Spring in Japan 2008 - Osaka

OSAKA

Am glad I went to Osaka. Despite a terrible first impression of the city, I still had a lot of fun there. I also made some new friends and am hoping to stay in contact with them all. Currently though I am praying hard that I will be given opportunities to return to the same place again someday. Read on...

When I was planning this trip, I had really thought that leaving Osaka entirely out of the plan would be a good thing to do. This was as soon as I had agreed on including Kyoto as one of the cities we were going to.

I know it sounds rather ridiculous (leaving Osaka out when I started counting Kyoto in, I mean) as the two towns are located just next to each other. But leaving Osaka out would mean a bit more time for Kenji and I to spend in Kyoto. Well, at least that was what I was thinking.

But a mail from a former flatmate afterwards made me re-think about my decision. And that was when I changed my mind and included Osaka in my Spring in Japan 2008 mission.

Well, now that I have been to Osaka, I must say that it turned out to be a place I quite like as I probably had the most fun there. Despite my fairly short time in the city, I did quite a number of things and saw quite a number of places that I think I probably wouldn't have if not for Kotaro.

So thanks to Kotaro (my former flatmate) and perhaps also to Rika-san (his current girlfriend) for the effort in bringing us around. Those times have left me with great memories and now a lot of things to say about my trip in that lovely city.

1. Orientation

For a start though, we weren't supposed to be in Osaka at all on the very day we arrived. According to our plan, we were still supposed to be in Wakayama and arrive in Osaka only on the following day. But because we had in one way or another completed our mission in Wakayama earlier than schedule, we decided we should leave for Osaka sooner. So we were in Osaka on that fateful Saturday, and coincidentally that also meant an extra day for us to spend in the city!



Kenji and I arrived in Osaka on a Saturday afternoon. We arrived there by train after a 3-hour long journey, which we embarked all the way from KiiTanabe, a small town in the southwestern part of the Wakayama prefecture.

Wakayama prefecture is located on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region. It is apparently one of those places in Honshu that is not served by the shinkansen line. So the fastest way we could ever get to Osaka from Wakayama was by the express train service. Of course the express service was faster than the normal train (also called 'the local train') but we still had to put up with the long journey and only finally arrived in Osaka much later during the day.

But things were all good. Our journey turned out fine and we weren't lost in Osaka either. All thanks to Kotaro, my former flatmate (in Tassie), also an Osakan, who was with us throughout our travel in Osaka, and whose current flat we had just crashed at during our stay in Tanabe, Wakayama.


In Osaka though, we stayed for a period of 3 days and 2 nights. We were lodged in a business hotel (a hotel of Kotaro and Rika-san's choice) in a town called Tenma.

In Osaka, I spent my time in the good company of four local guys. They were Kenji, Kotaro, Rika-san and Kinya. With them I toured some of Osaka's favorite spots such as the Osaka castle and aquarium, and hung out downtown Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori where I saw Glico for the very first time and had Osaka's specialty, the octopus balls, from a famous stall on the street.

In Osaka too, Kenji and I stopped in at Kotaro's parents' place for a short visit. We were invited for dinner with the family on the very same night we arrived. That night, I remember, was a very honorable time for me ever meeting every member of the Kake family and dining in with them all. Anyhow all these will be mentioned below as I write an account of my travel in the city.

2. My First Impressions of Osaka

Sounds rather unfair I know but I had a very terrible first thought of Osaka as soon as I arrived actually. Probably because I had just pulled in from Tanabe in Wakayama, which was a fishing village, really countryside and less populated so I was quite disoriented at first. Osaka, which was a big city, really busy and very crowded had left me uncomfortable in my first few hours there.



I find Osaka quite Chinese-ish. Not only do some parts of the city looked like China, Osaka also appeared to have more Chinese-looking people around as compared to the other cities of Japan that I have been to.

Quite a number of women in Osaka whom I saw do not even look Japanese, I thought. They look more of women from other East Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and China and therefore have less of the typical Japanese look that you would probably have known/seen around.

Other observation on the people in Osaka would be on speech. The people in Osaka apparently spoke with a slightly different accent as compared to their fellow counterparts in the other parts of Japan. Some people had less formality in their speech but appeared more relaxed and approachable.

In Osaka too, I find that dressing up didn't seem to be a very big thing over there unlike in some other cities of Japan that I have visited. I actually saw, in my stay in Osaka, many people walking around in sports wear comfortably, something I don't really see in the other cities of Japan.

Having said all these however, I don't know if the people I am talking about here are original Osakans or just outsiders. I didn't stay there long enough to be able to tell the difference. So maybe I should just stop commenting on people in Osaka right about now.

