Today we explored more of Osaka than I thought existed, and started our day at Osaka Castle.
Despite being built in the 1600s, it has been mostly gutted and made into a museum now, but it was really interesting learning about a society from so long ago. The gardens around the area are still amazing, and it was completely packed full of people.
We were also lucky enough to see some New Years performances out the front, which were totally weird and wacky, but awesome to see.
Also weird was a guy who yelled out "Happy New Year" to us repeatedly from his bike before stopping to hug, kiss on the cheek and smell both Sean and I for an odd amount of time. If that's a tradition, I'm fairly glad it's not common!!
After the castle, we headed over the Hard Rock Cafe to grab a souvenir for my sister. The food was delicious, but it felt wrong using a knife and fork after so long.
I think I'm going to have to start adding alcohol to all of my thickshakes!
Once we were super full of not only food, but also great tunes, we headed to Tennoji park, but unfortunately, most things around the area were closed, but there was a huge park filled with families and people with their tiny little dogs. There was a whole shop dedicated to pet outfits in all shapes and sizes!!
I don't really need a dog outfit though, so we moved onto Dotenbori - a huge shopping district full of thousands of people, all looking for the equivalent of boxing day sales.
Every second store seemed to be a huge games arcade which put my time at Timezone back home to shame. The skill of some of the players was insane, but the noise was even crazier.
I managed to pick up a few bargains of things I had forgotten, and a few things to send home, but honestly, the crowd and stores in themselves were the real attraction!!
Tomorrow, Nara and a night bus!! xx