General Osaka Post
Feb. 10th, 2013 11:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
write_my_dreamsTravel posts are public access for one week. After one week, they will be friends locked.
So last week I made a live report about BUCK-TICK in Osaka but later was too tired to post a general Osaka entry. I just got back from Nagoya yesterday so I have to make a Nagoya entry, a snow in Hikone entry, and then Friday projects so I better get blogging before my mom throws a fit.
Those entries are going on my main travel blog but if anyone is interested in seeing them here, I'll post to here too.
I already made a live report so details about the venue/the live itself are very glossed over in this entry. I put in some more details about the venue because this entry is from my travel blog and I'm blogging for my family. So they get venue details and LJ gets live details. If anyone's interested, here's the link to that BUCK-TICK: Namba Hatch
So on February 2/3 I was in Osaka. I left Hikone around 10 on Saturday and got into Osaka a couple hours later. Osaka is about 90 minutes from Hikone but what time you get there depends on other factors (taking the bus from the hotel next to the school to the train station, seeing what time the train leaves...) some of my classmates were going to Osaka so we rode the train together. I was going to a different part of Osaka than they were though so we parted ways at the train station and I headed off to Namba. I had to take the subway to get to Namba. I swear my main Japanese conversations are asking for directions to places. But there are always very helpful train staff scattered around the train station and it's very easy to talk to them. I say where I want to go, they give me simple directions. So I headed down to the subway and got on it to go to Namba. Taking the subway in Japan is kind of weird because everything is so clean. Subways in the US are disgusting. Filthy, nasty looking people wandering around, graffiti and trash everywhere.. there's none of that in Japan
There's a big mall near the train station with a ferris wheel on it. I was seeing a concert in the Namba area on Sunday so I wanted to explore around there and kind of get a feeling for Namba, so I didn't go to the mall or the ferris wheel. Next time though, I'll do it. I bet the city view is amazing
The mall
While taking this picture I was still inside the train station. There's a balcony type area where you can see more of the city and other trains. From that area you take the escalator up to the shops and restaurants. I didn't go up that far but next time I'll explore the train station more
Once I got to Namba, I came up the stairs and felt lost as soon as I looked around. It felt like being in an ocean of streets and skyscrapers. I do love big city architecture though so I had several buildings to take pictures off. By the time I came up from the subway it'd been a while since lunch so I picked a direction and started walking. I stupidly didn't bring a map with me... I wish I'd done that, I keep underestimating how huge big cities in Japan are. But I'd done some google searches on restaurants so I knew some places were in the area. I figured I'd just walk around and wait until I found a restaurant that looked good
Building
About a block away from the train station I found what I'd been looking for: an Indian restaurant. Indian food is my go to travel food now because it costs between 700-980 yen, is very filling, and I'm so full I don't need dinner. Thus it saves me money because I don't have to go out and buy more food. My go to is chicken curry with naan. The Indian restaurants I went to in Osaka (I went to two in the Namba area. One on Saturday and one on Sunday before the concert) were quite cheap and came with a free drink as well as the curry and naan. I tried the lassi and oh it was delicious... I want one now
My food
I definitely won't go to this place again. The curry didn't have the proper curry texture... it was kind of chunky actually. I want my curry to be more soupy. The restaurant I went to on Sunday was a lot better though. And it was cheaper but I got more stuff! So, lesson learned about Indian food in Namba
I found one of the bridges that cross over streets so I climbed up on that and walked over. This one was huge. It crossed several lanes of traffic and I got a good view of the city. I kept looking around to see if I could figure out where Namba Hatch was but no luck. Turns out I was too far in the opposite direction to really see it. If I'd turned another way after getting out of the subway and just walked straight up, I'd have been able to see it. Funny story about Namba Hatch once I get to Sunday...
The bridge
Once over the bridge there were more shops and restaurants and later an entrance to a mall. I like going to the malls in the big cities because it's fun to see what stores are available. On the way there I found a shrine. Isn't it pretty? I love all the shrines here
Shrine
Once in the mall I was quickly overwhelmed by how many shops there were. I wandered around in here for a while and thought it was fun to see shops that they have in the US too. Like a moccasin place... they're apparently popular here. There were various branches of the mall. One with restaurants and then others had regular shops too. I wandered over to the restaurant side out of curiosity and quickly got distracted by the pretty lights here. The wall was all lit up and there was this big silvery pillar next to it. I got a picture just in time since this little girl and her dad came running over to see the colors too.