3. Kotaro's Parents' Place



Kenji and I visited Kotaro's parents on the very same day we arrived in Osaka. Kotaro's parents live in Amagasaki (a town close to Osaka) so we had to take a train in order to get there. I was feeling disoriented still when we arrived (at their place) because I haven't had time to get some rest after pulling in (to Osaka) from Tanabe - I had just arrived when I had to leave Osaka once again, and that was right after check-in at a hotel in Tenma.

But despite all that however, things did go well, and I was so thankful for that. At Kotaro's parents' place though, I was introduced to every member of the Kake family before we dined for hours and hours and chatted over so many things that I quickly forgot that I was in an unfamiliar Japanese family home (and that I had, just a short time ago, met most of the members there).

Kotaro's family was filled with coy people, but they were certainly nice individuals nonetheless. Speaking of which, it was my very first time meeting every member of the Kake family (except for Kotaro's younger sister whom I met a couple of times in Tassie as she was living there too last time). Yeah, and so I found the visit a very honorable moment as I have never thought I would ever get the opportunity to visit and dine with a local family (other than Kenji's) in my visit overseas ever.

Kotaro's family was awesome and I had a fantabulous time over there. Saying goodbye to them was certainly hard and I had hoped that I could visit the Kakes again someday soon.

4. Osaka jou

Kenji and I visited the Osaka castle, or Osaka jou rather, on the second day that we were there. So from our hotel accommodation in Tenma, we trained all the way to Osaka jou-kouen to get to the castle. We were then in the company of Kotaro and Rika-san. Osaka jou was really massive, I thought. Not only was the building rather tall (as compared to some other Japanese castles I've seen) but also its total land area was really big.

The Osaka jou appeared somewhat popular amongst tourists. The four of us actually had to wait in queue for our turn to get into the castle and the queue was somewhat long. Despite packed with visitors, we still get to view all levels of the Osaka-jou. However, we didn't get to see all exhibits and displays in detail as there were just too many things to read and view and we had too little time on our side to do them all.

Outside the castle though were crowds of people, some gathered to see a busker perform, others just to hang out with their family and friends. In my wait for the caricature artist to finish painting a portrait of me and Kenji, I saw my first ever group of Singaporean tourists there. That was my first encounter of the people from back home since my travel in the country.

5. Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan



The crew and I soon left Osaka-jou for the Osaka Aquarium. But before we made our way to the aquarium, we actually dropped by Osaka bus terminal to collect another one of our crew, Kinya, who had then just arrived from Nagoya. So Kotaro, Kenji, Rika-san and me actually stuffed ourselves in a cab outside the castle to get to a bus station where we met up with Kinya and soon after headed for the aquarium together.

The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan was reached after about 20 minutes of train ride from the Osaka Station. Located in a district near Osaka Bay, the Osaka Aquarium is situated just next to the Tempozan Harbor Village Ferris wheel. Outside the aquarium though was a large area 'home' to street art performers like the buskers.



Said to be one of the largest aquariums in the world, we spent about an hour and a half of our time exploring the walk-through aquarium. The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan had several habitats and marine life on display. Amongst them was a large and very captivating tank that held a variety of fish including a manta ray and a whale shark.

I personally think the aquarium was quite different from the Nagoya Port of Aquarium, which I went to with Kenji and Izumi last year. Dissimilar to the Nagoya Port of Aquarium, the Osaka Aquarium seemed less extraordinary in anyway to me as it had only tank displays of marine life. But seeing the marine life in them was nevertheless refreshing. And like what some of my guy friends would probably have said to me (this has got nothing to do with the marine life though), the Osaka Aquarium is a good place to go to with a guy. And I was there with three guys and another girl. In all, I had a great time at the Osaka Aquarium.

6. Shinsaibashi & Dotonbori

The 5 of us also went to Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori of Namba district on the same evening. Shinsaibashi was alright to me, I thought, but Dotonbori was certainly awesome. It also reminded me greatly of Shanghai. The crew and I spent quite a long time at the Dotonbori Gokuraku Shoten-gai in the Sammy EBISU Plaza where we also got ourselves dressed up in the Dai-Osaka era costumes and had a professional photo taken (photo not posted on blog though). Anyhow check out the photos below.

All in all, I guess I am glad that I went to Osaka. Despite my very brief stay in the city, I had a whole lot of fun there. And as I have said above, I made some new friends in Osaka and am hoping to stay in contact with them all. I was just wondering though, wouldn't it be great if I was given another opportunity to visit Osaka again? Well, what can I say, I pray really hard that it would happen someday.