Day 9 Japan
Today I was going to do some tourist things in Osaka. Honestly there wasn't that much I wanted to do but I was determined not to waste the day.
The biggest thing in town seemed to be the Osaka Castle so I headed toward that. I assumed this would be a disappointment compared to Himeji Castle the previous day (it was) but would hopefully be interesting (it was-ish).
The thing this castle has compared to Himeji was that it was surrounded by a pretty cool moat. The walls were pretty cool and it was on top of a hill and the moat was really quite impressive. It also looked really good against the backdrop of the big modern skyscrapers in Osaka. It's like the castle is guarding Japan's history against the encroachment of the modern age.
The park and whatnot leading up to the castle were really nice as well. Outside the castle I stopped at some food vendors and got some breakfast. Takoyaki and beer. Takoyaki is the best. Eat some now.
While I was faffing about spilling my beer (sacrilege!) an older Japanese guy came up to me and started talking. Being a suspicious westerner I assumed he was just trying to sell me something but he seemed to just genuinely want to have a chat. He was from Hakodate (Hokkaido - going there in a week or so) and was retired and travelling. We had the usual tourist chat (where you from, where you going, do you like Japan blah blah blah) then he showed me how to fold an origami samurai helmet and gave me a couple of pieces of paper to practice with.
A nice old dude I eventually wanted to go escape so I said my farewells and he gave me a little trinket as a gift. A piece of glass with a skull inside it. Charming. I didn't understand what he said when I asked him what it meant. Again - I assumed he wanted some money for it and that's what this whole chat was working up to - but it was just a genuine gift. Very nice guy. I lost that trinket later in the day as the string broke.
The castle itself was fine. Very nice from the outside but inside it was another one of those museum type ones (like Hiroshima) where they removed any character the internal structure had and replaced it with a museum. This museum told the story of the samurai who held the castle over time and it was actually pretty interesting. I don't remember any of it now though. Maybe it's a boy thing but I really enjoy the armour / weaponry displays and I quite like the folding screens and big paintings that tell a story. The samurai armour is really beautiful. It's surprising the leather armour stood up effectively to the folded steel that samurai swords are made from but they continued to wear it.
I skipped the Macha Beer (green tea) they were selling outside at one of the stalls assuming the price would be inflated and I'd be able to get to other places but I haven't seen it since :(. Seize the day!
After that I went to the most exciting museum I'd been to in Japan ... the Osaka Cup Noodle Museum! It's basically a kid's museum explaining how the first cup noodles were invented. It's run by the first cup noodle company so it only talks about their own process and brand. Tiny museum but quite fun and the important part is that you get to design your own cup noodles!
When I walked in the lady at the front directing people was super excited to see my Hanshin Tigers baseball cap because they are clearly the best team in the world. Except she supported the Hiroshima Carp. Regardless she was very impressed I supported a local team and we spent 5 or 10 minutes chatting about baseball. This will prove to be a thing going forward. I'll be walking around with my hat on and people will randomly come up to me and shake my hand or give me a high 5 and go "Hanshin Tigers! Roar!". Funny shit. I recommend buying a team hat or something if you visit!
The cup noodle process was pretty cool.
1. You stick your coins in the empty cup vending machine.
2. You get sent to a table to draw your own label on the cup.
3. Line up and give them your cup.
4. They put a block of noodles in the cup.
5. You choose 4 ingredients to put in there. I chose "shrimp", green beans, shallots and kimchi.
6. Ingredients go in then they cover it in plastic and heat the plastic to shrink it over the cup.
7. You stick it in an inflatable bag to take home.
They also have some vending machines at the end where you can choose from a selection of their range of retail cup noodles and eat it there. I had a snack sized one of something.
And - if you go at a certain time and make a booking you can participate in a 90 minute session where you make your own noodles from scratch. I just missed the time since I had a bit of trouble finding the train station.
Went back to the hostel and ran into the Canadians from the previous place in Hiroshima. We went out for a couple of beers with some American navy guys from my dorm room. The Canadians headed off to Kobe for dinner and I kept drinking with the Americans.
Fun day overall though I never did make it to Dotonbori.
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