Unlimited Pass. As I mentioned in my previous post, I highly recommend you to grab one for each person. They are available in 1 day or 2 days pass and we chose the 2 days passes. Each ticket gives you unlimited travel on subway, tram & buses in 2 days and the attraction coupons give you 28 free and 12 discounted entries.
Free attractions that are included & I visited:
- HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel
- Osaka Castle Museum
- Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden
- Tsutenkaku Tower
- Tennoji Zoo
Check them all out here: http://www.osaka-info.jp/osp/en/free/free.html
.jpg)
.jpg)
Top: Tourist Info booklet & attraction coupons
Bottom: The Unlimited Pass
After acquiring all the information we needed, we headed off to Shinsaibashi (心斎橋), which is Osaka's busiest & most popular shopping/tourist district. The best way to go into city from the airport is to take the Nankai Electric Railway. We got off at Tengachaya station (天下茶屋) and interchanged to the metro subway to Shinsaibashi.
*Note: the 2 days unlimited pass cannot be used on the Nankai Electric Railway (Airport line). You have to buy an additional train ticket for the airport line.
The hotel we were staying is Comfort Hotel Shinsaibashi. It is not the cheapest hotel but is considered as quite affordable, especially when it is only 5 minutes walk from the main shopping street. And the best thing is that, it includes a wonderful breakfast buffet! The room is not big but it's very clean and organised, so overall this hotel is very recommendable.
What did we have for dinner? Unfortunately, I caught a cold before this trip so I was very sick that night. We bought Oden (おでん) from the nearby convenience store. Oden is a Japanese soup dish that you could buy in all convenience stores. Very delicious to eat in winter and you can feed your stomach by spending less than 500 yen - guaranteed!
Check out what Oden is here: http://www.nihonsun.com/2008/11/20/an-ode-to-oden-comfort-food-from-japan/
A quick shot of the Shinsaibashi shopping street.
25/11/2012
The fresh morning was started off by visiting the Osaka Castle (大阪城), which is perfectly complemented by such a fine weather.
Osaka Castle Park - even the locals are jogging or spending some relaxation time here
Unless your itinerary is fully-packed, it is a good idea to spend some hours and walk around the Park. It's not just about the Osaka Castle, the park is 106 hectares and covers old structures from the Edo period, including the Otemon Gate (The Main Gate) and Sengan Turret (which are recognized as Important Cultural Propeties by the national government).
Don't forget to reserve time for the Main Tower Building (天守閣). It serves not only as a notable heritage, but also a museum to showcase an extensive collection of more than 10,000 historical materials form the Azuchi-Momoyama period. If you are a geography/history junkie, definitely don't miss out the miniature figures that depict the Summer War of Osaka and historical accounts of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. If you are a scenic lover like me, climb up to the Observation Deck to enjoy a 360 degrees view of Osaka city.
*Info sourced from Osaka Castle Official Site
Stone Wall & Reflection
Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden - a wondrous & serene Japanese garden
Free entry if you have the Osaka 2 days pass. Famous for sakura in Spring when 600 sakura trees blossom.
Lovely birds spotted! - luckily it's not Flappy Bird
Magnificent view from the Observation Deck on the 8th floor of the Main Tower Building
First drinking fountain on our trip spotted! - a bit rusty...
The next stop we're visiting is another landmark of Osaka - Tsutenkaku (通天閣). The current tower is actually the second rebuilt tower after a severe fire burnt down the first one in 1943. It's 103m high with an observation deck at the height of 91m. But what makes it so famous? The Billiken Shrine - it's claimed that it will boost your luck and give you good fortune!
*Info sourced form Tsutenkakau Official Site
It took us around 30 minutes to get to the very top of the tower since it was Sunday. It's a very popular attraction so be prepared for the crowd. I wouldn't say it was not impressive but in compared to Osaka Castle, it was more like a 'tourist-must-do' thing, rather than some place that lingers in your travel memories.
A shot of the Tsutenkaku and the Shinsekei (新世界) district.
Notice those shops signs & banners on the side? You can find heaps of restaurant that serves Kushikatsu(串カツ) - a Japanese deep-fried snack, often skewers with meat/vege/seafood, even cheese or mochi. Try it out!
City view at the observation deck of Tsutenkaku
We also went to Tennoji Zoo which is just nextdoor and it's free entry thanks to the 2 days pass!
If you're interested, check it out here: http://www.tenzoo.jp/english/index.html
Before returning to our hotel, we stopped by at Umeda (梅田) - a large commercial and shopping district with heaps of shopping malls for shopaholics! We three poor students of course were not big shoppers, instead we went onto the HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel. What a fantastic night view!
Everybody loves Ferris Wheel! - apologise for the low resolution, it was taken with my old little Panasonic DMC-FX48 (I haven't got a DSLR back then)
26/11/2012
Last day in Osaka before we took the overnight highway bus to Tokyo. It's the day for Dotonburi (道頓堀) that is located in Namba (難波). Dotonburi is packed with food, shops, entertainment, crowd, neon lights......everything you can think of from takoyaki to pufferfish sashimi. Just take your time and immerse yourself in the restless district and discover gourmet in hidden alleys.
If there's crab, of course there's octopus...
Over 60 years and famous for Kisune udon - this is Imai.
Have you seen a rectangular ferris wheel? It's actually a discount chain store - Don Quijote (Donki)
Dotonbori canal
America-mura (American Village) - entirely different atmosphere & culture and is located in between Shinsaibashi & Dotonbori
The centre of youth culture
After doing all the sightseeing and last minute shopping, we checked out our hotel and headed to Osaka Station in Umeda. This is where we caught the overnight bus to Tokyo.
More information on the highway buses:
*We booked our bus tickets on the first website but currently both websites are in Japanese. I'll probably write up a post later on how to book/travel by highway bus.
I miss Christmas and the amazing Osaka.
Osaka Station at night
Whilst I was writing up this travel journal, all the good memories came right back and reminded me again how awesome travelling is. Hopefully you've enjoyed this post. I'll continue my Japan trip next time and it'll be - Tokyo.
Other accommodation
This is actually our first preference of accommodation however it was fully booked. It doesn't include breakfast but it has a hot spring service within it and hotel users are free of charge!
Transport
Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau: http://www.kotsu.city.osaka.lg.jp/foreign/english/
Japan Guidebook: http://www.japanguidebook.com/travel/getting-around-osaka-68.html
Other discount travel tickets in Osaka: https://www.osaka-info.jp/en/access/other_card.html
Print out the subway map - one in English & one in Japanese. There's often no English translation of station names in the subway carriage. If you have both, you can compare and wouldn't miss a stop.
Also beware of 'Women-only' carriage and pay attention to any express services (there are different express trains and they stop at various stations).
Useful Information
*Very useful - Osaka-Info: http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/
City of Osaka: http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/english/
Official Japan Tourism Guide: http://www.japantravelinfo.com/top/index.php
Japan National Tourism Organisation: http://jnto.org.au/
Japan-guide: http://www.japan-guide.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment