Archive for category Western Japan
March 28, 2006 part 2 – Osaka Aquarium with my parents
Posted by Barniferous in Western Japan on August 12, 2016
After a morning at Osaka Castle, my parents and I took two trains and less than 20 minutes to get to Osaka Port, home of the amazing Osaka Aquarium. This was another place that I had been on my solo trip west last year, but it was so impressive that I had no problem seeing it again.
Before we went in, we stopped for lunch at the nearby shopping centre. On my last trip I found an okonomiyaki restaurant (one of Osaka’s famous foods) where the staff cook at your table. I tried, unsuccessfully, to describe okonomiyaki to my parents on the train ride. “It’s like an omelette pizza pancake with stuff in it and delicious sauce” wasn’t really enough for them to get a good mental image of the food, so I told them to just trust me. On their first trip to Japan, we probably would have ended up at a McDonalds in this situation. This time we all sat down for delicious okonomiyaki which they loved.
Okonomiyaki ready for sauce. Yum!
The last time I was at the aquarium, I noticed that most of the gaijins at the aquarium were talking about the beautiful assortment of marine life on display, while more than a few of the Japanese people (especially the kids) were commenting on how delicious the assortment of marine life looked. I told this to my parents over lunch, but they didn’t completely believe me. I asked them to listen for the word “oishii” which means delicious. It didn’t take long for them to hear it!
Osaka Aquarium is a world class facility featuring marine life from around the globe. The variety of different species and information available is simply fantastic. I would post more pictures, but it’s extremely difficult to get good pictures through thick aquarium glass. Other than that I would highly recommend the aquarium to all visitors. Also, if you have been in Japan for a while, don’t go hungry – everything will start looking delicious to you.
Before heading back to our hotel, we watched a show at the Imax theatre near the aquarium. It was a fun day exploring Osaka, and we were all ready for an early night! Nara tomorrow!
March 28, 2006 part 1 – Osaka Castle with my parents
Posted by Barniferous in Visitors, Western Japan on August 11, 2016
Today my parents and I did some sightseeing in Osaka. We started our day with breakfast at the hotel (with a restaurant full of our new friends), and then headed off for Osaka Castle.
Japan is filled with old castles, and most of them have been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Osaka Castle is no exception; the main tower and surrounding buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt many times over, with the most recent restoration in 1995. After seeing Himeji Castle twice (which was never destroyed), I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy Osaka castle as much. I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
The current version of Osaka Castle is a restored exterior with a modern museum inside. The museum tells the story of both Osaka and Osaka Castle, which was played key roles in the struggle to reunify Japan in the 1500s. The museum was interesting and interactive, and featured excellent English signs.
We explored the castle for a few hours, and then headed towards the obligatory gift shop near the exit. Outside the gift shop is a giant golden tiger and a box full of samurai gear so you can pose for a picture. There were a lot of Japanese people standing around, looking at the tiger and cool samurai clothes, obviously wanting to take a picture, but nobody wanted to be the first person to step up. Fortunately my dad was there to bravely volunteer:
My dad had just traveled half way around the world and was in a modern restoration of a 500 year old castle. I don’t think anything could have stopped him from getting a picture with a fake sword in front of a golden tiger. The crowd of Japanese people, now happy that none of them had to go first, formed an orderly line to dress up and take pictures.
This is exactly the kind of thing that would have embarrassed me when I was a grumpy teenager. However, as a 27 year old I realized that my dad was actually pretty cool, not to mention fun to travel with.
Next up, Osaka Aquarium!
March 27, 2006 part 2 – Middle aged Korean women
Posted by Barniferous in Visitors, Western Japan on August 10, 2016
My parents and I spent our afternoon exploring the magnificent Himeji Castle, and then headed to Osaka to check into our hotel. I had booked us rooms in the Park Hotel Rinkai, an inexpensive business hotel where I had stayed last year. It’s not the fanciest hotel, but it’s centrally located and inexpensive.
Park Hotel Rinkai is easily accessible from two different stations on the Osaka subway. The problem is that I couldn’t remember which exit to use, and we ended up wandering around for some time trying to find our way with street maps, my fuzzy memory, and some good old fashioned guessing.
We did eventually find the hotel, and checked in at the same time as a large group of middle aged Asian women. After checking in, we jammed into a tiny elevator filled with short, chatty women. We were at the back wall of the elevator, so I needed someone to press the buttons for us.
“すみません、１０回のブタンを押してください” (Please push the button for 10th floor) I said politely. This got no reaction. Figuring that they might not have heard me over their conversation I repeated myself slightly louder and more clearly. The woman closest to the elevator turned to me and responded in English “Sorry, not Japan, Korea. Korea.”
I responded with the only phrase I know in Korean. “Annyeong haseyo! (Hello) Please push 10”. This got the desired response, and a good laugh from the Korean ladies in the elevator.
I had tried to warn my parents that the hotel rooms were going to be small. I think they were expecting Canada small and not Japan small. They were shocked to see the tiny rooms that I had booked us into. Their room had two single beds (my dad snores like a rusty chainsaw), with barely enough room for their tiny suitcases. My room was so small that the three of us could barely fit inside at the same time, and we are all small people!
My dad in a business hotel bathroom. He’s only 168cm (5’6″) tall!
I remembered the hotel being fairly quiet the last time, however I didn’t have a tour bus full of excited middle aged women on vacation staying there at the time. Our fellow guests were up late chatting, singing, and generally enjoying themselves. I have now added “middle aged Korean women” to my list of fun people to party with in the future.
How much hotel room does one person need?
March 27, 2006 part 1 – Himeji Castle (again)
Posted by Barniferous in Visitors, Western Japan on August 9, 2016
I picked up my parents early in the morning outside Hotel Miwa in Numazu. We were setting off for 4 days of sightseeing in western Japan before returning to Numazu. My parents liked the hotel so much that we booked a room for them when we returned to Numazu. The staff seemed really happy that my parents had enjoyed their stay so much, and not in just a “hooray, repeat business” kind of way. Hotel Miwa is a fantastic place which I would recommend highly!
My parents had learned from their first trip to Japan, and had packed much lighter for their return. The first time they had a bag with a shoulder strap that we referred to as “the green bag of doom” which seemed to weigh about 900kg, as well as some large suitcases. This time they had small bags and backpacks which made for a much more enjoyable experience.
We walked to Numazu station and took Tokaido line to Mishima. While on the shinkansen platform we enjoyed breathtaking views of a snow covered Mt. Fuji before catching the train to Shin-Osaka, with Himeji as our final destination. I don’t travel on the shinkansen often by myself, so I’m always amazed at how quiet and smooth the ride is. We blasted across the countryside at over 250km/h, watching the coastline and cities whiz by the windows.
We arrived at Himeji in time for lunch. While we were standing outside the station deciding where to eat, a friendly Japanese woman approached and asked in English if we were lost. I explained that we were just trying to decide where to eat, and she lept into action, running to the nearby information desk to find out where the station restaurants were located. She apologized sincerely for not being able to recommend one of the restaurants personally.
I have found that Japanese people, especially the ones who can speak English, are almost universally helpful to tourists. They seem to be especially helpful to middle aged tourists like my parents, who have been treated like royalty since landing at Narita.
Unfortunately the restaurant we chose was busy and not nearly as friendly as the nice lady we met outside the station (which is rare), but we still enjoyed a good meal and set out for the castle.
I have been to Himeji castle before, and it is still just as breathtaking the second time. My parents were blown away by the size of the castle, which dominates the view from the station. We spent a few hours exploring the huge castle grounds and the interior of the castle.
“Beware of bird poop”
I could visit Himeji castle over and over without getting bored; there is just so much to see and enjoy. It was a bit of a letdown to walk away from the beautiful castle towards the station. We boarded the shinkansen again bound for Osaka, which would be our home for the next few days. Good bye Himeji!
July 6, 2005 pt2 – Too much walking!
Posted by Barniferous in Western Japan on July 6, 2015
Okonomiyaki being mixed at my table
After thoroughly enjoying my visit to Osaka aquarium, I walked into a nearby shopping area to get some food. As luck would have it, I wandered into Naniwa Kishinbo Yokocho, which was designed to look like 1970s era Osaka. Walking around was a lot of fun, but I was focused on my goal of finding one of Osaka’s two famous foods: takoyaki (fried octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (like an omelette pancake). Both Hiroshima and Osaka have claims on okonomiyaki, the difference being that Hiroshima’s version has fried noodles inside.
After walking around for a while, I ended up walking into the nearby Tempozan Harbor Village where I followed my nose to a delicious smelling okonomiyaki restaurant called “Tsuruhashi Fugetsu“. I was shown to a table with a large grill in the middle. After looking at the Japanese only menu, I ordered pork okonomiyaki both because it sounded delicious, and because it was one of the few items I could read from the menu.
Usually when I am eating alone in a restaurant I am always reading a book. In this case I had to be careful not to let my book get too close to the grill. Fortunately I had no issues and enjoyed reading while eating the fantastic okomoniyaki that the server cooked at my table.
After eating, I got up to continue my exploration of Osaka. While I was in the aquarium, my knee had started to hurt a little. I injured my knee in University due to some grain alcohol fueled misadventures and it has never really been the same since. Usually it doesn’t bother me, but due to the amount of walking I have done in the past few days, it was becoming very uncomfortable. After lunch I was really starting to notice the pain.
To give my knee a rest, I went to a nearby IMAX theatre (Osaka Port has everything), and watched a cool 3D movie about New York City. After the movie my knee was hurting more, and I was starting to limp. I really wanted to get to Osaka castle, but reluctantly made the decision to end my trip short.
I went back to Osaka station, and did a little shopping in an import food store to kill some time while waiting for the shinkansen. I could have used at least another day in Osaka, but I don’t think that my knee would cooperate. I will have to go back another time! I really did enjoy my short time in Osaka and wish I could have stayed longer.
(2015 Update) I realized much later that one of the big differences between traveling by myself and traveling with someone else is that I am much less likely to stop and take breaks when I am on my own. When I started to think about the insane amount of walking I did in my two day trip to Himeji and Osaka and the short amount of time I spent sitting, it’s no wonder that my knee was hurting.
If you are sightseeing in Japan, be prepared for lots of walking. And if you are traveling by yourself, take breaks! It’s important!
July 6, 2005 pt1 – Osaka Aquarium
Posted by Barniferous in Western Japan on July 5, 2015
Osaka Aquarium
Despite a very long day of walking yesterday, I woke up refreshed after a good night’s sleep in my hotel bed. I have been sleeping on a futon so long, that I forgot how amazing it is to sleep in a bed.
I ate breakfast and checked out of the hotel, then walked to the subway station. My destination was Osakako station. In this case the “ko” means port. The Osaka port area has several attractions, the biggest and most impressive being Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. The aquarium is one of the largest in the world.
Visitors enter at at ground level, then take an elevator to the top of the structure. There are tanks featuring aqua life of all kinds from different regions of the world, all in separate tanks. The tanks are arranged around the outside of the building, allowing visitors to spiral downward to see the same areas at lower and lower depths. In the center of the structure is a huge tank featuring a 12 meter long whale shark. The lowest levels of the aquarium feature special tanks that include giant crabs and jellyfish.
Osaka aquarium is a world class facility that should be on everyone’s must do in Osaka list. Aside from the wide array of aquatic life from around the world, the most interesting part of the experience was the people. Most of the gaijins in the building (no, I wasn’t the only one), were busy taking pictures of the fish and reading the information. The Japanese people, especially the children, were making several comments that everything looked delicious. Note to entrepreneurs: open a sushi restaurant right outside the exit of Osaka Aquarium. It’s guaranteed to succeed.
Jellyfish seen at Osaka Aquarium
July 5, 2005 pt3 – How to eat an egg
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Western Japan on July 4, 2015
After a long day of sightseeing in Himeji and Osaka, I decided that I should get some food before crashing for the night. By this time it was about 10:00pm, and I was hungry. My hotel is in an area filled with office buildings, so there wasn’t a large variety of restaurants available. I was about to settle for convenience store food, but decided instead to try out Sukiya, a gyudon chain restaurant.
I had never been to Sukiya before. Going into a new restaurant solo when you aren’t confident in your language ability can be a bit intimidating. I walked in and noticed counter seats around the cooking area, as well as a few tables. There was no ticket machine in the entrance. Usually this indicates that you should sit at the counter and order from there.
I took a seat at the far end of the counter, and started browsing the menu in front of me. There were various different styles of gyudon, which is delicious grilled beef and onions served on rice. I decided to order the kimchi gyudon set, which included a drink and miso soup.
A few minutes later I was presented with a big bowl of gyudon, a small bowl of miso soup, a glass of water, and a small bowl with an egg still in its shell, and a small empty bowl. I knew what to do with the gyudon, soup, and water, but had never been served an egg like this before. I had no idea what to do with the egg.
When confronted with new restaurant experiences, I like to try to figure things out myself. My main technique is to casually look around the restaurant to see what other people are doing and copy that. I started eating my gyudon while looking around at the few other diners in the restaurant. Since it was after 10 pm, there weren’t a lot of people eating, and many of them were already in the middle of their meals. Looking around provided no help at all.
I continued eating my delicious gyudon, stopping to gently spin the egg in the bowl. I remembered a science book from when I was younger telling me that I could tell the difference between a raw egg and a hard boiled egg by spinning them. A hard boiled egg spins longer and more smoothly than a raw egg. This comparison works a lot better when you have one of each so you can see the difference. Spinning my one egg in it’s small bowl provided some small amount of entertainment, but no insight into what I was supposed to do.
At this point, I was about half way through my gyudon. I decided that I would have to test my Japanese language abilities and actually ask someone for help. My mind went back to my Japanese courses in university to assemble a “how do I” sentence. Normally this wouldn’t be terribly difficult, but after a full day of travel and sightseeing, it took some time. I practiced the sentence in my head a few times to make sure I knew what I wanted to say, and that it would make sense to the server.
There weren’t a lot of staff working, so by the time I caught the server’s attention, I had eaten almost all of my gyudon. I called the server over with a polite “sumimasen” (excuse me). I followed that with “kono tamago, doo yatte tabemasu ka?” which means “this egg, how eat?”. In Japanese the verb usually goes at the end of the sentence, making direct word for word translations sound like Yoda speak.
The server gave me a bit of a confused look. I was worried that he didn’t understand my question, but then he started explaining that I should crack the egg into the empty bowl, mix it up, and then pour it over the gyudon. I thanked him for his help, and he walked away.
- When you pour a raw egg over a full steaming hot bowl of gyudon and mix it up, the egg cooks while coating the rice. This is very delicious.
- When you pour a raw egg over a room temperature, mostly empty bowl of gyudon, the raw egg simply sits there, making the remaining rice slippery and nearly impossible to pick up with chopsticks. This is not delicious.
After making a few unsuccessful attempts to finish my slippery gyudon with chopsticks, I decided to use the spoon from my miso soup to help me out. I was rewarded with a mouthful of raw egg and slimy rice. At that point I decided to give up.
The lesson to my story is when presented with an unfamiliar food, it’s better to ask a silly question than to end up with a bowl full of raw egg.
July 5, 2005 pt2 – Missing hotels and glass escalators
Posted by Barniferous in Western Japan on July 3, 2015
After spending the afternoon exploring Himeji castle, I returned to the station to catch a train to Osaka. The station area is an interesting contrast to the massive 400 year old castle that dominates the view. All of the buildings are big and blocky. There is an interesting mix of office buildings, fast food restaurants, hostess bars and kimono shops.
I was happy to get back on the train and off my feet for a while. I took a Tokaido line rapid train to Osaka, which took about an hour. I could have also taken the shinkansen, but I would have spent more and only saved about 15 minutes.
Osaka station is HUGE. The station area combines both Osaka station and Umeda station. It serves over 2 million passengers each day, and is one of the top 5 busiest train stations in the world. I managed to navigate my way through Osaka station into the connected Umeda subway station to catch a train towards my hotel.
I had made an online reservation at Park Hotel Rinkai, an inexpensive business hotel in central Osaka. The online reservation explained that the hotel was close to two different subway stations. This statement was true, however the subway stations themselves were connected together in a sprawling underground maze. Navigating a confusing subway station after a full day of exploring a castle is difficult. I went to street level and found that all of the buildings looked very similar. This combined with no street names made locating the hotel an exercise in frustration. After about 30 minutes and several creative uses of four letter words, I finally found it thanks to street maps and some luck.
I booked the hotel both for the location and the cost. My single room was only 5800 yen (about $58) per night. This seemed like a good deal for being centrally located in Japan’s second largest city. I checked in using Japanese (the staff didn’t speak English at all), and went to my room. At this point I realized why the room only cost 5800 yen – it was TINY. The room was about the same size as my single dorm room at the University of Manitoba. There was a single bed, a desk, and a tiny bathroom that somehow jammed a toilet, sink, and deep bathtub / shower into a space better suited as a closet.
Despite being small, the room was clean, fairly quiet, and well equipped. Also, it really was close to the train station if you knew the correct exit number. The TV had regular local channels, but for 1000 yen I could buy a “movie card” at a vending machine near the elevator that would allow free unlimited access to all the movies for 24 hours. And when I say all the movies, I mean ALL the movies. There were brochures that gave hints to the different options available. Watching them all in 24 hours would have been impossible.
On a likely unrelated note, there was a sign on the TV indicating that I could order an in room massage by calling the front desk. I looked at the English translation of the hotel guide for details (always read the hotel guide to find where the nearest fire exit is), and the guide explained that yes, a masseuse could be ordered. I am going to assume it was a real massage, and not a “massage”. The bigger question is how could anyone get a massage in a hotel room that tiny.
By this point it was still before 8:00pm. I changed clothes and headed back out to the subway station to seek out an attraction from my guidebook – The Umeda Sky Building. The building is famous for its design: it looks like a table on top of two glass towers. There is a glass elevator from ground level to the 35th floor, and a glass walled escalator takes you up to the 39th floor. A glass walled escalator is an interesting experience, especially at night when the city it lit up. Not recommended for those afraid of heights.
The escalator lets you off at the 39th floor, which offers amazing 360 degree views of Osaka. It’s also possible to go up to the rooftop “floating garden” for an open air view of the city. Unfortunately it was raining at the time, so I didn’t spent much time on the rooftop. If you like unique buildings or tall places with a good city view, Umeda Sky building is a cool place for both in Osaka.
I spent a long time looking out the windows at Osaka before finally deciding to call it a night and head back towards my hotel, and towards a long overdue dinner.
(2015 Note) Unfortunately Park Hotel Rinkai has closed permanently. It was a good, inexpensive place to stay in Osaka. I ended up staying there 2 more times before moving back to Canada.
July 5, 2005 pt1 – Himeji Castle
Posted by Barniferous in Western Japan on July 2, 2015
A front view of Himeji Castle from inside the castle grounds
This morning I woke up early and headed west towads Himeji to see the famous castle. Himeji is about 500km west of Numazu, so I took the shinkansen (bullet train) instead of regular trains. The closest shinkansen station is in Mishima, which is convenient because I could use my regular work commuter pass to get there. At Mishima I bought an unreserved ticket to Himeji. Each shinkansen has several cars with unreserved seats.
The Tokaido shinkansen has three options: Kodama, Hikari, and Nozomi. The Kodama stops at all shinkansen stations, but has the most unreserved cars. The Nozomi only stops at major stations and has the fewest unreserved cars. I struck a balance and took the Hikari. Three hours later I arrived at Himeji station.
Upon exiting Himeji station, you can instantly see the famous Himeji castle. It looks close but only because the castle and grounds are HUGE. It’s actually a solid 1.7km walk (thanks Google). The castle is one of Japan’s many UNESCO world heritage sites. It was built in the late 1500s, and unlike many castles in Japan, is still the original building. Somehow the castle survived 400 years of wars, earthquakes, typhoons, people, and a modern city springing up around it.
