Sunday, February 19, 2012

Osaka Trip Days Three and Four (2/12/2012 - 2/13/2012)


I woke up Sunday morning and didn't want to go back to the café for breakfast, so I walked to the closest station and found a bakery.  I picked up a few kinds of bread, including a very tasty sweet potato-and-poppy-seed roll, and a bunch of bananas.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I had to go back to Umeda Station to pick up a second ¥2000 unlimited pass before heading to the Tennoji area.  My primary (main) reason for going there was to see the Shitennoji Temple, but there was also a park, zoo, tower, and art museum that I had free access to, and I had until 4:30 PM to see everything I could.  Besides, how long could it take to explore a zoo?  Boy, was I wrong about that.

Thinking that the zoo was smaller than it was, I fully intended to see all of it.  It ended up being much larger than I had thought, and I spent close to three hours wandering around it.  I started out taking pictures of almost everything, but as my enthusiasm waned and my boredom increased, the number of photos I took quickly dropped off.  It wasn't a bad zoo, just not a great one either.  The animals didn't exactly look thrilled to be there, and some of them didn't look all that healthy.  The most interesting exhibit was a dark indoor area full of nocturnal animals, and it was interesting to see a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) as well.


To protect my throat, I wore a face mask for most of the trip to trap the moisture.  Fortunately, Osaka seemed to be more humid than Iwaki, so I'd had almost no problems while I was there.  In fact, I woke up on Sunday morning with no trace of pain or discomfort, which was very welcome indeed.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of eating lunch at the zoo, and it was some of the worst concession food I'd ever had.  Whatever was in the cold, seemingly half-cooked okonomiyaki and unpleasant tasting meat bun made my throat flare up again, and despite my best efforts I felt lousy the rest of the day.


I finally left the zoo around 2 PM and headed over to Tsutenkaku Tower, passing through a surprisingly seedy area in the process.  One minute I was on a shopping street, and the next most of the buildings had pictures of naked women on them.  When I got to the tower, I found out that it had a 45-minute wait, so I gave up on seeing the view from the top.  I walked over to Shitennoji Temple, stopping at a very interesting little temple on the way.  One amusing thing I noted there were the offerings of junk food to the statues; it felt very 'ancient meets modern.'


Shitennoji Temple is a reconstruction like Osaka Castle, but it was quite interesting.  It had some enormous Buddha statues (which were inside no-photo buildings,) and a very impressive five-story pagoda.  In a pleasant surprise, I was able to climb to the top of the pagoda.  Each floor had hundreds of small, pagoda-shaped bronze tablets inscribed with characters, and they were carefully arranged in neat rows in glass cases all along the walls.  The sheer number of them in total was a little overwhelming.  I had used up more of my camera's batteries at the zoo than I had thought, and had to switch to taking pictures with my phone at the very end.


I exited the temple around 4 PM, and I briefly considered going to the Osaka Museum of History.  I was feeling pretty rundown (tired) by that point, though, so I instead chose to go straight to the spa.  It was a long walk from the closest station, and I was very relieved to arrive and get out of the cold.  I got in for free thanks to my unlimited pass, though I did have to pay ¥150 for a towel and a ¥200 deposit for the shoe and clothing lockers.

The spa had a very wide array of indoor and open-air outdoor baths.  Indoors, there was a 'standard' (40°C) bath, a Jacuzzi bath, a blue floral bath (for Valentine's Day,) an extra hot 43°C bath, a cold 18°C bath, and two sauna rooms, a big one with a TV and a smaller rose-centered one (also for Valentine's Day.)  Outdoors, there was another regular bath, along with a sulfur bath and three individual 'tubs' that looked like big flowerpots.  They also had a very interesting flat, bumpy area where you could lie down and let hot water run down your back, as well as a similar seated foot bath.  It got a little cold when the wind picked up, but I found it quite comfortable and relaxing.  I stayed for a couple hours, long enough to try out all the baths and relax under the night sky, then headed back to the guest house.

