Blogs from Osaka, Osaka, Japan, Asia - page 10

All the while Osaka plays second fiddle to New York City, the place we loved so dearly but left it for practical reasons. We can't help it,New York City was the backdrop of our love story. Me and my wife in a romantic and fun city, while being young and without parental responsibility, thats New York. While Osaka is a place where we toil and raised our children all on our own apart from our families. Sadly, our perception of Osaka falls victim to our new circumstances. But this time this change a bit. We have been constantly checking the weather, days ahead our prenuptial photo shoot. The forecast changes slightly on a daily basis, but never on the good side. It was either cloudy, rainy, or partly sunny At this point, we are not counting ... read more

It has just dawned on me that I had not written anything in my blog about my weekend in Japan. It was never my intension to go to Japan but when Ed wrote to me expaning that he needed to go while I was here to get a new visa and would I like to join him, I was very excited about the idea. We spent three nights there which gave us a full day in Kyoto and a day in Osaka. I should really tell you about our day in Kyoto, it being the more 'cultural' expirence. We vistited three temples (among them were: The Golden Pavilion or Rokun-Ji Temple and Kiyomizu Temple). Both were breath taking, awe-inspiring places truely worthy of their role as a place of worship. I however was in no fit ... read more

As I waited for the train at Kyoto Station I was almost positive that I was waiting for the right train, except for one detail about the sign. Before taking any public transit in a foreign country it is not enough for me to find the train that says my destination, but I must also rule out every other possibility as well before I commit. In this case, everything on the sign for the train made sense and was in accordance with where I wanted to go except for a symbol next to the car spaces. The platform numbers basically told you how far out from the center of the platform you could stand and expect to be in front of a car when it arrived. For example, trains that are 12 cars long extend through ... read more

Its been a busy summer for us. We didn't get a chance to see any big matsuri (festivals) or hanabi (fireworks display) which define summer in Japan. These festivals are really nice to see as most highlight the beautiful Japanese culture, but it also atttracts big crowds and as such being held in summer, attendees should bear with heat and humidity. But we can't let this summer pass by without at least attending less popular matsuri, so we thought. We chose to attend the light/ candle festival held at the Osaka castle. Although less popular, it still does attracts the crowd and the oh so present humidity lingers quite annoyingly. A lot of shrines, temples and castles around Japan usually had these events, where they lit up thousands of candles, bearing symbols or just simply spreading ... read more

Quite possibly the most fiasco filled trip in my life, it was an epic failing success in a way I am sure is only possible when Sarah Fann goes to Japan. For starters, my plane was delayed five hours, which meant I was unable to meet my friend and had to instead figure things out for myself on day one. It wasn’t too bad, I was put in a hotel by the airline, and after a good night’s sleep I was ready to tackle my first day. I needed to stow my over sized luggage, since I was not able to drop it off at my friends as planned, but luckily there are lockers everywhere in Japan. Mistake one, was misreading the locker instructions, and only purchasing a 3 hour cubby instead of a day cubby. ... read more