Advertisement
Published: March 4th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Osaka-jo
The stunning keep of the Osaka Castle I awoke feeling like I was part of the crew of a spaceship sent to explore a distant planet... well sortof. Unlike most patrons of my hotel I passed straight past the underwear vending machine, and got dressed in my full compliment of clean clothes waiting for me in the locker room.
Harafusa was killed on the run. His movement after that, however, remains uncertain
My first port of call was the spectacular Osaka-Jo Castle with its extensive grounds and beautiful keep. It was sufficiently castle like to avoid being another temple, despite the obvious similarities. It was also a lovely sunny day, which made the whole experience that much more pleasant. It was quite an entertaining experience too, with the museum aspect including such priceless notices as "these stairs are for down only - for down use the other stairs" and "Harafusa was killed on the run. His movement after that, however, remains uncertain"
I then used my no-my-car promotional rail pass to scoot across town to the Osaka bay area with the intention of visiting the aquarium - one of the largest in the world and home to a whale shark of all. However the realtively steep admission price combined with the forboding message "many school children party
groups mean aquarium very busy" put me off. I instead headed over to the Giant Ferris Wheel, one of the largest in the world (see a pattern occuring here...) and for a bargain price was rewarded with views right across Osaka, out to sea, and to the mountains beyond.
The lunch hour was rapidly approaching so I went to an Okonomiyaki restaurant for lunch in an attempt to tick off every main type of Japanese food before I move on to Oz.
Okonomiyaki is a specialty of the Osaka area, but is available all over Japan. The Japanese describe it as a pizza, but other than the fact it is round and has a number of toppings there is no similarity. Okonomiyaki is more like an omlette, and has a unique dining procedure to it. You are seated at a hotplate, and the waiter then brings over a bowl of ingredients - in my case crab, scallop, octopus, squid, cabbage, egg, and some herbs. These ingredients are mixed and tipped onto the hotplate, and formed into a pattie. The waiter continues to turn the pattie until cooked, then smothers it in a brown Okonomiyaki sauce and mayonaisse, before leaving
you to eat it directly from the hotplate.
From lunch I wandered along the seafront enjoying the fantastic view across to Osakas waste treatment plant. This is not a word of sarcasm, it is a truly stunning building. Also visible was the Osaka Maritime Museum, a huge glass dome on the next headland. I also came across a gallery displaying the graduation exhibition of the Osaka College of Art, so studied this which had some very interesting work in it. And some downright weird stuff too!
After Osaka bay I decidied to visit one of the old streets in Osaka, but became disoriented by resigning from instinct and following a map. I thought that "Historical Promenade" sounded like an ancient street - but infact it was a Promenade between historial sites. I.e. more bloody temples. It did take me along past a good selection of Love Hotels thought. Im sure what goes on in most of these has very little do with love. The ornate frontage, with hidden carpark, seperate exits and entrances and a "rest" and "stay" rate certainly suggests what they are really for.
The afternoon was spent exploring the midtown area of Osaka, where
Love Hotel
Pay by the hour. Enter by the front and leave by the back. "Rest" my arse! a maze of covered markets with a heavy Korean influence is established. I have used the word maze many times in this blog, but this is the most sincere usage. It was literally passage after passage after passage, with no real way of establishing your direction at any time. I realised I was short on cash, and Japan is a very cash driven culture. Far fewer places accept cards than do at home, and as I was to find, very few ATMs in Osaka accept my cash card. Having tried 3 different ATMs and asked 5 different people for help I finally found an ATM which would take my card - only to read that it only dispensed ¥10,000 notes, the equivalent of of about 50 quid.
In line with my mission to eat everything Japan has to offer (in quantity and diversity...) I decided, in the words of Mr Anthony, to play Russian Roulette at dinner and opt for the infamous
Fugu, or Blow/Globe Fish which has a colourless, odourless and tasteless poison 13 times stronger than arsenic. So I placed my order, Fugu Sashimi (raw fugu), deep fried fugu, and sake with the toasted tail of fugu in it. The texture was great, although it didnt have a particularly distinctive flavour. The deep fried fugu bought battered cod to mind! My lips were tingling a little from the poison by the time I had finished, but apparantly this is normal.
Back at the hotel I decided to check out the baths. I headed down and saw what appeared to be quite an impressive choice. 3 stories of pools, plunge pools, saunas, steam rooms, jacuzzis and bars. Capsule hotels certainly make up for their lack of luxury in the sleeping department. Well, a beer and a jacuzzi can't be bad I thought. So I went to the bar. All the waitresses (the baths are men only remember) were wearing hot pants and bikinis. Even better! After my beer I went upstairs to see what was up there. Lots of naked men. Lots of girls in little outfits massaging them. I quickly dashed through that room, and its array of "VIP" side rooms and to the roof, where there was another sauna and hot tub. I pondered on what I had seen. I drew my own conclusions, and headed up to bed.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.15s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 18; qc: 93; dbt: 0.0719s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Lisa
non-member comment
Temples
I get the distinct Impression that you're all templed out!? Can't understand why!? Hehe! Try visiting a few more bars inbetween, I find that helps with most things!! Take Care Be safe and Happy Birthday! x