Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Catball Hanami
Osaka kept getting nicer and nicer to us as we got more and more familiar with the city ant the neighborhoods and all, but it finally came time for us to start thinking about going back home. We could only stay in our hotel for so long before the big guy and his cute wife would have to start earning dollars again, so we wanted to make our last full day in Osaka special. The longer we had been there, the more we'd seen these trees everywhere with their branches bursting in pink petals. We were told they were cherry trees, and being the ice cream aficionados that we are, we figured that a day with cherry trees would be the proper cherries on the top of our vacation sundaes.
In a lot of the parks where these trees were, we saw a lot of Japanese people sitting underneath these trees on tarps and blankets, drinking and eating and laughing and playing music together. They called it "hanami," flower viewing, and, you know the saying, when in Osaka, do as the happiest most relaxed looking Osakans do.
Sitting on the ground looking at the petaly pastelish explosion all around us, branches swathed in pink swaying with the breeze, was so relaxing it was almost hypnotic. We would have been completely entranced by the spectacle if we were not captivated instead by the millions of finchy guys that were swarming in the tallest branches of the trees.
Staring at the finchy guys for what seemed like hours, we got really hungry and decided to head back to the city to hunt. We had been scouting catball hunting grounds all the while we were there and had decided that a place called Kuromon Ichiba would be the best place to attack.
We skulked about and lurked here and there and found all kinds of things to eat. Sushi and tempura and fruits and things on sticks and mochi and all kinds of good stuff was here for the taking, so we got a big bag of good stuff and made our way to Osaka Castle. The walk there from off of the subway was long and a little confusing at times but really very pleasant. We even found one place where people hit each other with sticks and made brave sounds!
Finally we found a nice quiet spot underneath some more cherry trees where we decided to deploy our deliciousnesses.
While we sat and ate, a shy-looking gentleman came up to the big guy and his cute wife to ask if we were for sale! While we would have loved to stay in Osaka, we would really only want to stay if our travel partners were here with us, and we were glad when the big guy declined the offer to buy us. We sat and ate our fried and our sush and drank our delicious delicious grapefruity chu-hi (chu-highly recommended) and as the fizziness took its effect, we basked in the setting sun. The yellowing light filtering through the pink overhead made us wistful. We started feeling nostalgic for the place even though we were still there, which was odd and a little distressing.
We wanted to see Osaka Castle in the sunset, so after packing up our nom remnants, we found our way to its base. We met this little birdy guy on the way there, but we couldn't convince him to come with us.
We sat quietly and watched the castle take on the yellows and the oranges and the pinks and finally the purples as the day slowly descended into night.
As it started to get dark, it was time to go. As we exited the park grounds, we found a native catball balled up and catlike. This guy was scruffy but he had a few friends to hang out with, kind of like us. He got to call Osaka Castle home, but we guessed that he would have liked a smaller and more homey home to call home instead.
Osaka was very very kind to us for our whole trip, and we were going to be sad to say goodbye to it. The good news is, it's still there, so we can go back sometime if they'll allow us. And all things considered, when it comes to adventuring, this was a very fine adventure, and made us eager to go even farther afield and see even more sights and sites. Together, preferably!
Catball escalator omake:
In a lot of the parks where these trees were, we saw a lot of Japanese people sitting underneath these trees on tarps and blankets, drinking and eating and laughing and playing music together. They called it "hanami," flower viewing, and, you know the saying, when in Osaka, do as the happiest most relaxed looking Osakans do.
Sitting on the ground looking at the petaly pastelish explosion all around us, branches swathed in pink swaying with the breeze, was so relaxing it was almost hypnotic. We would have been completely entranced by the spectacle if we were not captivated instead by the millions of finchy guys that were swarming in the tallest branches of the trees.
Staring at the finchy guys for what seemed like hours, we got really hungry and decided to head back to the city to hunt. We had been scouting catball hunting grounds all the while we were there and had decided that a place called Kuromon Ichiba would be the best place to attack.
We skulked about and lurked here and there and found all kinds of things to eat. Sushi and tempura and fruits and things on sticks and mochi and all kinds of good stuff was here for the taking, so we got a big bag of good stuff and made our way to Osaka Castle. The walk there from off of the subway was long and a little confusing at times but really very pleasant. We even found one place where people hit each other with sticks and made brave sounds!
