Last day in Osaka and I had to choose between Universal Studio Japan or Nara, the old capital.
On to the world heritage site it was, as I didn’t want to spend so much money on USJ.. and Nara wasn’t in my plan yet.
Although Nara is an old capital of the country, there wasn’t much there from those times. Except for the temple’s up north, of which a few (or all) are now world heritage. Nara in a few words: temple, deer, shrine, deer, deer, deer, museum, deer, temple, deer, shrine, deer, statue of a deer.
Near one of the temple’s I got interviewed by some kids on an English-speaking assessment. They had to ask us some questions and make us write our name and country of origin on their piece of paper. The old teacher in my really sees this as a great exercise. Both linguistically and for personal development. It takes some courage to ask some random stranger questions in a language you’re learning, especially at that age not all of them were as comfortable with it.
I walked here a ton trough the woods to find all kind of little shrines that practically all looked the same. Saw some birds and even a snake gliding trough the brushwood!
For lunch I went to a local burger restaurant. (Yeah yeah shame on me, fastfood while in Japan.) Tried out White Soda, probably the Calpis from Pepsi Corp… it was special, not going for a refill. A nice detail on the bun was the deer stamp. the fries sucked.
After spending most of the day in the neighbourhood of over a 1000 deer! I worked my way back to Osaka, for a second visit to Nanba. This time trying to walk correctly from the first time to Dotonbori. And I made it. this place is filled with food stalls, restaurants and bars. You need more than a life time to try out everything they offer in these streets. On one of the advertisement boards for a 7floor building I found the marks of an anime bar. But unfortunately it seemed like they were closed.
Dinner was Yakisoba, nothing special though…
So I took the train to Osakajokoen and walked trough the park. I was kinda happy to see a vending machine here that had some juice in it. Pokémon themed! Although I got a ‘special’ 6th-type Slowbro, or the advert is outdated…
After eating a cup of fried chicken pieces I entered the castle. As the elevator line was quite long I decided to do all 8 floors up by stairs. You can say it was a mistake.. but I was there faster at least? I got myself an audio guide and worked my way down in the museum. It had some nice artefacts from the old days but mostly poems written by important people that were somehow preserved over the years. -That was the temporary exhibition btw- The biggest show-piece is the 2 part screen that depicts multiple battles for the command over the Osaka tower. The 360 view on top of the tower is really nice.
Breakfast was almost the same as yesterday, the fruit bagel was replaced by a ham & cheese one. Which I could only applaud! After breakfast it was time for a shower and check-out.
Arriving in Osaka I quickly noticed it was a lot cooler than in Tokyo. Walking around in my T-shirt was quickly out of the question. I went to my hostel to check-in and returned to Osaka Station as it is home to the Osaka Pokémon Center. Found there this weird Mahjong-looking game. But it’s more off a 20-games-in-one-box thing, using tiles.
After a brief visit it was time for my usual stroll around the area. Found some nice viewing spots. With gardens on buildings, really crazy stuff. Back on the ground I found this pathway dedicated to Billiken filled with restaurants and an arcade hall. the poor fellow can’t touch the soul of his foot, so if you scratch it for him, he’ll bless you with good luck.
Dinner time! This time a combination of my last 2 real meals, Udon noodles with curry sauce. I’m not really a foody, but this was just fine. Nothing special to write about actually. Except that these buggers are slippy as hell.