Lights
I wandered around in that mall for a while then left to walk around some more. Later I found myself in another mall... it might have been the same one but just connected to another or something like that. I'm not sure, but there were a lot of malls in the Namba area. For this one I'd gone in through a Toys R' Us because I keep wanting a stuffed animal. There were way too many screaming kids in there so I hightailed it towards the nearest exit and went up the escalator. Then I discovered Toys R' Us was actually connected to another mall. Once I was at the next floor up there were other shops available. I wandered around in here for a while. I think this mark was the Parks Mall but the architecture was really pretty. I can't remember what floor was on but I got a good view of the curves of the roof. It's supposed to resemble a garden I think
Architecture
After that I mostly wandered aimlessly around, sightseeing and seeing what all was in the area. After a while I decided to head back to the subway so I could go check into my place for the night. Checkin wasn't until 4 so I'd been killing time for a while. Also my feet were starting to hurt and so was my hip. I didn't bring the greatest shoes to Japan because I needed something that wasn't going to take up a lot of space. Oh well I'll just have sore feet whenever they go out for the day. Better than lugging a big pair of shoes around. While on my way back to the subway, I found a beer vending machine. There are cigarette vending machines around too and in the Nagoya hotel I stayed in there was a vending machine with girly alcohol (around 3%)
Booze machine
I haven't ventured my way into trying beer yet so passed up on getting something out of the booze machine
Passed by that and went up to the bridge again so I could get back to the subway. This is the view from on top of it:
View
I got back on the subway and headed towards the area I'd be staying the night in. I tried using my iphone for directions and because Apple maps IS COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY USELESS it led me to the completely wrong place even though I'd put the proper directions in. But no. So I'm never using Apple maps again, it's garbage. I'll stick to Google from now on... at least Google is reliable. So I was soon horribly lost because I'd gone the wrong way and was using a faulty map.
But I saw tw adorable dachshunds
And the area I got lost in was actually the big shopping district I wanted to explore later so I got a good idea of places to come back to
Once my phone led me to the wrong place I called my host and then we met up at the subway station and he showed me where his place was. By this point my hip and my feet were killing me so I basically didn't leave his place again until later when I got really hungry and needed some snacks. He had a really nice apartment. I didn't get to see his wife much because she was really tired and I think she had a cold since she kept coughing. But he showed me some maps, gave me travel recommendations, and we had a mixed language conversation about music. So that was fun
Next day, I headed out around 10:30 (I heard shops don't open until 10 or 11) to explore the shopping district. It was really fun because it was so huge... I immediately got lost in there because there are SO many stores but Koju had told me that I could easily walk to Namba from Shinsaibashi (the shopping district
Thi building ad an interesting shape. Under it is a bar
While in the shopping district I went into some of the shops. One of the big malls had a wedding display set up. It's interesting to look at the wedding dresses here. There's the traditional style wedding kimono but the Western style wedding is very popular. Wedding dress shops are pretty easy to find and there's a wedding chapel that looks like a Disney castle here in Hikone. I'll have to get a picture at some point
Wedding stuff
Wandered around the mall for a while longer then left that. So Shinsaibashi is a big shopping district but what it's famous for is a mile or so long road of shops. You just start walking and go straight down it. This shop road has a covered roof and has pretty much everything you could want. Food, clothes, accessories, etc. It was pretty fun looking around. I should have taken more pictures but I was so overwhelmed by how huge the place was that I didn't do that. I'll probably go back again though so I'll be sure to get more pictures. Along this stretch was a hello kitty shop. They're fun to explore in Japan. This one was pretty big. It was three stories, there were hello kitty tiles, tons of stuff, and there was a model tree too.
The tree
Second floor landing
It was fun to look around but the stuff in these stores is expensive so I left without buying anything. Went into some more shops and then somehow wandered out of Shinsaibashi to another shopping area. I forgot what it's called but despite being lost and aimlessly wandering I always managed to find my way around
Here I'm standing on the bridge leading from Shinsaibashi to another shopping area. The other area was up ahead of me, I'm not sure what was down on this side. Looks like more shops and restaurants
Bridge
Further up ahead I could see the famous Glico man. I don't remember why he's famous I just heard that he is
Glico Man
I went into the shopping area up ahead and wandered around in there then picked a direction and was surprised to see a sign up ahead welcoming me to Namba. Somehow I'd found my way back. So that was nice to not be quite as lost. Then once I left the shopping area I was able to recognize some landmarks from yesterday and quickly realized where I was
Before I left the shopping streets, I took a picture of Maneki Neko. I think it's the Waving Cat? These are really popular in Japan. You see them everywhere. They're supposed to be good luck
Maneki Neko
By this time I was hungry so I wandered around some more and then found myself at another Indian restaurant. The picture of my food didn't turn out so great so I didn't upload it but it was so good. I'd go back there in a heartbeat. My lunch was 700 yen and for that I got a salad, naan, curry (that was delicious and the perfect texture), a scoop of rice, water, and a drink of choice. Again I picked a lassi. I actually ate so much here that my stomach felt all bloated for the next several hours. Not fun
After I ate I decided I'd try to see where the concert was so I wandered around some more. Found a train station to take on the way back and still couldn't see Namba Hatch so I was starting to get worried. I saw a police officer standing outside the train station so I went up to him to ask for directions. I asked him where Namba Hatch was and he smiles and points across the street. Then I felt like an idiot because I'd actually been to this station yesterday and STILL didn't realize the building was my concert hall. I felt really stupid, but it was kind of funny. In my defense I couldn't see the entire building because there were traffic lanes and bridges blocking parts of it from view
Namba Hatch
The name for this tour was "Cosmic Dreamer" so I thought it was fitting that they were performing in a venue that reminds me of a spaceship. I'm assuming that was intentional. To get there I had to downstairs in the "lobby" area in front of the JR station then take a tunnel to Namba Hatch. It was a quick walk and so much better than figuring out how to cross so many lanes of traffic.
So last week I made a live report about BUCK-TICK in Osaka but later was too tired to post a general Osaka entry. I just got back from Nagoya yesterday so I have to make a Nagoya entry, a snow in Hikone entry, and then Friday projects so I better get blogging before my mom throws a fit.
Those entries are going on my main travel blog but if anyone is interested in seeing them here, I'll post to here too.
I already made a live report so details about the venue/the live itself are very glossed over in this entry. I put in some more details about the venue because this entry is from my travel blog and I'm blogging for my family. So they get venue details and LJ gets live details. If anyone's interested, here's the link to that BUCK-TICK: Namba Hatch
So on February 2/3 I was in Osaka. I left Hikone around 10 on Saturday and got into Osaka a couple hours later. Osaka is about 90 minutes from Hikone but what time you get there depends on other factors (taking the bus from the hotel next to the school to the train station, seeing what time the train leaves...) some of my classmates were going to Osaka so we rode the train together. I was going to a different part of Osaka than they were though so we parted ways at the train station and I headed off to Namba. I had to take the subway to get to Namba. I swear my main Japanese conversations are asking for directions to places. But there are always very helpful train staff scattered around the train station and it's very easy to talk to them. I say where I want to go, they give me simple directions. So I headed down to the subway and got on it to go to Namba. Taking the subway in Japan is kind of weird because everything is so clean. Subways in the US are disgusting. Filthy, nasty looking people wandering around, graffiti and trash everywhere.. there's none of that in Japan
There's a big mall near the train station with a ferris wheel on it. I was seeing a concert in the Namba area on Sunday so I wanted to explore around there and kind of get a feeling for Namba, so I didn't go to the mall or the ferris wheel. Next time though, I'll do it. I bet the city view is amazing
The mall
While taking this picture I was still inside the train station. There's a balcony type area where you can see more of the city and other trains. From that area you take the escalator up to the shops and restaurants. I didn't go up that far but next time I'll explore the train station more
Once I got to Namba, I came up the stairs and felt lost as soon as I looked around. It felt like being in an ocean of streets and skyscrapers. I do love big city architecture though so I had several buildings to take pictures off. By the time I came up from the subway it'd been a while since lunch so I picked a direction and started walking. I stupidly didn't bring a map with me... I wish I'd done that, I keep underestimating how huge big cities in Japan are. But I'd done some google searches on restaurants so I knew some places were in the area. I figured I'd just walk around and wait until I found a restaurant that looked good
Building
About a block away from the train station I found what I'd been looking for: an Indian restaurant. Indian food is my go to travel food now because it costs between 700-980 yen, is very filling, and I'm so full I don't need dinner. Thus it saves me money because I don't have to go out and buy more food. My go to is chicken curry with naan. The Indian restaurants I went to in Osaka (I went to two in the Namba area. One on Saturday and one on Sunday before the concert) were quite cheap and came with a free drink as well as the curry and naan. I tried the lassi and oh it was delicious... I want one now
My food
I definitely won't go to this place again. The curry didn't have the proper curry texture... it was kind of chunky actually. I want my curry to be more soupy. The restaurant I went to on Sunday was a lot better though. And it was cheaper but I got more stuff! So, lesson learned about Indian food in Namba
I found one of the bridges that cross over streets so I climbed up on that and walked over. This one was huge. It crossed several lanes of traffic and I got a good view of the city. I kept looking around to see if I could figure out where Namba Hatch was but no luck. Turns out I was too far in the opposite direction to really see it. If I'd turned another way after getting out of the subway and just walked straight up, I'd have been able to see it. Funny story about Namba Hatch once I get to Sunday...
The bridge
Once over the bridge there were more shops and restaurants and later an entrance to a mall. I like going to the malls in the big cities because it's fun to see what stores are available. On the way there I found a shrine. Isn't it pretty? I love all the shrines here
Shrine
Once in the mall I was quickly overwhelmed by how many shops there were. I wandered around in here for a while and thought it was fun to see shops that they have in the US too. Like a moccasin place... they're apparently popular here. There were various branches of the mall. One with restaurants and then others had regular shops too. I wandered over to the restaurant side out of curiosity and quickly got distracted by the pretty lights here. The wall was all lit up and there was this big silvery pillar next to it. I got a picture just in time since this little girl and her dad came running over to see the colors too.
Lights
I wandered around in that mall for a while then left to walk around some more. Later I found myself in another mall... it might have been the same one but just connected to another or something like that. I'm not sure, but there were a lot of malls in the Namba area. For this one I'd gone in through a Toys R' Us because I keep wanting a stuffed animal. There were way too many screaming kids in there so I hightailed it towards the nearest exit and went up the escalator. Then I discovered Toys R' Us was actually connected to another mall. Once I was at the next floor up there were other shops available. I wandered around in here for a while. I think this mark was the Parks Mall but the architecture was really pretty. I can't remember what floor was on but I got a good view of the curves of the roof. It's supposed to resemble a garden I think
Architecture
After that I mostly wandered aimlessly around, sightseeing and seeing what all was in the area. After a while I decided to head back to the subway so I could go check into my place for the night. Checkin wasn't until 4 so I'd been killing time for a while. Also my feet were starting to hurt and so was my hip. I didn't bring the greatest shoes to Japan because I needed something that wasn't going to take up a lot of space. Oh well I'll just have sore feet whenever they go out for the day. Better than lugging a big pair of shoes around. While on my way back to the subway, I found a beer vending machine. There are cigarette vending machines around too and in the Nagoya hotel I stayed in there was a vending machine with girly alcohol (around 3%)
Booze machine
I haven't ventured my way into trying beer yet so passed up on getting something out of the booze machine
Passed by that and went up to the bridge again so I could get back to the subway. This is the view from on top of it:
View
I got back on the subway and headed towards the area I'd be staying the night in. I tried using my iphone for directions and because Apple maps IS COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY USELESS it led me to the completely wrong place even though I'd put the proper directions in. But no. So I'm never using Apple maps again, it's garbage. I'll stick to Google from now on... at least Google is reliable. So I was soon horribly lost because I'd gone the wrong way and was using a faulty map.
But I saw tw adorable dachshunds
And the area I got lost in was actually the big shopping district I wanted to explore later so I got a good idea of places to come back to
Once my phone led me to the wrong place I called my host and then we met up at the subway station and he showed me where his place was. By this point my hip and my feet were killing me so I basically didn't leave his place again until later when I got really hungry and needed some snacks. He had a really nice apartment. I didn't get to see his wife much because she was really tired and I think she had a cold since she kept coughing. But he showed me some maps, gave me travel recommendations, and we had a mixed language conversation about music. So that was fun
Next day, I headed out around 10:30 (I heard shops don't open until 10 or 11) to explore the shopping district. It was really fun because it was so huge... I immediately got lost in there because there are SO many stores but Koju had told me that I could easily walk to Namba from Shinsaibashi (the shopping district
Thi building ad an interesting shape. Under it is a bar
While in the shopping district I went into some of the shops. One of the big malls had a wedding display set up. It's interesting to look at the wedding dresses here. There's the traditional style wedding kimono but the Western style wedding is very popular. Wedding dress shops are pretty easy to find and there's a wedding chapel that looks like a Disney castle here in Hikone. I'll have to get a picture at some point
Wedding stuff
Wandered around the mall for a while longer then left that. So Shinsaibashi is a big shopping district but what it's famous for is a mile or so long road of shops. You just start walking and go straight down it. This shop road has a covered roof and has pretty much everything you could want. Food, clothes, accessories, etc. It was pretty fun looking around. I should have taken more pictures but I was so overwhelmed by how huge the place was that I didn't do that. I'll probably go back again though so I'll be sure to get more pictures. Along this stretch was a hello kitty shop. They're fun to explore in Japan. This one was pretty big. It was three stories, there were hello kitty tiles, tons of stuff, and there was a model tree too.
The tree
Second floor landing
It was fun to look around but the stuff in these stores is expensive so I left without buying anything. Went into some more shops and then somehow wandered out of Shinsaibashi to another shopping area. I forgot what it's called but despite being lost and aimlessly wandering I always managed to find my way around
Here I'm standing on the bridge leading from Shinsaibashi to another shopping area. The other area was up ahead of me, I'm not sure what was down on this side. Looks like more shops and restaurants
Bridge
Further up ahead I could see the famous Glico man. I don't remember why he's famous I just heard that he is
Glico Man
I went into the shopping area up ahead and wandered around in there then picked a direction and was surprised to see a sign up ahead welcoming me to Namba. Somehow I'd found my way back. So that was nice to not be quite as lost. Then once I left the shopping area I was able to recognize some landmarks from yesterday and quickly realized where I was
Before I left the shopping streets, I took a picture of Maneki Neko. I think it's the Waving Cat? These are really popular in Japan. You see them everywhere. They're supposed to be good luck
Maneki Neko
By this time I was hungry so I wandered around some more and then found myself at another Indian restaurant. The picture of my food didn't turn out so great so I didn't upload it but it was so good. I'd go back there in a heartbeat. My lunch was 700 yen and for that I got a salad, naan, curry (that was delicious and the perfect texture), a scoop of rice, water, and a drink of choice. Again I picked a lassi. I actually ate so much here that my stomach felt all bloated for the next several hours. Not fun
After I ate I decided I'd try to see where the concert was so I wandered around some more. Found a train station to take on the way back and still couldn't see Namba Hatch so I was starting to get worried. I saw a police officer standing outside the train station so I went up to him to ask for directions. I asked him where Namba Hatch was and he smiles and points across the street. Then I felt like an idiot because I'd actually been to this station yesterday and STILL didn't realize the building was my concert hall. I felt really stupid, but it was kind of funny. In my defense I couldn't see the entire building because there were traffic lanes and bridges blocking parts of it from view
Namba Hatch
The name for this tour was "Cosmic Dreamer" so I thought it was fitting that they were performing in a venue that reminds me of a spaceship. I'm assuming that was intentional. To get there I had to downstairs in the "lobby" area in front of the JR station then take a tunnel to Namba Hatch. It was a quick walk and so much better than figuring out how to cross so many lanes of traffic.
Tunnel to Namba
I walked straight then took an escalator up, which led me to the entrance to the building
Light wall
This wall was so pretty, it'd change colors every so often. I got a picture of it with blue and then green lights
I walked straight then took an escalator up, which led me to the entrance to the building
Light wall
This wall was so pretty, it'd change colors every so often. I got a picture of it with blue and then green lights
