Osaka Adventure Day 2

Despite good intentions to get up and out, it took a little while longer than we planned to get out of our warm futons.  Eventually, we made it happen (sheer willpower!) and made our way up and out.  My hiking boots were rubbing my heels the day before, so I opted for my Chucks.  Either way seemed like a bad decision.  Turns out I bought the shoes half a size too small and they were rubbing, too.  Obviously, there was a reason I always bout the size 6 shoes.  Booooo.

First stop was the castle!  We walked from our hostel and it only took around twenty minutes to get there.  The castle walls involve the use of some absolutely insanely huge stones, and these are marked by signs that tell you if it's the fourth largest stone or whatever.  It boggles the mind how these could have been moved and installed here.  The trick was later revealed.  The huge stones are actually quite thin, and are stood up in front of other stones to look scary and imposing.  Good job.  It works.

We got into the castle tower area, and I got my camera out for a picture... to realize I'd left my memory card in my computer at the hostel!!  //orz

Luckily, there was a small shop next to a gift shop that sold memory cards.  I'd been wanting another one anyway, I guess.  And they had the SWEETEST doggie outside.  Her name is Ayako and she's a doll~  We asked if we could pet her.  I guess others who see her are afraid of her size, but being from dog-loving families, we gave her a good petting.  Even a belly rub!  <3  Her owner got her to sit and put a treat on her nose.  On command, she flipped her head and tried to catch the snack.  Failure.  She succeeded on the second try.  <3 <3 <3

Go to Japan --> take pictures of dogs

Camera primed, we took a few pictures of the castle before heading into the tower.

The long line on the left was for people waiting for the elevator because they're lazy.  The empty path to the right was for people who just wanted to get the heck in side and led to the stairs.  Inside is a museum like most others.  It's got some artifacts, some reproductions.  You can try on kabuto (helmets) and overcoat replicas of those owned by important people in the history of the castle, but it costs extra and we passed.  It was rather busy.  We completely skipped the floor of 3D projected video dioramas.  I don't really know what to call those.  I think they're nifty, but you have to watch them in order and there's a bunch of them.  Or course, Japanese-only, which makes it even more difficult.

The top look-out area was really windy!  I took some pictures of the view and Ashley tried to make people look like ants with a setting on her camera.  To each their own.

I got a necklace in the giftshop.  It's got the Oda family crest on it.  Now I can match my phone.  Huzzah.  #nerdlife

Back outside for a few more pictures, exploring the other gift shops, and saying goodbye to Ayako.  Ayako jumped up on Ashley's front, successfully covering her with white hair all over her navy blue coat.  JUST AS PLANNED, I'm sure.  We were laughing and the owner looked rather horrified that she had jumped on someone.

Everyone else was eating takoyaki, but I got a stick of dango instead.  ^_^

Parting shot of the castle.

With the sun shining, it didn't feel quite so cold, and we were peer-pressured into getting ice cream by the abundance of people around us who were enjoying some themselves.  There were no strange or seasonal flavors to be had, so I got a simple green-tea/vanilla twist, or 'macha mix'.  Yummers.

Stop judging me for eating only junk food.  I didn't even realize it until I wrote this.

Next stop was Shinsaibashi to find Amerika-mura and the Mandarake store there, full of nerdy goodness.  We hopped the subway, using our handy-dandy day-passes, and popped out the other side.  It turned out Ashley had been to that area in January, so she conveniently knew where we were going.  I loved the sign posts in Amemura!!  At first, I thought they were lamps, but they seemed to be more for ads than lamps or signs associated with the store they were in front of.  Some were painted with different designs, but all were shaped like those anatomical figurines you can get for art.

Not the best picture, but you can see one here.

Oh hi, there.

We wandered in a shop with visual-kei type clothing and peeked around before leaving.  Ashley strongly desired Starbucks, so we went in to use their facilities and get a drink.  I'm just realizing this as I write, but completely forgetting that I had just eaten a green-tea flavored ice cream cone, I got a green tea frappuccino.  XD  I don't go to Starbucks often and I've been meaning to try one before I leave.  So more green tea for me.  XD

I keep forgetting which places have American sizes and which places have Japanese sizes.  I usually order the wrong one.