I stopped for dinner at a Bali restaurant and had some really good tacos and naan.  Admittedly, they were Bali-style tacos, but it was still the closest thing to Mexican food that I've had in almost a year.  The waiter spoke good English and was quite chatty, talking about how he thought Japan had 'too many rules.'  He encouraged me to come back again and gave me a discount card, and I have to let them know that I was going back to Iwaki the next morning.  It's always a little awkward when that happens.  Back at the guest house, some of the guests were watching An Education and invited me to join them.  It was pretty good, and we noticed an amusing coincidence: the main characters were named David and Jenny, and so were one of the guests and his girlfriend.  We made a lot of jokes about how it should've been called "How to Pick up Underage Girls."  And the movie was over, I packed up everything I could and fell into bed, exhausted.

I had wanted to get back to Iwaki as soon as possible, so I got up and left as early as I could.  I didn't want to dally at the café or make the long walk to the bakery (neither of them were really that great anyway,) and none of the nearby fruit stands were open yet, so the only thing I had for breakfast was a snack bar that I had brought with me.  I made the mistake of getting on a non-express shinkansen and got into Tokyo around 2 PM, later than the 1 PM arrival time I had expected.  I grabbed another bowl of ramen for lunch, which helped alleviate (reduce) the tiredness, headache and eyestrain I had been suffering from on the train.  Much refreshed, I caught the limited express back to Iwaki and returned to my apartment around 6 PM.  I felt extraordinarily lazy once I had finished unpacking my suitcase, so I didn't get around to cleaning house, cooking my lunches for the week or writing these posts.  I did at least get my photos and videos uploaded on Facebook before taking it easy for the rest of the evening!

Even though my second day of sightseeing wasn't that great, I still had a really good time overall.  It was a nice town, and there was a lot that I didn't have time to see.  I think that I could have fun going there again, especially if Soee and I were able to go together, and now I know about a few things that are probably best avoided.  I also hear that Osaka has a very impressive aquarium with a rare whale shark that I wish I'd remembered.  Maybe next time!

Osaka Trip Days One and Two (2/10/2012 - 2/11/2012)


Last weekend I took a short sightseeing trip down to Osaka.  The vast majority of (most) Japanese holidays are on Monday, which does me no good because Monday is a regular weekend day for me.  This time, however, we had Saturday off (I still don't know which holiday it was,) so I took Friday off as well to have a four-day weekend.  As I'd mentioned in a previous post, Soee and I had planned to go to Osaka together during the summer Obon holiday, but she ended up having too much work and couldn't go.  She's working unbelievably hard right now and probably won't get another chance to come to Japan before I leave, so I decided to see it myself and share my experiences and photos with her.  A lot of people advised me to visit Kyoto or Nara instead, but I already had my reasons for wanting to go to Osaka.  Besides, I like to get off the beaten track sometimes and see places that are less touristy.

After the adventures I had traveling to Nikko and Seoul, going down to Osaka was blessedly simple and hassle-free.  My biggest challenge was dealing with the umbrella I brought, which was too big to fit in my luggage; I never did end up using it, but I felt better taking it with me.  I took a limited express train from Iwaki to Ueno at 11:20 AM and had lunch at a very good ramen place in Ueno station.  I then took the subway to Tokyo station and caught and express shinkansen to the Shin-Osaka station.  One more stop on the subway took me to Higashi-Mikuni station, a short 15 minute walk from the guest house I was staying at.

I arrived at the guest house around 6 PM that night, a little later than I had expected but not too late.  The reviews had been overwhelmingly positive, noting that it was in a quiet, charming community away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.  It was located in a roofed shopping street above a dry-cleaning place, and was run by a very nice couple with a small child.


They spoke very good English and were quite helpful.  The guest house was quite nice, though the upstairs was a little chilly and the stairs seemed almost dangerously steep.  Including myself, there were only four people staying when I arrived out of a maximum of 12.  My hosts explained that they didn't usually have much traffic this time of year, so it was relatively quiet.


