The weather for day 3 was much better. The sun was shining and it was nice, thanks to the cool breeze.
Our first destination was the Osaka Science Museum. It was walking distance from our hotel so it made sense to visit that first then head out to the other attractions further away. It took us only 10 minutes to get there, thanks to the numerous signs pointing the way.
Again, this was a free attraction with the Pass. When we got there, we saw many kindergarten children going on a school trip. They looked so cute in their tiny uniforms, lining up with their caps and bags on.
One word of caution, the museum does not have a stitch of English in it!! Like all the exhibitions were written in Japanese. You could read the heading, which was in English but the description was all in Japanese. This frustrated En Rashid to no end. Hahaha.
Since we were unable to read any of the descriptions, we moved through the museum rather quickly. There was a section of the museum where you could try out things hands on. Even that, I had to wait for the kids to try them first to understand what to do.
The kids trying out the games there. En Rashid had already moved along and was calling me to hurry up. Ala..nak main gak game2 ni.
Somehow I feel this camera is more powerful than the camera I have. Maybe mine should belong in a museum. Also, see...everything written in Japanese. I told En Rashid, I shall go home and learn Japanese, then come back here and read every goddamn description there is!!
Somehow this TV reminded me of my late Tokki and how we would turn the knob trying to find a clear TV reception. I miss those days.
This is the Osaka Science Museum from outside. The museum actually had many floors but we skipped everything seeing how we couldn't read at all.
Right next to it is the National Museum of Art. We didn't go in here because 1. En Rashid is not a fan or art and 2. It wasn't free, only discounted using the Pass.
Notice anything funny? The pumps are hanging from the ceiling. I just thought that was so cool I had to take a photo.
Our next destination was the Osaka Museum of History. We had skipped this the day before because it was closed. The museum is just 5 minutes away from the Osaka Castle.
Again, like the Science Museum, everything here was written in Japanese too. However, there was still so much to just see and observe. That piece of architecture up there is actually.....
...part of the decoration on the roof of the Naniwa Palace. You'll have to enlarge the picture to know what I'm talking about (just click on it).
This showed the atmosphere in the palace's main hall. All the dayang-dayangs and what-not. They had people with titles such as the Imperial Curtain Attendant. I guess her job was to make sure the curtains matched the emperor's clothes or something like that.
You could see the Osaka Castle from the museum. Rupanya ada moat...tak perasan pun the day before.
Leather shoes. They look sturdy and rather comfortable.
This is a Bunraku puppet. Giller ngeri kalau jumpa tengah malam. Why must they paint the face like that? Freaky!
This was an activity that I did at one of the kids section. Dah takde keje kan, main camtum2kan pasu artifek. They had the real vase displayed nearby. It was impressive, the amount of artifacts they had intact.
These are actual kids' toys made from clay. Notice the dogs? Like WTH?
We spent quite some time at the museum. Actually I did viewed most of the displays; after a while En Rashid just sat in a corner playing on his iPad.
So then it was time to find food. We wanted to try out some authentic Japanese food but before that, we just had to try some delicious waffles from Manneken. We bought the set deal which allowed us to sample every type of waffle they had. Even the green tea waffle was delicious.
Then we went in search of this restaurant we had read about in one of the guides. We finally found it after 30 minutes of walking in the wrong direction. Grrrr. But the food was worth it. It was totally filling, partly because the rice was the "kanji" type.
En Rashid waited until I had finished the whole thing then asked me "sedap tak?" I was like "sedap!" Then he said, "You do realise you just ate eel?"
WTH?!!
Rupanya yang tempura panjang tu belut rupanya. Alahai, sib baik cakap lepas dah habis makan. Kalau tengah maka, mesti terkeluar balik.
Ngada! Time pelahap semua sedap. Dah tau belut, tetiba rasa geli lak. Padahal sedap je...hehehehe.
This is the restaurant that we ate at. Very simple decor, and the waitress was very friendly. Not so good English but I was able to communicate with my basic Japanese.
After filling our tummies, we decided to head out to see the Botanical Garden. It was quite a ride on the subway getting there and from the station, we had to walk quite a distance. We passed a few fields; here some elderly people were playing croquet.
Entrance to the gardens was free thanks again to the Unlimited Pass. I didn't take many pictures because sincerely, my camera does not do the flowers justice. Just take my word for it when I say the flowers were beautiful!!
This was in the rose garden. The place was exotic! And smelled so nice. We spent a few minutes just sitting under the shade, admiring the flowers. There were just so many types of roses.
En Rashid made an observation; there were two type of people who liked to come to the Botanical Garden...photographers and old people. Photographers, for obvious reasons...old people, because they could die in such a peaceful place. Hahahaha...I would like to stress that we did not fall into any of those categories.
These swans were magnificent. And they followed me, hoping for some bread I think. Sad to say I didn't have anything to feed them with.
The obligatory romantic photo of the day.
Beside the gardens, was the osaka museum of natural history. We didn't go because 1) En Rashid had had enough of museums already and 2) it wasn't free (but discounted with the Pass).
After walking for so long, we decided to head back to the hotel for prayers and a quick nap. We then headed out to the Dotonbori area to catch the night life in Osaka.
This is us on the Dotonbori River Cruise, another attraction that was free with the Pass. It was a great way to see the whole Dotonbori stretch without getting tired.
This was our guide, a funny man. He made us wave to every passerby on the street. Hahaha. The commentary was done mostly in Japanese but he did say a few things in English to accommodate us.
This is the landmark for the ticket counter for the cruise. It pretty hard to miss.
The neon Glico "running man" signboard.One of the popular landmarks of Japan. I think it was related to a candy or something but they used the running man for other national interests too.
The famous takoyaki. There was one stall just beside the river cruise ticket counter so we headed there after the boat ride. It took a while for them to get cooked but boy was it worth it. Sodapnya!! Even just looking at the photos and my mouth is watering. Yummy!!
En Rashid in front of the shop. Muka puas hati sebab dapat beli takoyaki. We ate while strolling along the other side of Dotonbori, taking in the sights and sounds. It was a very good day for us; we did a lot of sightseeing and we ate to our hearts' content.
Day 4 coming soon.