The quest for Mandarake wasn't going well.  Part of the problem, it turned out, was that I was thinking the name was Mandrake.  It's not.  Eventually, Ashley was able to locate it on her phone, and we found the big red building.  It was indeed full of figurines, self-published comics (bought some) and all sorts of fan... junk.  XD  On the top floor, adjacent to the cosplay and adult areas, they had a room full of bins of ...stuff.  Anything in the bins was 105yen.  Ohhhh boy.  We found some good deals.  I got a few things for myself, but more for friends.

It was getting late, so we had to boogie when we left.  We still wanted to go to DenDen Town and Dotombori.  Back to the train station, we headed to DenDen Town - the Akihabara of Osaka.  It's got lots of nerdy shops.  We ducked into K-Books, Animate, and some open-box figurine stores.  There was a wig store which looked good, but was too expensive.  I saw some people with Cospa bags, but didn't see the shop. I should have asked.  The Maple store was nice, but again, more than I want to pay for a wig.  We passed some maid cafes, but decided to not go in.  I like hanging out where the nerds are.  It always feels so genuine.  XD

Metal Gear Rising store-front at the PlayStation store.

There weren't as many nerdy billboards as Akiba has, but there was this Zaku...

The side of a Robotics;Notes themes cafe.  I kinda wanted to go in, but we had other things on the list and I didn't think Ashley was interested, since she hasn't seen the show.

Whenever you see pictures of Osaka, you always see a giant moving crab sign and an Glico running man sign.  Those are in Dotombori.  We made our way there and saw the crab right away!

I took some pictures and we kept walking.  ...another crab?!  The real one?!  I took more pictures.

I saw a small sign of the Glico running man outside a Glico candy shop.  ...surely this wasn't it... It looked so DIFFERENT online.

We stopped for dinner - carefully making the choice BASED ON THE BIG DRAGON ON THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING.  Well, and the the seats inside looked interesting.  And there was a bit of a line, which usually indicates either fame or quality.  Inside, you got a ticket from the machine, which offered two choices in four different languages - regular, or more pork.  I got the regular and asked for no pork.  You can add kimchi from the dishes at the counter where you pick up your bowl when your number is called.  The vending machines offer a wonderful selection of about 24 buttons of the same beer and one button of a variety of the same brand.  The ramen was rather flavorless and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't what I'd call good, either.  :<

It's the home store, according to the sign there.  We saw another smaller store as we walked on.

No chairs.  It was all tatami.  You could sit with your feet off to the side or take off your shoes and cross your legs.

Our ramen and my cup of kimchi.  Mediocre.  :I

It turns out that section of the street has lots of cool-looking building signs!

The takoyaki place kept playing a version of the Hallelujah Chorus with changed lyrics.

AND ANOTHER CRABBBBBBBBBBBBB.  They're all the same store.  This one was the biggest and apparently, the home store.  Surely, this was THE CRAB.

Just when I was about to ask someone where to find that dang running man because apparently, I hadn't done enough research, we turned down a street to cross a bridge and saw him.  YESSSSSS

I guess the bridge is famous, too.  Apparently, the Yebisu bridge is the one the Hanshin Tigers fans jump off of... I forget if it's when they win or lose.  Whichever one's uncommon.  I think it's when they win.  XD  I don't know how deep the river below is, so it seems pretty dangerous. <_<  Crazy people.

View over the other side of the bridge.

We did a bit of shopping in the adjacent arcade, then decided to call it a night.  I was interested in going to a video game-themed bar that sounded cool, but my feet hurt from wearing Chucks all day, and we were both tired.

Saw this sign on the way back.

EVERY TIME I saw one of these signs in a train station, I thought it was Bowser and it was an ad for a Mario game.  Oops.

Back at the hostel, Ashley made some last-minute adjustments to her cosplay for the next day. We then donned the sleeves she had divested her sweater of (to make it a vest), poured the umeshuu I'd bought at Cynthia's host family's store, and turned on some JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Classy ladies.