So, they don't really celebrate Christmas in Japan. It's either a dating holiday where you and your special someone have a fancy dinner and eat Christmas cake (yes, traditional Western Christmas cake, remember?). OR, due to a rather impressive marketing campaign by KFC, you eat fried chicken and then Christmas cake (see the Family Mart picture below). Nevertheless, the town was lit up like Christmas was the most spectacular holiday of the year... then we found out Osaka was having a festival of lights. I thought that Chanukah had happened, strangely enough, on Thanksgiving. Regardless, it was all AMAZING.
Witness the amazingness with this awe-inspiring gif. O_O
Witness the amazingness with this awe-inspiring gif. O_O
First day in Osaka! Our hotel was right along this lovely river. We couldn't believe how warm it was compared to Jeju, and then we remembered... no wind!
Osaka: city of elaborate cross-walks.
In case it wasn't automatically apparent what you get here, it's curry... ^^'
A sewer cap a Ninja Turtle could be proud of.
Morning market near our hotel! It was strangely quiet, until you walked past the disorienting roar of sound and lights that is a Pachinko parlor.
When we saw this sign after walking down Osaka's relatively empty streets, it was clear where we were supposed to go...
...underground, with the rest of everyone in the city. We enjoyed our first lunch in Japan here... at a Swedish place. ^^' I know, I know, fail.
Ah, the HEP shopping center, full of Engrish! Freud would have loved the concept of this store.
Ben's favorite Engrish...
...and mine. XD
And on the top floors, the "Entertainment Center," i.e. arcade/claw machine game/purikura (Japanese photo booth) extravaganza.
Soooo many ways to lose money!
Our first purikura together! Kawaii = cute. The tagline on this booth reads: "Let's be so cute we make everyone else jealous."Awesome plan, even though I'm clearly doing it wrong.
In case you're not familiar, these photo booths instantly make it look like you have perfect skin and HUGE eyes, and then you can decorate your pictures with stamps, slogans, and all manner of ridiculousness. Stay tuned for our pics later on.
An unsuccessful attempt at a Gloomy Bear blanket.
Oh HEP, you're so disorienting... and filled with whales!
The Kansai Broadcasting Building...
...with pointy death sculptures in front...
...and a lovely park in back.
One of the many ferris wheels we saw! They seem to be somewhat of a thing.
Behold: Christmas fried chicken and Christmas cake. Is this your fault, figgy pudding?
One of the many beloved drink machines we saw in Japan, which awesomely dispense either hot or cold cans of coffee, milk tea, juice, and sports drinks. Oh smap! Tommy Lee Jones looks pretty boss here.
Same river you saw during the day. Pretty magical.
Even more magical: Mexican food truck under the giant Chanukah bush. The avocado burrito wasn't quite Mexican... but it was a nice thought.
Cue our first walk down to the island in the middle of the river at night, and the first light show we saw while in Osaka! This was where we saw the light show projected on the municipal building at the top, along with tons of lights all over the island.
Is anyone else reminded of Home Alone while looking at this?
And then we walked down magical Mido-suji, which had different-colored lights on the trees every couple of blocks, seemingly for different areas. The first five blocks were a surprisingly lovely pink.
A subsidiary of Epic Meal Time?
A surprisingly frequent sight: motorcycle patrols of Santas. Another tradition?!
Lovely bank windows.
Ah, the McLaren store... obviously, the more affordable stretch of the street.
(Ben says: this was the lamborghini store)
Ridiculous photo ops abounded all down this street...
including outside the Hermes store! Oh, Train Man memories!
Our first glimpse of the shopping craziness that is Shinsaibashi.
The one shoe in Japan that would have fit Ben, and they didn't have its mate...
One last glimpse of the park with its awesome light show.
Next day started off with a... sumo woman climbing a fish? This seemed like an auspicious start for finding a place that served one of Osaka's specialties, kitsune udon, a thick-noodle soup with tofu in it.
So, we didn't find the exact noodle shop we were looking for, but this one was still absolutely delicious. And the site of our first experience with a squatty potty! Verdict: not as bad as expected.
Not sure whether this is cool or scary....
Tako = octopus. Get ready to see a lot of these little guys. ^_~ One of Osaka's signature dishes is takoyaki, which is made on the street. You'll see vendors everywhere scrambling up little dough balls filled with veggies and octopus.
