Good morning, Namba, Osaka! My brain screamed to wake up while my sensors are tingling for a trip to the nearby market to get a feel of what the morning is all about. SLing and I woke quite early as we usually do for any trip of ours as we usually would like to get to know our mornings in a new place.
After getting ourselves ready, we immediately headed down at the lobby and started to come out from our warm comfort and stepped into the blistering cold air and plushy breeze of the morning.
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| Geok Lee, STing, SLing, Ashley, Kiew & Jade... |
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| Young man , Ryan & me... |
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| SLing & me at the street heading towards the Osaka Aquarium... |
The rest came down about 8.00am in the morning and after our warm greetings, Wei & Jade had informed us of our destination that day which is the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. But first, we need to fill our stomachs before heading out to our place of interest. We decided to have breakfast at a nearby café near our hotel which looked like a French café and so we decided to go in to get some breakfast. As we were quite a big group, five of us comprising of STing, SLing, SYuen, Sling’s mom and myself shared a table. I ordered the toast, egg and coffee breakfast while SYuen, STing and SLing’s mom ordered the toast, ham, egg and coffee breakfast. Nothing to shout about but it just filled our stomach as it is. As usual, if the food doesn’t kill you, the prices will! Hahahahahhaaaaa……
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| The ferris wheel background.... |
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| Yippeeeee! At the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan |
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| Entrance photo session.... |
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| Inside the aquarium clowning.... |
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| SLing, Ryan & Ashley..... |
We started walking towards our train ride to our destination. As usual Wei & Ryan led us to our train station. We started out our jouney from Nippombashi station on the Sakaikuji Line (Orange) and hopped out to Sakaisuji Homachi Station, changed station and took the Chuo Line ( Green), travelled for a bit before stopping at the Osakako Station. From here, we walked for about 15 minutes towards Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan which was our destination for the day.
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| The sisters..... |
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| Looks like smoked salmon to me....what do you think? |
It was a glorious morning, as the feel of winter together with a big dossier of cold air and chilly conditions embraced us that morning as we walked the streets of Kaigandori, Minata Ward , Osaka. From afar , we could see the Tempozan Ferris Wheel and what a sight it was. After a quick gathering, we managed to get some background photos with the Tempozan Ferris Wheel which looked majestic and grand,man.
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| The sperm shark |
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| The hammerhead shark |
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| Fried tempura calamari with Cajun peppers & chili flakes? |
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| Definitely sweet & sour with some lively pineapple and apple garnish! |
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| Sperm shark |
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| Rare Sun fish or mola mola |
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| Tankful of goodness.. |
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館, Kaiyūkan) is located in the Tempozan Harbor Village of Osaka's bay area, and is one of Japan's most spectacular aquariums. It introduces various forms of life inhabiting the Pacific Rim in a well organized and impressive way.
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| Crabs.... |
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| Crabs... |
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| BBQ chilli wrapped with banana leaf.... |
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| Octopus being in the playful mode... |
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| Penguin... |
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| Geronimo! We are going for a swim! |
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| Spotted sting ray |
Kaiyukan is one of Japan’s most spectacular aquariums, world-renowned for its innovative presentation. Kaiyukan shows the aquatic animals of the Pacific Rim at their most vibrant and dynamic, by recreating the natural environment of their habitats. At Kaiyukan there are over 15 large tanks, each recreating a specific region of the Pacific Rim, taking visitors on a virtual tour of the Pacific Ocean. The tanks include, “Japan Forest,” which recreates a sunlit, beautiful Japanese forest; the icy, snow-clad “Antarctica;” and the centerpiece of the aquarium, “Pacific Ocean,” a 9 m deep, 34 m long tank containing 5,400 tons of water, serving as the home of whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world.
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| Ashley, SLing & Jade at the interactive pool |
To enjoy the roughly two-and-a-half-hour trip around the Pacific, take the spiral ramp all the way from the 8th floor to the 4th floor, leaving the land of terrestrial animals to find yourself stepping into the sea all the way to the ocean floor, discovering marine life from a multitude of perspectives, from huge schools of fish to the wonderfully strange world of the deep sea. If you are lucky enough to be there during feeding times, you can also watch the captivating behavior of marine animals as they engage in unique training sessions designed to help them stay healthy.
