Waking up early on the second day, it was american breakfast time.
Unknown to most people, Osaka was actually the first capital of Japan in the 7th century.
It was only after that they moved to Nara, Kyoto and than Edo (Tokyo).
However, Osaka always remained vibrant and active in the nation's economical development.
Our first stop in this old city was Osaka Castle.
The tour group walking towards Osaka Castle.
Osaka Castle's construction commenced in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi after he unified the country and chose Osaka as his base.
Thus making Osaka the political and economical center.
As with all castles in Japan, they have an impressive garden within and surrounding it.
There was a small garden just beside the grounds so we snap some shots.
The gardens of Osaka castle is also renowned for its Plum and Cherry blossoms.
It was a pretty short stop so there was no time to visit the museum which holds information of Osaka's history and various artefacts.
We headed out first as I had wanted to take photos of the exterior walls and moats protecting the castle.
Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers
After Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, he passed on the clan and castle to his son Toyotomi Hideyori.
Tokugawa Ieyasu's clan was getting stronger and he attacked Osaka but lost despite having more men than the Toyotomi clan. Before retreating, Ieyasu filled the outer moat of the Osaka castle.
As with all castles, there are usually 2 moats - inner and outer. Inner is the last line of defence before the walls of the castle. Outer moat is usually bigger and the main line of defence in preventing enemies from entering.
Hideyori started to dig the outer moat which resulted in Ieyasu's attack and thus the fall of the Toyotomi clan.
The castle was damaged many times - siege of Osaka by Tokugawa Ieyasu, lightning and gunpowder explosions from within and during the Meiji restoration. Each time it was repaired or rebuilt.
Heading back to the coach.
The outer moat of the castle.
We saw this barrier - it had birds sitting on them.
Really cute.
The tour package has 2 options for Osaka, one of them was Universal Studios.
We opted for the city tour but we had fun taking photos outside Universal!
We'll wait to visit the studios in Singapore.
It was raining!
We headed for the Osaka City Tour (which was more of a shopping tour I felt).
There are a handful of Chinatowns in Japan and one of them's in Kobe.
We went on a walking trail past Chinatown and Kobe Motomachi and Daimaru before given 2 hours to roam.
This was a shop that had like 8 floors of stuff - almost everything that you want - you can find!
Except groceries I think.
Headed for lunch. The guide recommended a Ramen store so we tried it.
Seated separately as there was no seats.
Cha Siew Ramen.
We walked back to Chinatown to see what it was like.
We saw people queuing to get into one of the food stores!
Not only Singaporeans are Kiasu for good food. Jap people are too!
Along the streets there were traditional Chinese food stuff and medicinal shops.
It's like we are not in Japan anymore.
Reminded me of the time we were at SFO's Chinatown.
Cute Panda...
We went shopping at Daimaru.
It was near Valentine's Day and at the top floor where they hold fairs - it was a world of chocolates!
You can't belive how much different types of chocolates there were unless you were there!
Oh, in Japan, women give men chocolates on V day and men give women on white day (14 March) to profess their love to their ideal partner.
Look at the display in the window. Please try to imagine what the event hall was like.
Too much people to even take out my camera.
All I heard was women ooh-ing and aah-ing over the chocolates and packaging.
Outside Daimaru waiting for the coach to come pick us up.
One last photo before we headed off to Harbourland - waterfront commercial area.
One of the shop selling toys there were really interesting and pretty.
Saw this escalator in the shopping mall - interesting eh?
Why not build a normal one??
There's a mini theme park just outside the shopping center with a ferris wheel!
Waiting for the bus and it rained.
Time to head for dinner at Dotomburi.
It was the day before New Year's Eve so we had Nabe for dinner (I never scold bad word hor!)
The shop name is called 'Malacca food shop'.
All steamed out!!
We ordered the Kobe Beef at additional cost but it was worthed it!
Very yummy and tender!
Once you bite into it - the juice oozes out in your mouth!
After dinner, we were given 2 hours to shop around.
Once again, we had to eat some sweets!
Crepe time!
Banana with cream and Tiramisu crepe.
While they fight over one crepe...
I had one all to myself!!
Haahahah...no la..4 of us shared 2 crepes..
Checked in to the Hyatt Regency Osaka for the night.
It was freaking cold!!!!!
However, we needed to go get drinking water for the next day.
And, Michelle and I was hungry (again) so we walked to another convenient shop to get food despite the cold.
Happy le!
Next up, Day 3 - Nara, Kyoto and Nagoya.
No comments:
Post a Comment