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| The family on a good day |
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| The other 364 days |
We finally got a good flight deal through the Cathay Pacific "FanFares" on a trip to Osaka. I (Paul) am a big fan of Japan and was happy that we could finally return. We had three nights so we were able to get a little bit of everything: old-school Japanese temples and gardens, modern street food scene, and some entertainment for the kids.
On our first day, we got a glimpse of the past with our trip to Nara. Nara was the capital of Japan from 710-784 AD. It hosts a number of beautiful and historically meaningful Buddhist temples, along with a beautiful park and national forest. We were only there for a day but I was still able to take a lot of great pictures :).
This is a picture of Todai-ji, or Eastern Great Temple. I was going to start pulling interesting factoids to frame the cultural and religious significance of this temple but it will be faster and more honest for me to just post the Wikipedia link here.
The inside of the temple was really impressive - the centerpiece of which is a gigantic bronze Buddha.
Here's a view from the temple (it is raised up a large flight of stairs), looking back at the gate into the grounds.
One particularly interesting aspect to Nara Park are the many deer that roam the park. They are generally tame and friendly to all the tourists walking by.
Well...actually let me qualify that. They are tame until you try to make your kids happy by purchasing special deer crackers at the local vendor. Once you pick up the crackers (they've been trained to stay away from the vendors), all bets are off!
Chandra is bummed that we didn't get video, but this is a pretty good action shot. The deer is literally biting my ass.
Paul Eli is chuckling now that Daddy is finally getting what he deserves...
Paul Eli was (rightfully) frightened by the uptick in aggression, but we were able to get one nice picture of him feeding a deer.
After a nice lunch and some soothing Tiger Balm for Dad's ribs and posterior, we walked up through the forest to more beautiful sights.
This is a picture of the steps going up to Nigatsu-do, another beautiful temple.
On our way back to the bus stop, we got a little lost and found some other cool sights: a rice field
and a big bell. Unfortunately for PE, we weren't able to gong the bell.
Our hotel was in a great location, right near the primary train station in the southern hub of town. It was within a 10 minute walking distance of Dotonburi, which was a labyrinth of shops, restaurants, bars, arcades that only had one game (the crane that drops down and hopefully picks up your toy) and Pachinko shops. This pocket of town would have been fabulous for Paul Sonda circa 1996-2004, but less suitable for domestic Paul Sonda who by this point in the day was forced to carry his daughter on his head.
The kids (sans nap) were doing relatively great but still weren't really in the mood for Osaka debauchery so we cut it short. On our way out, I was able to find a great place for some authentic Osaka takoyaki:
Takoyaki are octopus fritters fried in round molded frying pans. It's kind of a cool process - they use chopsticks to rotate the balls in the pan to let it cook evenly on all sides. Then they drop in a box and cover with sweet brown sauce, mayonnaise, and bonito shavings. Delicious!
The next day we decided to do something completely different...
Universal Studios Japan! We love amusement parks and we thought it would be interesting to see the Japanese version of an American classic. I don't have a ton of pictures of the "big kid area", a lot of the rides were a bit dated and only in Japanese. We also just missed the Harry Potter World, which opened a few weeks later :( . The highlight for the kids (especially Esme) was the Universal Wonderland which was a weird mishmash of Hello Kitty, Snoopy and Sesame Street.
They also thought that the middle of June was still Easter-time. I guess Easter decorations are like Christmas lights in America. The Sesame Street playground was a lot of fun, along with the age-specific driveable cars for PE and Esme, but the pinnacle of the area was the Hello Kitty Robbon collection. Chandra and Esme first got to try on one of Hello Kitty's dresses:
She has a third arm here.
After walking through a few halls of very exciting ribbons, we finally got a chance to take a picture with Hello Kitty herself. Esme was very happy.
There was a lot of hugging and smiling from Esme. Even Paul Eli got into the act.
Sayonara from Universal Studios Japan!
For our final day in Osaka, we visited Osaka Castle.
Here's the walkway to the castle over a pretty impressive moat.
A nice picture of father and son with Osaka castle in the background
The grounds and surroundings were very peaceful. Here's a picturesque plum orchard just outside the castle grounds.
I'm sure it would be more impressive during blossom season but it was still pretty cool. There was also a fun playground with a sweet roller slide:
We need to get one of these slides back home :).
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