Christmas cakes! So adorable! What you can't see all that well is the ~$50 price tag on the cakes in the back. @_@
Ah, Namba and your famous Glico Running Man! Huge, quirky shopping district, here we come!
Or running Donald?
Scarier version of our octopus "friend" from earlier.
Osaka is one of the places where chefs serve blowfish. Only a slight-moderate risk of death.
Awesome Osaka kitsch!
I'm friends with all my condiments... except you yellow mustard.
Overwhelming 6 floor store of every good imaginable.
And then Ben got eaten by a dinosaur. That was the end of our trip.
Can't put my finger on why, but I don't think I'd feel safe taking your rapid train...
Penguin cakes filled with red bean! Sadly, not as good as the taiyaki in Seoul. = \
Host club? You mean I could choose to spend time with any one of these ridiculously-haired gentlemen?!
Everyone who goes to this club feels the same way.
Pachinko madnesS! No, we didn't actually go inside.
(Dear Hannah...stop...this was a grocery store...stop)
...turned to petty crime after a life of selfless giving?
You're not gonna like what's up there.
Our pre-Christmas Eve service meal: raw egg, followed by a delicious veggie curry!
I feel like Rocky.
(you look better though)
And now, another anomaly... a German Christmas market under the stunning Umeda Sky building. Wienerschnitzel and wooden crafts for everyone!
This section was actually sprawl from the Christmas market over to the Osaka Station area. But it did have "mulled wine" (i.e., hot wine).
No soup for us, sadly.
A Christmas cake in the light display?
The real Christmas market, at last!
Complete with carousel brought over from Germany!
So much twinkliness...
Charlie bit me!
(because he thought you were nuts)
Awesome train conductor for the kids' train ride let Ben ring his bell. What's that adorable thing around Ben's neck, you ask? Why, it's our gigantic gingerbread cookie/necklace, of course!
Some sort of mischief may be happening in this castle.
Christmas tree: you're doing it wrong.
Back to Osaka station for more jaw-dropping lights everywhere.
SANTA!!! Rudolph got into the chia pets greens again.
Like I said, motorcycle patrol!
A tasty end to a spectacular Christmas Eve!
Awww! Kawaii! (Cute!) We wore our "couples sweaters" we got in Seoul for breakfast out on Christmas day at the aforementioned Butter Grand.
Strawberry hot chocolate and slammin' strawberry-kiwi pancakes with icing and ice cream on top. If waffles are Seoul's thing, pancakes are definitely Osaka's.
Now out for a Christmas jaunt to Osaka Castle!
Can't have a pond without ducks. ^^
View from the top!
And in the gardens... the inside of the building was rather drab and depressing.
Somehow, many trees were still green in Osaka, and a few had some beautiful foliage.
And now, night time!
Yep, light show here too!
Bye-bye Castle...
...it's time to find Christmas dinner and be astounded at how beautiful the lights at night are in the river.
Daruma for New Year's: you make a goal and paint in one eye. Paint in the second when you reach your goal (and then burn them shortly after New Year's).
Awesome old-style cabs that were all over Osaka!
Technicolor dream boat.
Shocking secret! Brown bears are really just pandas with chocolate?!
The mixing of 2 cultures
For Ricky!
Namba at night!
The stuff in the middle is over rated.
(shoulders, arms, torso etc.)
An infamous love hotel...
Waffle House? What are you doing there?
Want to put my can with this bottle tree...
That's it for our lovely, fun time in Osaka! Next up, Nara!
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a note and it all disappeared, so I am going to try again. I have been meaning to write to you to let you know that we got your post card. The kids were very excited to hear from you, even the ones who never had you. But some of them have older brothers or sisters who had you. I have seen bits and pieces of your blog and hope to get through more of it as time goes on.
We are finally going back to school tomorrow from Christmas break. We've missed the last three days due to some horrible weather that has come through. Lots of snow and extremely cold temperatures have close many schools and businesses. The roads have been pretty bad.
I will make sure that some of your former students have our blog info and hopefully they will get in touch with you. Mr. Hoeft will be leaving St. Paul after this year and we are getting a new principal. At this point we have not had a Spanish teacher this year at all. I hope that all is well with you and will keep in touch. Take care!!
Valerie