 It was too late to do much of anything that night, and I was a little tired from traveling anyway, so I got some takeout okonomiyaki and takoyaki (octopus dumplings) from a nearby open-air grill and relaxed at the guest house.  Osaka is known as a food town, with okonomiyaki and takoyaki being the local specialties.  The takoyaki I got were underwhelming, but the okonomiyaki was quite good.  I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked, unfortunately, because I only had one very soft pillow (I'm used to having two firmer ones.)  My hosts got me another one the next day when I mentioned the problem, so I slept better the next couple nights.  I got a breakfast of coffee, toast, a hard-boiled egg and some kind of gelatin at a small café nearby.  The owner was friends with a local AEON teacher, and one of the customers had studied in Texas for a few years, so I wound up chatting more than I had expected.

After doing some research, I decided to spend one day in the Osaka Castle area and one day seeing the Umeda Sky Building and the Tennoji area.  The guest house had some information about a special pass that offered unlimited subway travel and free passes to most of the sightseeing places.  The plan was to get the two-day pass for ¥2700, but I needed my passport to purchase that one and I had accidentally left it in my bag at the guest house.  I ended up getting two one-day passes instead for ¥2000 each, which was a lot more expensive but still saved me money.  I also ended up going to the Umeda Sky Building first because I'd seen it from the window of the train.  It's a rather unusual structure, with two towers that connect to a circular top; I understand that it's quite a popular place to get married.  I did get a great view of Osaka from the 40th floor, though!  Plus, it had an interesting exhibit on other 'sky' buildings of the past, present and future.


My next stop was the JR Osaka Station City, which has a very cool computerized water clock one of my Art Institute friends told me about.  It's easier to see than to explain, but basically it has a number of jets of water that are turned on or off to form words, numbers and pictures.


 Since it was around 1 PM by that point, I thought I'd get lunch in the station and then go to Osaka Castle.  It turns out that Osaka Station is a popular place for lunch, though, because even with two floors of restaurants, every place had huge lines.  I didn't want to waste an hour waiting to eat, so I went down to the basement to see about some cheap sushi or a bento (boxed lunch.)  Luckily for me, the bottom floor had an okonomiyaki grill with only a few people waiting!

With some food in my stomach, I went to find the best route to Osaka Castle.  While I was looking at my map, and older gentleman came up and asked where I was trying to go.  He then walked with me for close to 15 minutes to get me to the right line.  I'm pretty sure he worked there, though at the time I didn't know if he was a worker or just a helpful stranger.  Either way, I was very grateful for his help.

The first place I had wanted to see in Osaka Castle Park was the Osaka Peace Museum, which was dedicated to the horrors of World War II.  It had exhibits not only on the American bombing and the effects of the war on Japanese civilians, but also on Japanese war crimes committed in China and Southeast Asia.  It was a very somber and sobering experience, but it was encouraging to see the country taking responsibility for its actions during the war.  A final exhibit on world history after World War II and the Doomsday Clock argued for world peace and the importance of not forgetting the stories of the past.


Next, I wandered through the park and made my way to Osaka Castle.  The original castle burned down hundreds of years ago; what stands today is a concrete reproduction of the exterior (outside) with an eight-story museum on the inside.  The museum has exhibits on the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a celebrated general and politician who unified Japan, as well as the history of the castle, time period, and other important figures of the era.  The view from the top of the castle was also quite impressive.


I left Osaka Castle around 4:30 PM, right when all the major tourist attractions were beginning to close for the day.  There were still a couple things I could do that night – ride a giant Ferris wheel on top of a department store and go to a spa.  I decided to save the spa for the next night, and got an excellent night view of Osaka from the HEP Five Ferris wheel.  The staff had taken my picture in front of a green screen before I got on, and when I left they asked if I wanted to buy a picture of myself on the Ferris wheel for ¥1000.  I knew it was kind of a tourist-trap deal, but I went ahead and bought it anyway.  I couldn't find anything I really wanted to eat in the department store, so I headed back to the guest house and got some yakisoba from the same place I ate at the night before.

I spent a couple hours chatting with Soee before going to bed, and was introduced to one of her closest friends, Bomi.  Bomi's going to start teaching English at a public school in Seoul soon, and we joked about what a wild coincidence it would be if we ended up teaching at the same school.  It was definitely good to make her acquaintance!  We talked for a little bit about the respect teachers are given in Korea (and the relative lack of respect in the US,) and then I went to bed to rest up for another day of exploring.