Osaka/Nara/Kobe Part 1

by Brianin Hyogo, Japan, Nara, Osakaon Posted on

Apologies for the gap in entries… I guess the positive way of looking at it is I’ve been too busy doing actual things to write about them and now I have a huge backlog of entries to share haha.

Ended 2015 with a trip down to Osaka, and while I was there, breezed through Nara and Kobe too.  At first I didn’t think there would be too much to do but by the end of the week I was pretty tired from all the running around.  It’s a good thing I didn’t squeeze it into my previous Kyoto trip!  I basically spent a few days in Osaka, one day in Nara, and another day in Himeji/Kobe, then finished off the trip in Osaka again… staying at the same hotel the entire week.

Day 1 - Osaka

Via shinkansen, just for reference
With the customary ekiben, I think I keep getting better and better ones
My hotel was right at the main station which was really convenient for getting around town... however, important to note that the shinkansen stops at shin-Osaka, which is not the same as Osaka. The hotel of choice this time was at the Hotel New Hankyu Osaka. Small rooms but good enough, this is the view from the window. One of the first things I noticed after arriving is that people stand on the right side and pass on the left on escalators... opposite of Tokyo area!
I got there fairly late in the afternoon, so the first stop after getting settled into the room was the Shin Umeda Sky Building to do their popular floating garden observatory deck. Turned out that they were having Christmas celebrations there so it was really crowded... I walked around for a bit and saved it for another day instead.
The building was also ranked as one of the Top 20 in the world and they have a nice garden at the base of the towers as well. Downstairs in the basement are some restaurants and the atmosphere is designed in a way to resemble past times.
Most of the area surrounding Osaka station is shopping malls, which makes it a quick easy destination if you're into that sort of thing.
Winter festivities
Ate ramen at one of the malls... suprising that many of the ramen shops I ran into on this trip had kimchee options... reminded me of home a little
Ended the short night by just walking around the station area to get my bearings straight. This was just a shot of the ferris wheel above the cinema opposite of the railway tracks

Day 2 - Osaka

Day two started off by going to visit Osaka Castle. Caught the train to Osakajokoen station which roughly translates to Osaka castle park.
One of the main attractions in the city
I was still feeling a little sick at the time
One of the most popular foods in Osaka is takoyaki... usually I have to be in a mood to eat a lot of it... and the ones in Osaka did seem to be better than Kanagawa area but that could have just been a mental thing... they're always good! haha
They didn't allow pictures in the castle however when you get to the top (via all the stairs) you can get a pretty decent view of the surrounding areas. This is looking south.
Looking back towards Osaka station and my hotel, with the same ferris wheel from before.
From the castle I walked north to the river and then followed it west on foot
Continued walking through the various parks along the river.
The river splits into two around this island sort of
Until I got to the city public hall and city hall where I turned back north towards the hotel
Another famous thing to eat in Osaka is their version of okonomiyaki... some say Osaka is all soul food which I can kind of agree with... these are all pretty comforting (or filling haha) meals and this okonomiyaki was one of the best I've had. Again, something I don't usually eat often but this one I wanted more of.
The other side of the cinema. Just a ton of malls and shopping and food around the station area.
Under the tracks they had a bunch of food stalls and smaller restaurants... I felt I should eat more so I ducked into this small ramen shop again which of course had kimchee too

Day 3 - Osaka

I believe this was at Tennoji Station
Went to Shitennoji Temple. Apparently it's the first Buddhist and oldest officially administered temple in Japan but with my luck it was being renovated hehe
Still some cool buildings and nice change of pace
All I remember is that you spin this thing and pray. Some older ladies were really having a go at it
From Shitennoji I walked to Tennoji Park
Entrance to the zoo which I didn't have time for. The zoo takes up about half the park I would say.
Walking towards the popular Tsutenkaku Tower area
Few of the blocks just south of the tower are filled with restaurants and small shops... interesting to look at but didn't stop to eat here.
Main street leading up to the tower
Glico is a big company here with a lot of advertisements everywhere. The tower sold a lot of their products, made by the iconic Running Man.
I also ran into a friend of a friend from Yokosuka working here which was just the biggest of coincidences haha
From Tsutenkaku I walked North and found another street market where I stopped in to eat more takoyaki.
Then off to Namba Parks, which is really just a shopping mall with an interesting design and a small "park" on the rooftop
Up on the roof
Looking down into the mall area
Then naturally I headed over to one of the most crowded touristy places in Osaka which was Dotonbori, home of the famous Running Man Glico sign
There he is!
I can't remember if that ride was functional, but just a very huge Don Quixote building along the river.
Many restaurants but still a very crowded area... a little too crowded for my liking. One of the popular crab restaurants had almost a two hour wait....
So instead I headed back to the main station area and found a nice little bar to eat at... here's a small recap of all the food I ate that day.

This wraps up my initial stay in Osaka!  Part II will cover my one day in Nara, definitely a worthwhile trip out from Osaka if you’re already in the area.  Stay tuned…

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