Me: U posted Japan trip? I thought we were supposed to post when we have all the posts ready?
Leecher: ?? not post Japan now still got other things to post meh?
Me: U got so many things to blog but nv blog. I wanted the Japan trip to be completed. You got the rest of the posts ready? If not continuous will be quite off. I need to repost day 1 & 2 to be in line with day 3.
Leecher: Huh? You plan to repost one ar? I thought you just wanted to follow through.
Me: U v off leh, always spoil the flow of entry
Leecher: lalalalalalala
Guys, living in their own little world....
Since Leecher has already started the ball rolling, we are now restricted to posting Japan trip entries and nothing else. The 4th day started with a trip to Osaka Castle (大坂城); complimentary of the 2 day pass, yippee!
Time to fill our stomachs before venturing further.
Hot piping udon + soup to warm ourselves in the cold weather.
Ticket booth to purchase the tram tickets. The tram will stop at 4 different points along the park to pick up passengers. My advise is to board the tram at the starting point to enjoy the full journey.
Ta-dah! Here comes the tram; it looked like a toy tram that I couldn't resist to sit on it for fear of breaking it. The "Road Train" runs between the Otemon Gate & Sakuramon Gate.
In front of our carriage - which I can almost imagined the carriage being pulled by horses instead (like a real princess!)
Inside the carriage with another group HK tourists. It's kind of interesting that we are able to distinguish the country in which they come from based on their conversation/language/dialect. I wonder how do the natives distinguish Singaporeans? By the "lahs" or "lors"?
Leisurely taking in the sights as we approach the gates of the Main Tower
Couldn't resist taking a picture with the kawaii little girl!
There were lots of chrysanthemum on display & they were even bigger than my hand!
1st sight of the autumn colours in front of Osaka Castle.
Construction of Osaka castle commenced in 1583 by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, who aimed to unify Japan as a nation. 2 years later, the main tower was completed and used as a command post. This was burned down after the Toyotomi clan was killed in 1615 and although it was rebuilt during the Tokugawa Period, it was stuck by lightning in 1665 and was once again reduced to ashes. It remained in ruins for 266 years until 1931 when it was rebuilt to grace the Osaka skyline.
The Osaka Castle (Main Tower) that was restored. The castle is a concrete reproduction of the originals, although the interior has been changed to house the exhibits that define Osaka history.
The cannon guarding the main entrance of the castle
This well is the only original structure that survived throughout the years, without any restoration.We ventured up to the 8th floor, which is the observation deck to enjoy the panoramic view of the castle & surroundings. The image of the castle in a midst of modern buildings signaled that we are constantly reminded of our history even though the society may have evolved.
The magnificent moats and the stone walls consist of numbers of huge stones and they are symbols of the solid defenses of the Tokugawa-built Osaka Castle. The moats are 70 to 90 meters in width, and a number of the stone walls, which stand at both sides of the moats, are more than 20 meters in height. The total length of the stone walls made of granites extends to 12 kilometers and the number of stones used in the walls amounts to 500,000 to 1,000,000.The harmonized beauty of the magnificent stone walls and the moats surprises and moves the visitors. (Extracted from Osaka Castle website)
Pictures are not allowed in the castle, where more than 8,000 important cultural assets are stored in the main tower of the castle. The only place where photography is allowed is when visitors pay to dress up as warriors/king/others & have their pictures taken against the tiger-dragon background as seen above.
Having a go @ the fortune stick :)
Since we are in Japan, we must blend in with the culture. I think Leecher's hairstyle suits him quite well!
Time for some snacks to curb our protesting stomachs.
Grilled chicken & sotong; mouth-watering!As we had our fill, we strolled around the area in search for our next destination. The flowers seemed to be still in bloom even though it was nearing winter.
Pretty flowers! I was quite hesitant to stand closer as bees were spotted on the flowers. Leecher kept asking me to stand closer in his evil ploy that I will be stung by the bee. Fortunately, I escaped unscathed :)
Leecher refused to stand closer despite my verbal threats. Not fair!
The entrance to Osaka Castle Garden to enjoy the autumn colours.
Erm, not that much autumn colours right?
The sea of red fallen leaves neatly swept in piles along the pavement.
We sat by the field and watch the kids played soccer, artists doodling on their sketch books, uncles carrying their DSLRs & tripods trying to capture the autumn colours. Everything felt so relaxed :)
The majestic Osaka castle in the background .
How on earth can Leecher jump so high and still do a side kick? Hmm....
My attempt failed miserably :( I think Leecher's timing sucks big time! LOL
In spring, people come to enjoy the cherry & plum blossoms while in fall, they come to see the enchanting autumn colours. Now that we have achieved the objectives of autumn colours, next goal is to catch the cherry blossoms!
Looking at the simplicity of the architecture sort of transported me back to olden Japan, where the people are dressed in their kimonos instead of modern wear.
It seemed as if the further we ventured, the reddier the leaves.
As we strolled around the garden, we met this kind Ojisan who helped us captured one of my fave pictures in this trip!
We told Ojisan that we wanted to capture the autumn colours with us in the background
Ojisan was not satisfied with the picture that he took for us (above) and what he did next was pretty amusing.....He took dent dent in his hands, walked around the garden (with us following behind), looking up and down to find the perfect spot for picture taking.
One of my fave pictures of the trip, with the autumn colours highlighting the picture. Definitely not superimposed!
Kind Ojisan took another picture for us, this time - with Osaka Castle in the background.P2 of Day 4 will be continued in the next post, stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment