本州物語 第2章－四天王寺・大阪城

A tranquil looking place with nice roofs, bridge, and their reflections =)

These are not rocks but real tortoises! They really love to suntan hor? The one at the topmost level must be the elites...

Stage in front of some hall? Very tempting to stand on it. Anyway this reminds me of...

Step out of the stage and it's RING OUT!

 Why am I always thinking about this lol...

Shitennoji Temple. Only managed to climb up to the third storey of this pagoda, because all the floors apparently look the same (filled with ancestral tablets).

The very cultured-feel of visiting these traditional places.

It's common to see healthy-looking elderly couples enjoying their 二人世界 by visiting places of attraction. In SG, the elderly prefer to stay at home...or rather their families want them to stay at home...

Beautiful castle walls and moat

Crossing the moat towards Osaka Castle

Hello Osaka Castle!

A very interesting juggler, with a great sense of humour and funny facial expressions. He may not be the most skilled juggler I've seen, but I enjoyed his performance very much, especially how he tries to joke his way out of slip-ups.

Hordes of tourists, as expected, both locals and foreigners.

Interesting exhibits about the history of the castle

Fighto!!

View from the top of Osaka Castle. Why does that building on the right look translucent?

Open space in front of the castle for visitors to gather and...buy souvenirs of course.

Love this greenery =)

A tiger and a...merdragon? Looks very Chinese...

You can try on these helmets! For a fee of course.

A list of large stones used in Osaka Castle. They even have names each!

This is how large the stones are. It's an entire piece on its own! Wonder how the people moved them in the past.

This Western-architecture doesn't seem to fit with the castle. But anyway this is a museum, not a school haha.

Another beautiful shot of the castle

Shot of the castle from the park nearby. This small park requires an entrance fee too...Japanese really knows how to milk ¥¥¥ from visitors.

Wah cushions on the platform waiting seats...nice and comfy. Don't forget to board your train though.

Street-singers can be seen at almost every corner outside of major train stations. The type of audience that seems to show the greatest interest and enthusiasm in their performance, is middle-aged 'salary men'... They would clap the loudest, approach and speak to the performers, buy their CDs, etc haha. 

An assorted selection of Osaka's most famous food. =)

This is the most extensive and overwhelming underground street that I've been to. It's literally a labyrinth @_@. It links up 3 major train stations, 3 subway stations and more than 5 huge departmental stores, all agglomerated at the same area. You can imagine the crowd flow during peak hours... Even a person with relatively good sense of direction can get lost in it  >_<

I always lose my sense of direction whenever I walk through this junction. This is not a simple 4-way cross-junction, nor 5-way nor 6-way. It's just totally jumbled with entrances and exits at every angle. The round pillars and the haphazard flow of commuters make my direction sense worse.

本州物語 第1章 - 大阪港

For the nth time, I shall bring you all to the Land of the Rising Sun, and get soaked into their unique sights and culture.

Met with some problem shortly after I landed, which left me lost and flustered. Thanks to the helpful Japanese (and with some money), we managed to solve the problem. In Japan, the people are nice though the regulations aren't very foreigner-friendly.

Later we realised that this problem can be entirely avoided if we had known how to use our gadgets properly. -____-

Without further ado let's set sail to our first stop!

Santa Maria, Set Sail!!

*plays the iconic music from Pirates of the Caribbean*

Beautiful port city of Osaka

Do the crew really use such barrels as trash bins in the past?

Nothing much in the interior...except some world maps.

Rather than sitting indoors, I would rather enjoy the scenery from the deck, though the wind is really chilly.

If only SG has a bridge like this...

A classic bridge comes into sight! And the giraffes too!

Didn't know there are huge IKEA stores in Japan.

Doraemon-themed restaurant! As expected, it was filled with kids and their families.

You need to have some background in Japanese snacks (as well as the language), to catch the joke. Up till now I still laugh when I see this photo.

I remember eating those crunchy sticks (with a hole in the middle big enough to stick your finger in) during primary school days.

Wow that piece of papyrus costs about 25 SGD...you can get it for 10 times cheaper in Egypt.

Went up to the observatory deck of this sleek-looking building.

The skyline of Osaka is pretty nice too. There are many modern buildings in sight, compared to Tokyo. View is better than from Taipei 101.

HDB flats??

The cloud is casting a shadow on the city...how cute hehe.

Soccer court on the rooftop! Good use of space under urban constraints

It looks like someone removed the hemispherical dishcover and placed it on the water.

Spotted some activity going on in this club-like site. People lining up at the stairs above the pool...could this be a wedding?

Santa Maria!! Why are you so tiny?

A Hawaiian dance performance in some outdoor event. The weather is colder than it looks. I'm freezing from the winds...brrrr.

What a giant aquarium! It has a huge vertical aquarium to showcase marine life at different altitudes. But the admission fee is a little too steep...

Please invite more $$$$$ (or ¥¥¥¥¥¥)!!!

An attractive shop front. It seems like that huge 'egg' above will split and confetti will sprinkle down. Ok, let's have egg for lunch.

Cheap and plain... That roll of egg omelette...is entirely omelette. Maybe we shouldn't try to scrimp too much.

Erm is there really a need for a map of the toilet?? As if someone will get lost inside... BUT the reason is written in fine print below - it's for the visually challenged, please do not make fun of it >_>