Himeji castle is probably the best thing I have seen in my almost 2 years in Japan so far. I could literally write about it for hours, describing in detail the different buildings, the steep stone base, the arrow ports, the crests built into the roof, and other awesome details. Words really don’t do Himeji castle justice – it’s something that needs to really be experienced in person. My favourite part was when I finally got to the top of the castle and looked out the window. I could see the castle grounds below and the city all around while feeling a nice cool breeze. I would have been happy to stay there until they asked me to leave.
A view from the top floor of Himeji castle
If you are lucky enough to visit Himeji castle, I have one word of advice: wear comfortable shoes. The only way to get around the sizable castle grounds is on foot. I won’t soon forget the fashionably dressed woman sitting on the ground complaining to her boyfriend about how her feet hurt. Seriously, who wears heels to a 400 year old castle? Wear comfortable shoes with good support, you’re going to need them.
Not only is Himeji Castle an impressive structure, but all of the displays and information are available in both Japanese and English. Most famous tourist spots in Japan have good information available, but Himeji truly raises the bar. Himeji is truly a must see place in Japan.
July 3, 2004 pt3 – Kaiten zushi
Posted by Barniferous in Visitors, Western Japan on July 29, 2014
Not my picture – thanks Wikipedia!
After a long day of sightseeing in Kyoto, my family and I were back near our hotel and hungry. By this point in the trip, my mom and sister wanted a break from Japanese food. They saw a McDonalds in Kyoto station and were determined to get some familiar food. My dad reminded them that they could eat McDonalds in Canada, but they didn’t care. To compromise, my father and I dropped off my mother and sister at the golden arches and then set out to find some Japanese food.
There are way too many restaurants in and around Kyoto station. After looking around for a while, we settled on a small small kaiten zushi restaurant. Kaiten zushi (the s in sushi becomes a “z” after kaiten) restaurants have a conveyor belt that moves plates of sushi through the restaurant. Smaller restaurants will have the chefs in the middle with sushi moving around them. Larger restaurants will have huge conveyors that wind their way through the restaurant.
Our restaurant was relatively small, so we sat at the counter. We ordered beer, and were amused to find that our glasses were filled by an automatic beer pouring machine. The machine tilted the glass at an angle, and the spout moved along the inside of the glass to reduce the head. Near the top, the machine returned the glass to an upright position and added a tiny bit of foam to the top. The machine created a perfect pour every time, and was a lot of fun to watch.
We had a few sips from our perfectly poured beers and then turned our attention to the conveyor belt and the tiny plates of sushi going by. Like other kaiten zushi restaurants, the plates were colour coded by price. My dad seemed confused, so I told him to just grab anything that looked good as it was going by. The problem was that he wasn’t very familiar with sushi, and didn’t know what was good. I selected a few pieces of the least threatening sushi as they passed our section of the counter. After a enjoying the first few pieces, he started to make his own selections, trying some familiar fish and some more adventurous choices. Several plates and another beer later, we were both pleasantly stuffed.
After dinner we took a walk around the station building and surrounding area. Unlike major train stations in Tokyo, there wasn’t a lot going on around Kyoto station. We passed a number of small izakayas, and thanks to the window models I was able to instruct my dad on the difference between jocky (a regular size glass of beer), daijocky (a big glass of beer), and the rare but impressive super jocky (a really big glass of beer).
Near the station we walked by a pachinko parlour. Like many foreigners, my dad was confused by the concept. I explained that gambling for money was illegal, but you could win a small prize and then sell it for cash at the nearby prize exchange. He sounded skeptical until we walked by the prize exchange window.
When we had our fill of exploring, we returned to the hotel to find my mother and sister were happy with their McDonalds dinner, and that they had also done some minor exploring in the stores around the station. I am sure they had fun, but I really enjoyed the beer and sushi with my dad. When I was growing up, my dad was always interested in taking me to new places and teaching me new things. It was great to get the opportunity to return the favour.
Drinking in Japan 
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