Finally we found a nice quiet spot underneath some more cherry trees where we decided to deploy our deliciousnesses.
While we sat and ate, a shy-looking gentleman came up to the big guy and his cute wife to ask if we were for sale! While we would have loved to stay in Osaka, we would really only want to stay if our travel partners were here with us, and we were glad when the big guy declined the offer to buy us. We sat and ate our fried and our sush and drank our delicious delicious grapefruity chu-hi (chu-highly recommended) and as the fizziness took its effect, we basked in the setting sun. The yellowing light filtering through the pink overhead made us wistful. We started feeling nostalgic for the place even though we were still there, which was odd and a little distressing.
We wanted to see Osaka Castle in the sunset, so after packing up our nom remnants, we found our way to its base. We met this little birdy guy on the way there, but we couldn't convince him to come with us.
We sat quietly and watched the castle take on the yellows and the oranges and the pinks and finally the purples as the day slowly descended into night.
As it started to get dark, it was time to go. As we exited the park grounds, we found a native catball balled up and catlike. This guy was scruffy but he had a few friends to hang out with, kind of like us. He got to call Osaka Castle home, but we guessed that he would have liked a smaller and more homey home to call home instead.
Osaka was very very kind to us for our whole trip, and we were going to be sad to say goodbye to it. The good news is, it's still there, so we can go back sometime if they'll allow us. And all things considered, when it comes to adventuring, this was a very fine adventure, and made us eager to go even farther afield and see even more sights and sites. Together, preferably!
Catball escalator omake:
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Tower Defense GO GO GO!
One night in Osaka, we were out adventuring with our humans in a neighborhood a good ways away from our hotel in an area of town called Shinsekai. We were on the lookout for trouble, because we learned that this part of town used to be pretty rough-and-or-tough and crimeish and Yakuza-ey and full of deadly puffer fish. Not too surprisingly, we saw none of the crimey things, just a lot of pleasantness and some of those deadly puffer fish. That being said, anywhere we went in the neighborhood, we felt like we were being watched...
Finally we figured it out--the tower! And the people in the tower! They were on to us! Tsutenkaku Tower was built before the big war that our people and their people fought against each other way back when, was stripped down to build horrible warrish things, and then was rebuilt afterward. It used to be the tallest building in all of Asia for a while before a whole heck of a lot of other things rose up to beat it, including possibly some larger than average bamboo trees, and most importantly, it had an observation deck that in all certainty was where we were being watched from!
With the help of the big guy's cute wife's satchel, it was time to infiltrate!
We hopped into an elevator and took a jostly ride up to the top of the tower. We waited inside to try to get the jump on the interloper who was interloping on us, but after a little bit we realized that we may have been off a little bit. There were lots of people inside the tower, lots of young people and older people but none of them looked sneaky or suspicious. Mostly, they looked at ease, and comfortable, and wide-eyed. We looked around and saw what they saw; a glittering landscape of Osakan lights and people. We were not so much being watched as just part of the extremely watchable and look-at-thatable city teeming below. And what else to do other than watch the teeming ourselves?
Finally we figured it out--the tower! And the people in the tower! They were on to us! Tsutenkaku Tower was built before the big war that our people and their people fought against each other way back when, was stripped down to build horrible warrish things, and then was rebuilt afterward. It used to be the tallest building in all of Asia for a while before a whole heck of a lot of other things rose up to beat it, including possibly some larger than average bamboo trees, and most importantly, it had an observation deck that in all certainty was where we were being watched from!
With the help of the big guy's cute wife's satchel, it was time to infiltrate!
We hopped into an elevator and took a jostly ride up to the top of the tower. We waited inside to try to get the jump on the interloper who was interloping on us, but after a little bit we realized that we may have been off a little bit. There were lots of people inside the tower, lots of young people and older people but none of them looked sneaky or suspicious. Mostly, they looked at ease, and comfortable, and wide-eyed. We looked around and saw what they saw; a glittering landscape of Osakan lights and people. We were not so much being watched as just part of the extremely watchable and look-at-thatable city teeming below. And what else to do other than watch the teeming ourselves?
Saturday, May 5, 2012
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