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| Ashley & SLing at the interactive pool... |
Many visitors to Kaiyukan leave inspired by its stimulating and interactive new exhibition area, a space designed to offer sensory experiences of the natural environment, including touching sharks. The new exhibition area proposes one of the shapes to come of aquariums. Kaiyukan is confident that the encounter with 30,000 creatures encompassing 620 species—including otters, sea lions, penguins, dolphins, whale sharks, rays, and jellyfish, to name just a few—will prove a deeply rewarding experience.
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| Ashley extreme;y excited about touching the sharks... |
The entrance fee is JPY 2,300 for adults, JPY 1,200 for children and JPY 2,000 for Senior Citizen. Do not be alarmed by the high fee but be amazed with the variety of fish and the maintenance of the aquarium ,actually. I was truly amazed by the levels of ingenuinity of ideas to house penguins, sting rays, fishes from the reef, fishes from the lakes , octopus, squids, seals, dolphins, sea lions, lobsters, crabs, prawns, sharks, otters, jellyfish and even an assorted of aquatic lives. Truly an amazing experience in the aquarium, I must say. I was more interested in the types of salmon, trout and yummy looking fishes that could be turned into shashimi, teriyaki fish steaks and even sushi,man! They all looked so………delicious? Hahahhahahahaaaaaa…………
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| Interactive pool... |
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| At the Mermaid Statue overlooking the Osaka Bay |
Ashley, SLing and myself enjoyed ourselves at the interactive pool whereby we get to touch the sharks and the sting rays in an open display area. However, the penguins were rather loud and smelly which was quite a turn off but understandable. I must say that the rays had smooth backs but you have to watch out for the barbed tails of theirs. It was exciting to see a leopard ray in the midst of the interactive pool. The sharks which included the leopard sharks had rough skins and when they feel threatened or anxious, there would be a loud splash which is an interesting thing. Calming the sharks down would required them to be turned over but somehow, I did not get the luck to do this to show it to Ashley so that she could learn it when she is out in the open sea someday, probably in Redang island or some island with black tipped sharks which are not a dangerous species to humans. Anyway, the open low tank is quite far for any child or adult to do such act except to pat the sharks and rays. Anyway, it can quite an experience for the child and the adult too.
I was truly amazed when I saw two 130 footer ( at least ) sperm sharks in the tank which was an attraction itself. Surrounded by grouper fishes of varying shapes and sizes together with other fishes like manta rays, hammerhead sharks, barramundi and others can be quite an experience. The other fish of interest was the Sun fish or Mola Mola fish. It was a real treat being able to see that fish in captivity. Truly a beautiful species.
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| An olden times architecture... |
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| Onward to Osaka Castle.... |
I tell you, I could sit here all day and just literally watch the fishes swim about. I get caught up in their world and the beauty of it all. The aquarium set up makes it all such a joy to be able to see the surrounding sea life around you.
As usual, your day would be messed up by the “ ever ready to spoil your day” China tourists who would be loud, obnoxious, elbowing spirit fanfare, photo bomb spoilt sport and crap attitude ways. Guess, they just can’t stop their splashing and showing off their new found wealth anywhere in the world. It is just so frustrating to see this happening everywhere even in a very discipline and cultured society of Japan. I thought, it would be the last place for them to visit but they are seen in droves around here in Japan and many parts of Japan as I was to find out later in my travels to Kyoto and Nara.
Most frustrating of all is that people like us are often associated/mistaken for/ with these Chinese national until we had to point out to the locals that we are Malaysian Chinese and more often than not a smile and a quick apology will ensued because of the wrongful identification and association. However, I must say, we do get Malaysian Chinese who do behave like their China counterparts too while at this place! Well, you can beat them all, right? There will always be idiots like that in your own country who often thinks like morons in both mind and actions too just because they have some dough ( money & status – why can’t they just be humble? ) to their names la…….. Win some , lose some, right?
