Japan's second largest metropolitan area after Tokyo. Osaka is a large port city and commercial on the Japanese island of Honshu. It is known for its modern architecture, nightlife, and hearty street food to the point that it is called "The Kitchen of the Nation", a title it has held for hundred of years.
Since we've been in Tokyo back in 2016, so we have decided to visit Osaka during September 2017. Osaka has a vibrant streetscape with proud, friendly people, and delicious food. OMG! I so much love their food!
Day 1 - Osaka Castle Park
We get up early to start our first day in Osaka by taking a stroll through the Osaka Castle Park which covers two square kilometers with lots of green space, sport facilities, a multi-purpose arena, and a shrine. This park is one of Osaka's most popular hanami spot during the cherry blossom season, which usually takes places in early April.
The castle park is located in the center of the city, so we took a train from JR Osaka Station to Umeda Station.
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| Umeda Station |
Osaka Castle is a popular tourist spot and a striking historical landmark in the middle of urban cityscape of high-rise concrete blocks. It was first built between 1583 and 1585 by the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi who ruled over Japan at that time.
Inside the castle there are historical artifacts, colorful screen painting, samurai costumes that you can try on for free, and a scale model original 16th century castle town.
Stone Walls are buried Underground
Osaka Castle possesses stone walls, known to be the tallest in Japan.. However, these walls were built during the reign of Tokugawa. Since the castle was reformed during the rule of Tokugawa (following Toyotomi), the stone wall foundations that Toyotomi had built can be found deep underground.
Unfortunately, it was raining when we came...good thing there's Lawson inside the park where we bought our umbrellas. The park is so huge and the Osaka Castle is quite far from the station, if you take a look in that photo I was just too close but to get there is still quite far. In short, we didn't go further! 😄 I got muscle cramps and I felt a bit cold.
Walking around the park...
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| What a great day! |
📍Shinsaibashi
Shinsaibashi Arcade is the premiere shopping area in Osaka. Around 600 meter long, it's filled with trendy boutiques, retail chains, and luxury department stores like H&M, Zara, Uniqlo, etc.
Our favorite Japanese Shop - Uniqlo!
Hey, Mickey!!
Super girly toilet! One of the best toilets I have been to. 😄
The shop dedicated to all the single ladies! 😆💃
"Glico Man"
Crossing the street and out of covered arcade, you'll walk into this open area and see that large most iconic landmark - Glico man sign. That's when you know you're in Dotonbori.
📍Dotonbori
Dotonbori, the city's busiest and most popular nightlife district. The streets a lined with places to eat and drink.
It was also my first time to try "takoyaki" (small balls of batter filled with octopus and topped with different sauces) which is Osaka's one of the signature dishes.
You can get 3 takoyaki for 120 yen, making it a very reasonable deal.
"Takoyaki"
Simply just walk around and explore; follow your noise, and your senses, and you will find some amazing places to eat and visit.
Grilled Japanese scallop skewer - 3 on each skewer for 550 yen.
"Hotategai"
My favorite combination! Spicy Ramen and dimsum. Oishi! 😋
Day 2 - Universal Studios Japan
Good thing that our hotel has a free shuttle to USJ. We arrived there at 8am but the queue was already long. So we lined up to the ticket entrance, 20minutes later...we just realized that we already have the tickets! 😁 We bought it the day before in Lawson for 7600 Japanese yen, to avoid the long queue but it's cheaper if you will buy the ticket in USJ.
Here we cooooome!
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| Hollywood stars' hand prints! |
TIP: Check the Studio Information so you can decide where to go first, it will show there if how many minutes you still have to wait before you can take the rides you want.
This was the result. We got wet but happy and satisfied! 😄
The Coke side of life...open happiness!!
Looks can be deceiving! 😂 This hotdog sandwich was awesome!
Here's the proof!!! Marami kaming tumikim. 😂
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| Charot lang! |
Day 3 - Den Den Town
📍"Anime Haven in Osaka, Japan"
Osaka's Den Den Town is the giant sprawl of stores appealing to games, electronics where you can also buy second hand devices, anime figures, cosplay goods, and well...just about any type of geek!
"Real life Mario Karting"
You can experience driving go-kart on the public road with different kinds of costumes.
You can choose your character, the costumes are all free-size with gloves and goggles.
There are only 3 timings - 1pm, 4pm and 7pm. It is located approximately 15 minutes from Nodahanshin Station, Sen-Nichimae (Pink) Line.
Price: 9,000 Japanese yen per session
This is the place for you love anime! A trip to Den Den Town will be a fruitful adventure for any type of geek, and an interesting look into various Japanese subcultures for the average tourist.
All along this street are countless shops selling many anime and manga culture things.
ACCESS: To get to Denden Town, walk south from Nipponbashi Station or north from Ebisucho Station. This area is located near Nankai Namba station and Kuromon Ichiba Market.
📍Kuromon-Ichiba Market
It is one of the main food markets in Osaka, Japan, right in Namba area.
Kuromon-Ichiba Market is famous for its diverse and delicious food offerings. The 580 meter-long fully covered street is nearly two-centuries old, consisting about 170 small shops and restaurants crowded along narrow streets.
A quarter of 170 shops are selling fresh fish and seafoods. This market is a seafood paradise, offering all the usual seafood that you would expect to find in Japan, as well as seasonal treats that you might not have seen before.
Who wouldn't love seafoods? 😋😋
Of course, there are plenty of fruits and vegetables as well.
Looking for souvenirs? You can also find them here in Kuromon Market where you can find cheap ones too. 😊
This caught my attention when we were crossing the street! I thought they are mannequins, but they are real humans holding the price signages! 😊
Take a relaaaaax. 😌
Nothing beats coming home after a long day and soaking in a warm bubble bath while having a Japanese beer "Sapporo" with a perfect relaxation playlist. It will surely soothe you and help you unwind.
We've spent only three days in Osaka coz we had two days in KYOTO and HYOGO. You can find them on my next blog! 😊
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God bless!
