Day 4 & 5 - A Yusuke Adventure & Exploring Tennoji

On May 4th we were lucky enough to be joined by Yusuke. I know Yusuke through an exchange I did with him a couple of years ago. He was kind enough to make a long trip down to Osaka to spend the day with us. We started the day by going to Osaka Castle. On the outside it looked really nice. The inside was very modern looking and mainly a museum. We did get a nice view from the top of the castle. The breeze was really nice at the top after climbing all the stairs.

After Osaka Castle we grabbed some lunch and I got to try Takoyaki (Octopus Balls). Despite being told that they taste awful, I really enjoyed them. Yusuke was also kind enough to buy me some sweet dumplings. After lunch we heading for Namba which is the Southern Downtown area of Osaka. We walked through the busy streets to America Town. We walked around it and headed back to the central area of Namba to find some food. We ended up going to a sushi restaurant and Yusuke was kind enough to treat us to Sushi. After finishing out dinner we went into a huge Sega Arcade. I finally got to try a game that I had been looking for. We went downstairs and saw some more fun games. All four of us got to play a huge Darius Arcade machine that was 4 player (we could not get a picture of it).

After the arcade we went for an hour of karaoke. It was a ton of fun to try and sing some Japanese songs (with mixed results). We then headed back to our hotel and said good bye to Yusuke. We thanked him very much, but he said it was really no problem. We ended the day by going to a dessert shop and getting some ice cream/crepes (Colin got ice cream, Bramwell and I got a crepe). The desert was really delicious!

On day 5 we decided to explore the area around Tennoji Station. It is just one train stop away from our hotel. We tried finding a place to exchange money, but most placed were closed due to the holiday going on today. We then found an epic arcade that was full of fighting games. Originally I thought that I was going to lose right away so I sat down to play King of Fighters 13. I ended up getting to the final boss before I lose. We then tried out another game which I manged to clear in one credit. There was so much more to see, but we had already spent 2 hours in the arcade. We left the arcade and went for lunch in Tennoji Station.

After lunch we headed for Shitennoji Temple. It is one of the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan. It was a really big area to explore and the buildings were a sight to see. There was a service going on in one of the temples so we did not go inside. We concluded our day by walking around the Tsutenkaku Tower. On to the pictures!

Daily Vending Machine and Sign

This sign was just outside of Osaka Castle. We did not see any bees at the time. The vending machine is a classic boss vending machine. I could not help but have the "Like a Boss" song stuck in my head.


The walls of the castle were huge! The moat was also equally as impressive.


You can see we were still far away from the castle. It probably took at least 10-15mins to walk to it. There was also a train tour you could take.


We finally got closer! Also a picture with Yusuke!


This was taken about halfway to the castle. Once at the top we saw some people practicing some form of dance.



As you can see the castle was full of people. There were also a lot of nice flowers.


A couple shots from the top of the castle.


There was a lot of performances going on outside of the tower. We got to see this group of people playing some Taiko drums. Apparently it is the 80th anniversary of the Osaka Castle Museum.


My lunch which consisted of some sweet dumplings and takoyaki (both good). This was the view I got while I was eating.


This is the first building we really saw in Namba. Notice the center of it is a rock climbing wall.


Giant crab! The second picture was taken near China Town.


The famous Glico Running Man sign. We took a picture during the day and night. It was truly a sight to see at night!


We found Tom's House in American Town!


The sushi we had. Japanese sushi has a lot more fish then rice (compared to sushi in Canada). The second picture was of sushi that Yusuke said we had to try. He would not tell us what they were until we eat them. They were very good, but looked weird (minus the obvious shrimp =p).


The kabuki theater at night time.


Singing out hearts out! (Attempted to sing the Lucky Star intro with Yusuke, but it was too fast! I did however sing the Evangelion opening with him.)


Playing Project Diva! Been looking forward to playing this. The second picture has some guy waiting for me to finish playing. Look at him judge my awful. I am not used to the button configuration yet. I want to play this game again!


We also ran into the 'Love Plus' arcade machine. I won't explain what the game is about.



DAY 5!!!


Lunch - Left Bramwell, Middle Matt, Right Colin


Playing Blazblue and KoF13.


A good shot of Colin and Bramwell. The main building for Shitennoji shrine.




More pictures of the shrine. This place is huge.


The main entrance to the shrine.


We were walking and found another shrine with giant fish!


Finish the day by playing Taiko Drum Master. It was a ton of fun!

Video time!

KoF13 with Mai!


KoF13 - Getting owned by the final boss.


It's Platinum the Trinity!


I barely beat the last boss.


Taiko Drum Master - Super fun game. We are playing the opening song to an anime called Lucky Star.