Wei, Jade, Ashley and Ryan then headed to Legoland Discovery Center at Tempozan Market Place as Jade’s mom, SLing’s mom, SLing, STing ,SYuen and myself headed to do some window shopping at Tempozan Market. Before that we headed out to the Mermaid Statue near the Osaka Aquarium and took photographs there. It was nice to see little children from a Japanese kindergarten together with the teachers taking turns to take photographs at the Mermaid Statue and the Osaka Bay. Again, the weather was cold and breezy while the rosy cheeks of the Japanese children made them look so adorable and cute. What a day!
While we know that we would not be getting anything from the Tempozan market, we decided to look for lunch instead and we had lunch. Again, there were a variety of food to choose from but I guess, many of us stuck to the familiar of rice or ramen. SLing and I shared a beef sandwich from Subway and a chance to change our bigger Japanese money notes. I had coffee and added some Butterscotch bread to my tummy that day.
From the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, our next destination was the Osaka Castle at Osakajo, Chuo Ward. To get there, we needed to board the train on the Chuo Line ( Green Line ) from Osakako station and head towards Tanimachiyonchome Station and walk about 1.3km or 15 minutes walk towards Osaka Castle. The real fun starts when you look for the station to board and to get off. It was truly an exciting day to get to go to another place of interest. Upon arrival at Tanimachiyonchome Station, we headed out towards the Osaka Castle. We had to pass through sky scrapers buildings and one of the notable one was the NHK Building or Japanese Broadcasting Building. It was nice to see a park surrounding the castle.
Osaka Castle (大坂城 or 大阪城, Ōsaka-jō) is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
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| The smiles |
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| SLing & me... |
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| SYuen, SLing & STing....Osaka Castle background |
In 1583 , Toyotomi Hideyoshi commenced construction on the site of the Ikkō-ikki temple of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. The basic plan was modeled after Azuchi Castle, the headquarters of Oda Nobunaga. Hideyoshi wanted to build a castle that mirrored Nobunaga's, but surpassed it in every way: the plan featured a five-story main tower, with three extra stories underground, and gold leaf on the sides of the tower to impress visitors. In 1585 the Inner donjon was completed. Hideyoshi continued to extend and expand the castle, making it more and more formidable to attackers. In 1597 construction was completed and Hideyoshi died the year after. Osaka Castle passed to his son, Toyotomi Hideyori.
In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated his opponents at the Battle of Sekigahara, and started his own bakufu (i.e., shogunate) in Edo. In 1614 Tokugawa attacked Hideyori in the winter, starting the Siege of Osaka. Although the Toyotomi forces were outnumbered approximately two to one, they managed to fight off Tokugawa's 200,000-man army and protect the castle's outer walls. Ieyasu had the castle's outer moat filled, negating one of the castle's main outer defenses.
During the summer of 1615, Hideyori began to restore the outer moat. Ieyasu, in outrage, sent his armies to Osaka Castle again, and routed the Toyotomi men inside the outer walls on June 4. Osaka Castle fell to the Tokugawa clan, the Toyotomi clan perished, Hideyori and Yodo-dono committed seppuku and the castle buildings burned to the ground. In 1620, the new heir to the shogunate, Tokugawa Hidetada, began to reconstruct and re-arm Osaka Castle. He built a new elevated main tower, five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and assigned the task of constructing new walls to individual samurai clans. The walls built in the 1620s still stand today, and are made out of interlocked granite boulders without mortar. Many of the stones were brought from rock quarries near the Seto Inland Sea, and bear inscribed crests of the various families who contributed them.
Construction of the 5 story tenshu started in 1628 and was completed 2 years later, about the same time the rest of the reconstruction, and followed the general layout of the original Toyotomi structure. In 1660, lightning ignited the gunpowder warehouse and the resulting explosion set the castle on fire. In 1665, lightning struck and burnt down the tenshu. In 1843, after decades of neglect, the castle got much-needed repairs when the bakufu collected money from the people of the region to rebuild several of the turrets.
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| View from the castle top balcony |
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| View from the castle top balcony |
In 1868, Osaka Castle fell and was surrendered to anti-bakufu imperial loyalists. Much of the castle was burned in the civil conflicts surrounding the Meiji Restoration. Under the Meiji government, Osaka Castle became part of the Osaka Army Arsenal (Osaka Hohei Kosho) manufacturing guns, ammunition, and explosives for Japan's rapidly expanding Western-style military. In 1931, the ferro concrete tenshu was built.
