Osaka - Japan's #2 city

Today we drove from Kyoto to Osaka to see the city for a few hours before leaving by shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo.  The first site of the day was Osaka-Jo, an early 20th century reconstruction of a 16th century warlord's castle.  The castle had an 8th floor observation deck from which you could see the city.  Unfortunately, the weather today wasn't great and a lot of our pictures are a bit washed out, but you can still get the idea.  The fall colors continue to be great in this part of Japan.  Hopefully the trees in Tokyo will be just as beautiful.

Bridge to Osaka Castle

This castle had TWO moats...take that Europe!

View from the castle top

Osaka Castle had four fish ornaments, one at each cardinal direction

After the castle we were all hungry, and Emiko has been craving some American food, since she can't get any in Beppu. So we drove down to near Universal Studios Japan to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Everything was almost exactly like a Hard Rock in America, just twice as expensive.  Emiko ordered the mega appetizer that came with chicken tenders, chicken wings, onion rings, etc.  This dish cost over $40!  Our hamburger and fries were over $20/person and the sodas with free refills, a rarity in Japan, were $8.  Nothing like fine American dining!

Redonkulous Appetizer Platter

After lunch we walked around the Universal City shopping center and found a takoyaki museum.  Takoyaki is a Japanese snack that Paul really loves.  It's a little bit of battered octopus that is cooked into a ball in a special pan and then topped with a delicious sauce and usually fish flakes.  Unfortunately, we were too full to eat any today, but I'm sure we'll find some more in Tokyo.  The museum itself was mostly just a bunch of food stalls and a takoyaki themed gift shop with a catchy song welcoming us to Osaka ("Welcome to Osaka Takoyaki Museum" over and over and over).  Everything in Japan has a catchy song.

That's basically what a takoyaki looks like...but without arms and legs.

Paul LOVES takoyaki!

On the way back to the car, we ducked into another game room and found a Mario Kart themed racing game!  The game took your picture and put your face into your character's trademark items.  David got Mario's mustache and hat and Paul got Toad's mushroom cap.  Unfortunately for the boys, Emiko won the race.  David is getting super excited for the Akihabara electronics district and finding some video game paraphernalia.

Woo-Hoo!  It's a me!  David-o!

At the shinkansen train station we parted ways with our excellent Japanese tour guide, Emiko.  We are very grateful for all the help she's been and the personal expense she's undertaken to help show us an excellent time in Japan.  Now we're on our own for the last leg of our trip in the largest city in the world, Tokyo. 

David is super excited to experience Tokyo for the first time, and Paul is excited to return to one of his favorite cities. Unfortunately, David is getting a bit of a cold (anyone that knows David and traveling probably saw this coming).  Hopefully, the cold won't be a big deal and David can enjoy the last few days of the trip.

Shinkansen train.  Average arrival time: within 6 seconds of scheduled time