Golden Week! Part 1--Osaka

The Golden Week holidays started on Saturday, May 2 and went until Wednesday, May 6.


Saturday, May 2

Elena and I met at Mito Station around noon and got ready for our first train: the Limited Express Tokiwa heading to Tokyo.  At Tokyo, we would then board the Shinkansen, which would take us to Shin-Osaka.  At Shin-Osaka we would have to get on ANOTHER train that would take us to Namba station that could take us to the even smaller Sakai station and blah blah blah.  Basically it was going to be a day of getting off one train and boarding another.  Traveling is so exhausting.

Journeying by way of the Limited Express made zipping across a good portion of the country very comfortable.  It felt like riding on a nice tour coach with the best shocks in the world.

You also get quite the view of the landscape as you ride the rails.  It's interesting to see how much it can change within the course of a few minutes.

The first few minutes consisted of glimmering watered fields.

Then some painted...water towers?

About a half hour in we ran into sprawling cityscapes.

We're on a train!

Riding on the Shinkansen was a similar experience, but I liked the seating and accommodations of the Limited Express a little better.  

I loved the way the setting sun lit up this whole area.
The fields looked like sheets of glass.

We finally made it to Shin-Osaka, and from there to the Namba Nakai station that was to be our main hub when catching a train to our hotel in Sakai.

After a day of train-hopping, we stuffed our faces with soba.

Namba Nakai station had this big ol' staircase we were always traversing.

The hotel was just down the street from Sakai station.  Prime location.  It was an unassuming building on the corner, across from a cute canal waving with carp flags, with unimpressive decor and bare-bones reception.  Still made for a nice stay, though.  Especially for the price.  Of course, the room was pretty small.  The two of us were almost too much for it.  I forgot to take a picture of the teeny tiny bathroom.  I am disappointed in myself.  

The window was also so low we thought we'd fall out of it.
Obviously we didn't.  But the fear was real.

Sunday, May 3

After an unimpressive hotel breakfast, Elena and I made our way towards Sakai station.  We would be meeting her friend Shoko for a day of Osaka sightseeing.  

Why must Japanese food always be so cute?

We met with Shoko (along with her husband and her friend) and followed them through Shin Saibashi-suji, a covered shopping arcade street.  There was a three-story Sanrio store in there, as well as a Disney store and many kinds of boutiques and high-end shops.  

The shopping arcade spilled out into an open plaza that was surrounded by billboards and neon signs. We noticed a lot of people taking pictures, so Elena and I did the same, although neither of us quite grasped why this place was so important.  Regardless, we did our touristy thing and moved along.  

Maybe it gets crazier at night.

A ferris wheel on the water surrounding a huge Don Quixote store?
Ok.

Lunch was takoyaki.  Lots of it.  I finally got over my fear of eating tentacles and just went for it.  It's not my most favorite food in the world, but it was pretty good.  I really like it with mayonnaise.  To be honest, I'm starting to like a lot of things with mayonnaise.  It's one of Japan's favorite condiments, so it's kinda on everything.  If you don't like mayonnaise then tough noogies for you.

Long soft cream (what they call soft serve).
Long, indeed.

After a while of exploring some of Osaka's shopping districts, our next stop was Osaka Castle (or Osaka-jo).  The entire place had been converted into a museum, which of course had a strict no-photography policy once you were inside.  It felt a bit strange to me to see the entire building look so traditional on the outside, but then feel so...touristy and gallery-like on the inside.  There was nothing left of the original architecture within the castle (or if there was, it wasn't open for viewing).  It would have been nice to see maybe just one room or floor left as a preservation of the original structure.  

Regardless of my opinion, it was still a very beautiful building and a breathtaking piece of architecture.  I'm quite partial to its color scheme, too.

And then, after a great ramen dinner, our friends took us to one more place.  They took us to the observation deck of the Umeda Sky Building, where we were able to see the night-lit city for miles around.  Even though it was sprinkling on the open roof of the deck, I took it in stride and pulled out my camera.  Nothing could beat the sounds of the trains as they passed by each other on the bridge crossing the river, or the dull pulse of the lights on the very tops of the buildings stretching into the distance.  (The escalators suspended between the towers of the building freaked me out a bit while we were going up, though.  I have such a fear of heights.)

This is a picture of our wonderful tour guides and hosts of our Golden Week trip.  Shoko and her husband were absolutely amazing to us.  They took us to awesome food places, spoiled us with sightseeing, and made sure that we had the best experience in their hometown.  We enjoyed every moment we spent with them.  I am so grateful to know such kind, selfless people!