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| The young man....Ryan |
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| The playful girl....Ashley |
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| The young woman, SYuen... |
During World War II, the arsenal became one of the largest military armories, employing 60,000 workers. Bombing raids targeting the arsenal damaged the reconstructed main castle tower and, on August 14, 1945, destroyed 90% of the arsenal and killed 382 people working there.
In 1995, Osaka's government approved yet another restoration project, with the intent of restoring the main tower to its Edo-era splendor. In 1997, restoration was completed. The castle is a concrete reproduction (including elevators) of the original and the interior is intended as a modern, functioning museum.
As usual, it was orderly fashioned as we climbed the stairs to the upper floors and reached the top of the castle. I could have sworn, time and time again, my heart, lungs, spleen and stomach exchanged places but I survived the walk up! The view from the top ……..simply wonderful. You could see the whole town and I felt like a Shogun looking over the lands, man. But it was way too many people at the top and so, we had to come down as fast as we could. BTW, we had reached the castle at about 4.00pm that day which was nearing the closing time of 5.00pm. So, we had to hurry to look around the artifacts and the all the replicas kept in the castle. With time taken for photography and all that walk up, it was nearing closing time when we came down the castle.
I had just managed to get a glimpse of some of the history and high end electronic play display art which was most impressive. It is like the story of the castle had come alive with these digital animation. The armory suits, fans and weaponry on display were pretty impressive too. I had a good look at the architectural drawings of the castle and it was very impressive too. I wished I had more time here to explore the building which I believed holds quite a mystery by the look of its construction. I believed, it could have hold some secret trap doors and passages of escape for its occupants during those times. Well, just my imagination, I guess. I even began to dream that I was a Samurai in the castle and was moving deftly on the staircase until I heard SLing’s voice, “ Woi, walk properly la or you’ll fall down the steps! “. So much for samurai fantasy!
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| Iconic Glico Man |
Anyway, from here, we were off to Dotonburi and specifically near Ebusu-bashi bridge for a photography session of the 33m Glico man signboard which had stood a test of time for about 70 years now. It’s a simple graphic showing an athlete in a victory pose, but it looks somewhat out of place amongst the slick contemporary advertising that surrounds it. Glico Man still has enduring popularity amongst the locals, who congregate here to celebrate sporting victories. The company behind the ad, Ezaki Glico, are a confectionery manufacturer based in the city, best known for their caramel candy and Pocky pretzel snacks. They use to say that you ain’t officially in Osaka until you have a photograph with the Glico Man and we did just that before we wade through a sea of people to get to some food. Yup, there is just a sea of people at Dotonburi area and it is just madness seeing so many people here but I like it here. So, flashy, bright and exciting. I guess, it is the neon lights that made the scenic river scene such a great scene, actually. BTW, this is not even a weekend day!
After some food, we headed back to our hotel and just rested for the day. There has been a lot of walking and my legs started to hurt a bit. Yeah, these 54 year old bones can be quite a hassle after some time. After a good hot bath and soaking in the tub, the legs should be good for the next day challenge. That night, I slept like a baby after my usual cup of coffee and a piece of bread.
It has been a good day, indeed..... that's for sure.
Ashley, SLing and myself enjoyed ourselves at the interactive pool whereby we get to touch the sharks and the sting rays in an open display area. However, the penguins were rather loud and smelly which was quite a turn off but understandable. I must say that the rays had smooth backs but you have to watch out for the barbed tails of theirs. It was exciting to see a leopard ray in the midst of the interactive pool. The sharks which included the leopard sharks had rough skins and when they feel threatened or anxious, there would be a loud splash which is an interesting thing. Calming the sharks down would required them to be turned over but somehow, I did not get the luck to do this to show it to Ashley so that she could learn it when she is out in the open sea someday, probably in Redang island or some island with black tipped sharks which are not a dangerous species to humans. Anyway, the open low tank is quite far for any child or adult to do such act except to pat the sharks and rays. Anyway, it can quite an experience for the child and the adult too.
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