Winter Trip 2009 - Osaka/Nara/Kobe Part 1

So on the night of 22 December, Isabel, Dhani, Yang Chen and I boarded the night bus at Shinjuku bound for ....-drum roll-.... Osaka! The night bus was, well, quite bearable actually, except that I probably should bring a neck pillow if I ever repeat this experience - which I probably will since this is the cheapest means of transport for domestic travel... =/ Poor Dhani was not so lucky though, as he sat next to a rather (surprisingly) big-sized Japanese who kept talking with his friend the whole night. Arrived in Osaka the next morning at about 6am, and so the trip began!

23 Dec - Sze Ping, Osaka Castle, Peace Osaka, Namba, Okonomiyaki
Our hostel (Guesthouse U-en) was such a cosy place! We managed to book the private triple room for the 4 of us and paid just 300yen more than if we were to get the dorm beds. The whole place had an almost bohemian-feel and yet traditional Japanese style to it. Our room used to be part of a family home, so it was styled in the traditional Japanese decor of tatami mats, futons, and paper sliding doors. Nice!

Managed to meet up with Sze Ping (!) at the Osaka Castle Park, which was just a 15 minute walk from our hostel. Went into the main hall of the Osaka Castle as well, which has been converted into a museum of sorts, mainly detailing the life and exploits of the founder of the Osaka Castle - Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Pretty interesting but then again probably because I'm a history student heh =P.
(The Osaka Castle Main Hall - a converted museum about Hideyoshi Toyotomi.)

(Taking a photo together at a random face-cut-out in the Osaka Castle Park!)

Next up on the outskirts of the Osaka Castle Park was the Peace Museum Osaka, which I found to be a highlight of the trip. Having been to the Yushukan (War Museum @ Yasukuni Shrine) and seeing how amazingly biased it could be, this was surprisingly refreshing, with a whole exhibit on the WW2 atrocities as committed by the Japanese. At 250yen, this was probably the cheapest admission fee of the whole trip too.
(A pamphlet from Peace Osaka, of which the logo apparently reflects the whole universe if you look carefully.)

Went back to the hostel for a bit of much-needed nap, before heading out to Namba - one of the main nightlife/shopping centre of Osaka - and had Okonomiyaki dinner with Sze Ping! Unlike the bounenkai one at Chofu, the staff made the okonomiyakis for us here. I had extra cheese topping with my order and it was heavenly. Cheese = <3! Sze Ping and I were both lamenting that cheese in Japan is so darn expensive though blah. After dinner, Sze Ping went back to pack for her trip to China the next day, whilst we 4 walked around for a bit.

(At okonomiyaki dinner - Sze Ping!)

(Hungry Isabel, Yang Chen and Dhani looking sad whilst waiting for their okonomiyakis to be done.)