OOOOsaka!

Hello, hello.  Once again, I am lazy and some complaints about my lack of blogging have reached my ears.  (you know who you are).   warning...lots of pictures!

So, here you go...a post about my trip to Osaka (and Kyoto)!  So, a few weeks ago, we hopped on a bus at 10:30pm and headed to Osaka.  We got to Osaka around 7am, so all in all, not a bad deal.  The bus was a bit nicer, too, in that it had only 3 seats across with aisles between them all, so you don't have to sit directly next to anyone.  The seats also recline really far, which is fine, but also are awful when the guy in front of you decides to recline all the way back from the start of the ride.

Anyway, so to start off, people in Osaka are really nice!  I have always heard that Kansai people are friendly and outgoing, at least as far as Japanese people are concerned, (Kansai is a bigger area of Japan that includes Osaka and Kyoto among other locations) but I got to experience this nice-ness first hand.  We were wandering around the train station looking for a restroom and we found one, only to discover, as we walked closer, that it was on the other side of the gates! We were walking away looking a bit disappointed when a random lady comes up to us and asks "Do you need a toilet?"  We nod, and she goes into the like station attendant office and asks if we can just go through to use the toilet and come back out!  haha!!

So on Sunday, we met up with Sarah (yay!) and wandered around Osaka!  We went to the longest covered shopping street in the world (I think in the world) and we had a-mazing okonomiyaki for dinner.  Osaka is well known for takoyaki (octopus dumplings) and okonomiyaki (which is like pancake batter with cabbage and other veggies and meats mixed in covered with sauce and mayo) and other delicious foods, but these two in particular.  I ate both.  Takoyaki are actually quite good, as long as I do not see the piece of octopus because then I get freaked out.  So, the top picture is takoyaki and the bottom is okonomiyaki.  It was so cute, our waitress drew pictures on our okonomiyaki!!

Takoyaki

Okonomiyaki

On Monday, we went to the aquarium!  Unfortunately, it was a holiday, so it was super crowded, but it was still fun!  The Osaka aquarium has whale sharks!  Of course, they have the usual otters and crabs and rays, too, but whale sharks!  two of them.  I thought the aquarium was really well laid out, and I would like to go again on a non-holiday so I can see all of the exhibits properly.  After the aquarium we went to a NEWS concert!!!  This is another of the Japanese "boy bands" that I have grown so fond of.  They are pretty fantastic live.  I think I still like Arashi a bit better, but NEWS is definitely fantastic.  Last month, we went to Tegomasu concerts, if you recall, and the two guys who make up Tegomass are in NEWS. 

Massive sting ray!

hehe...one of the greatest things about Japan is the random signs.  Except when they are bad English, but this one is ok as far as I am concerned.

Whale shark and his groupies.

He is smiling!

BIG crabs.  awesome!

 Ok, so that brings us to Tuesday... KYOTO!  Let me say that when I told my teachers I was going to Kyoto, they were so excited that they did not care I would be  missing school for it.  Apparently Kyoto is one of those places that Japanese people go to over and over again.  It is a common destination for school field trips.  My vice principal said he has been more than 20 times and still would go again if given the chance.  Well, we only spent a day there, but it was beautiful.  And we barely scratched the surface of famous places to go.    We went to Fushimi Inari which is a shrine with thousands of the red "tori" gates.  If I understood correctly, companies from all around Japan pay to have a gate put up and it is supposed to be beneficial for the company?  yeah, so anyway...incredible.  It was like walking through a tunnel of the red gates.  Check the pictures!

Which way??

Based on my quick wikipedia research, Inari is the god of fertility and the foxes are the messengers?  I am in the process of learning more about Shinto.   Anyway, there were foxes everywhere. AND you could buy a fox and write a wish on it and decorate the face!  So here is my fox!

 

And my wish!...I wished for world happiness.  In bad Japanese.

Me walking.  We walked like this for at least 2 hours.  It is really incredible.

 Just another shot of the endless "tori" gates.

Then we made it to the top!  Here is Kyoto from the top!

Also in Kyoto, we went to Uji which is well known for green tea.  In Uji is the Byoudouin which is the building on the back of the ten-yen coin.  I am always fascinated by seeing things on money in real life.  It must be important if it was put on the back of the money, right?

  Here is the Byoudouin and a 10-yen coin!

No sketching!!!

K...next day!  back to Osaka!!!  We split into two groups today... Crystal and I who had never been to Osaka before went to the castle and Kim and Alaina went shopping.  Then we met up in "Amemura" which is short for America Mura, or American village.  It was just a bunch of "hip" shops and there was even a statue of liberty!  Then, Sarah came and met up with us and we ate some delicious Italian food and then went to the Umeda Sky building.  Another observatory of sorts.  But this one was really neat because the view from the top was actually outside!  With black lights!  I am so used to buildings where they are so scared of people jumping that the view is obstructed by poles or mass amounts of glass.  However, this one was done in such a way that you could see everything unobstructed!  YAY!  Also, being the mature individuals we are, we had some fun with clothes and our teeth in the black lights.

Osaka Castle!  It was nice, but inside it is redone and is a museum and I much prefer castles that are more authentic.  But, lots of good Japanese history in here... Oh wait..I didn't understand most of it!

View of Osaka.

Umeda Sky Building

View of Osaka at night

teeth in the black light.  who is who?!

aaaand this brings us to Thursday...a quick trip to Yogurt Land and then on the bus back to Nagano!  yay!  YogurtLand...a-mazing.  So, frozen yogurt, but you go in and can choose from like 15 flavors and then there are toppings galore and then you pay by weight.  ok...little advertisement there...not sure if they even have Yogurt Land in America...

YogurtLand! My beautiful, delicious creation!

The end.  Yay!  I finally went to Osaka and Kyoto!

Up next... school festival.

Some other pictures that did not fit into my commentary...

This one is so Japan...there were zoning issues apparently, so the highway runs through the building

Only in Japan...I think there is an anime with an eye-ball father, but I am not sure if that is what these guys are supposed to be or not...

 Me and the Glico Man.  Glico is the company that makes amazing things like Pocky and other candies and sweets and the headquarters is in Osaka.

Things like this make me sad at heart.  Why can't they get their spelling checked first?

Pancake-flavored drink.