  And that's the end of March 11th and that only leaves March 8th and 9th and I'm 99% sure that I've already posted those back in the day! So hey, chances are you won't be seeing tons of Osaka stuff from now on. We'll see! |
| Amazingly enough I posted almost in real time at the start of my trip to Osaka so all of March 10th and half of March 11th were already posted back then and can be seen by going back to almost the beginning of the Osaka tag. Now on to stuff that hasn't been posted. Here's a funky sign telling you to commit no nuisance on the premises of the river walk. I'm not quite sure why acting like a tourist and taking out your own map (oh, who are we kidding? It's all about phones with GPS and map apps these days) would be considered a nuisance... but I guess it's just bad placement of the little pictogram because it's not about being a nuisance but about not having a nuisance (someone stealing your stuff) happen to you.   And I was apparently highly amused by all those bikes on the "no bike parking" signs, I think I have about 20 photos of such occurrences. |
I've said it before but it's scary to think that there are city planners and architects now who are just grown up kids who used to play Sim City. Those bridges just look so Sim City-esque that I can't help wonder just how much that game has influenced modern cities.    |
Floating Garden Observatory... and I still do not understand why it's called a "floating garden" observatory given that there is no garden up there at all! Not even a tree or a potted plant in the reception area! But hey, they do have a fancy carpet.   ( +2 - a bit of the view - someone take a tilt shift edit of this ) |
The thing that marked me most about the Museum of History is how creepy many of their mannequins were.   |
And hey, if you're ever in Osaka and have a few minutes to kill, head to the Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden... where there is absolutely nothing! Apparently there is only really stuff to see when the cherry trees are in bloom.   That said, some couple were taking wedding photos on that patch of yellow grass, so maybe it's a cultural thing. |
Next to Osaka Castle there is a field filled with plum trees. I might be wrong but I think it was planted there by some princess, or a queen, or a consort. I would make the best tourist guide around, wouldn't I? I'd probably make Little Britain's, "Welcome to Spain. If you look on your right, you'll see some Spain. If you look on your left, you'll see some Spain." look good. I'm actually pretty sure that's not the exact quote but you've probably all seen that episode. Computer says "NO".   Plum tree watching and photographing is probably a good way to train before cherry trees start to bloom. ( +4 - guess what? Plum trees! ) |
Osaka Castle. Alas, the view at the top is a bit obstructed by nets.    |
| I finished off the day on the HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel, which is actually inside a shopping centre! Inside! That just seems crazy to me. I'm really not used to huge cities with huge shopping streets and huge shopping centres that require that kind of extra entertainment. Alas there was no hot date provided like at the other ferris wheel. Speaking of ferris wheels, I read The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America a while back and there is a part in the book about the construction of the first ferris wheel and it's quite fascinating. The rest of the book is a bit too crammed for my taste, as I said on GoodReads, it felt like the author told two and a half stories in a single book... instead of two and a half books. I've read some of his other books and it seems to be his style. I guess it also didn't help that I already knew about the macabre story of Dr. Holmes.   |
I posted about the Shitennoji Temple back in March (here) but here are some photos from another temple close to there and the Honbo Garden.  ( +4 - Marimekko even at the temple and more plum trees ) |
It seems that there is a queue to the top of the Tsutenkaku Tower all day long... but waiting in line gave me time to instagram those ads featuring Arashi's Nino for Pocky (after internally fangirling for about ten minutes). They also have tons of weird pseudo-modern culture museum stuff lining the halls, so I guess that's pretty cool too.    |
It's not often I take selfies, but when I do it's with some a huge cat. Except now I feel silly that I don't remember what kind of large cat it was.   And that bear was so done with everything. S/he just couldn't give a damn and just kind of rolled around... and I just stood there and watched him/her. ( +4 - more bears and some penguins ) |
Since I wasn't around in Marseille in February, this was the only mimosa I saw this year.   And there were plum trees in bloom also, like all over the city.  |
| Back to Osaka we go and to March 12th of this year. That day sure was filled with adventures, six different touristy things! First I went to the local zoo even though I am not at all a zoo person. It was all nice in the parts where there were tons of trees and funky signs. The parts with the animals weren't all that great, I know that probably the zoo staff take really good care of them but their cages always seem so small to me and all the animals seem so lethargic! Let's start with the funky signs.   ( +3 - no cranes to see today ) |
In the Tempozan harbour there is pseudo Spanish ship that goes around the area and it was free with the Osaka Unlimited card, so I thought I might as well spend an hour doing that.   ( +3 - they take the whole Spanish thing seriously ) |
Second thought, what's more French than a hot dog bun with a matcha filling?   ( +2 - and have some matcha Collon cookies! ) |
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