wakayama city and wakayama castle

i went there about 3 weeks ago, and well.. koya-san is great, but wakayama city definitely doesnt deserve being called a city as there’s NOTHING there at all.

well, the most interesting aspect of wakayama city, was that between the JR station and our hotel (miyama business hotel) were quite a few thai massage places as well as thai restaurants. even one of the cashiers at the lawsons near our hotel was thai!

anyway, the area around the JR station is the most “lively” and “bustling” part of the city and there was hardly anything there even. there were several love hotels though – easily visible because there werent many other tall buildings in wakayama city – and many, many nightclubs. i dont know where the nightclubs get their customers from, as we certainly didnt see many people in the city at all.

for example, this is one of the large streets at around 12pm on a holiday:

very few cars and only a few people!

i suppose i sound rather disparaging about wakayama, and that’s partly because that was the last leg of our trip and we were looking forward to a city after having spent a day and a half on koya-san before that. turns out that the mountain had a lot more things to see and do than the city! 

our experience certainly wasnt helped by wakayama castle, which was meant to be the highlight of wakayama city.

firstly, it’s not that convenient to get to, as it’s about 10-15 min walk from the kintetsu station. i think the station had to be the largest building we saw in the city (i exaggerate of course):

it’s pretty enough from outside though:

the garden within the castle grounds wasnt too bad:

although there was a lot of algae – or slime? – on a part of the water’s surface:

the castle was definitely nice from the outside; not unlike other japanese castles, but nice all the same:

i found this hello kitty machine at the small souvenir/rest area somewhat cute too:

many historical attractions like temples and castles in japan require that you take off your shoes before entering, so as not to damage the wooden floors i guess, or to show some form of respect.

so, when we werent asked to remove our shoes before entering the castle – but only to stamp our feet to rid it of dust and gravel before we enter – i felt that something was not quite right. i didnt think too much about it though, until i stepped inside and saw this:

arrrghhh! it was another castle museum, like osaka castle but less new and shiny, but still a renovated museum and nothing like what the castle was in the past (unlike himeji, takayama, uwajima or nijo castles)!!

arghhhhhhh! there went our highlight. i felt extremely letdown actually, as we were let to believe by lonely planet that wakayama castle was NOT going to be yet another stupid castle museum – i heard that hiroshima castle is a museum too, so DO NOT enter!

i went up to the highest floor and amused myself taking pictures of the scenery instead:

(once again, check out the empty roads)

after our disappointing visit, we went back into osaka and consoled ourselves with mexican food at El Pancho. yum.

plum blossoms viewing

went to see the plum blossoms at osaka castle last wednesday, and they were rather pretty! it's only the beginning of the blossoming season, and they're only set to get bigger and prettier :)

but before we got to the pretty flowers, we had to go past some yucky murky waters. it's quite a disgrace how the castle moat was ugly and had trash in it, especially considering how it's one of the major tourist attractions in osaka. the thing about japan is that they can have smoke producing industries not only in the centre of the city but next to tourist attractions to boot. and they dont take very good care of their attractions or sites in some situations:

check out all the red gunk (from what, i dont know) and the rubbish in it

we couldnt help but pose in front of it:

there was this cow display

as you can see, the plum blossoms arent quite in full bloom yet

 

i like the close-up shots the best, like these:

this below is my absolute favourite:

i like the reds of these a lot:

and i quite like this pic too:

i took these 2 on my phone cos my camera died.. think they didnt turn out too bad! :

and we had to end of with purikura, of course:

japan happenings - from tokyo to osaka

i dont think i've talked much about what happened before i got to osaka..

i think the highlight in tokyo was the embassy dinner hosted by the singapore embassy at Gopanchi (not sure of the spelling). it's located in the upmarket area - roppongi -  and was attended by embassy members as well as 2 representatives from STB. it was our first - and probably the last - time in a taxi in japan. cost us 2810yen in all..

the restaurant is famous due to former PM koizumi having brought bush jr. there when the latter was in japan. the food was great, and the ambience was nice too, if a little noisy.

we went via shinkansen to osaka, and there's nothing special about it except that it does move rather fast when it's speeding along between stops that are rather far apart from each other, and that it moves very smoothly. no jerking of any sort!

the other 2 JETs in Osaka city who were there in tokyo with me.. i think we're all rather un-photogenic.. :P

inside of a shinkansen.. just like any other train i think..

we've been drinking a couple of times, and once was at this beer garden at the 17th floor of the hankyu building just above the hankyu station:

it was really crowded there, and over the course of the evening i ended up talking to 3 different groups of people: 1 elderly man, 1 young guy and another middle aged salarly man and his ex colleague.

great view from the beer garden:

like all the other cities in japan, osaka has been having summer celebrations, and i saw fireworks at the river near my apartment on saturday. missed the fireworks at ndp but got this nice substitute! the fireworks in japan are longer than those in singapore; ranging about 45min to 1.5hours. but the really cool thing was that due to the fireworks and these summer celebrations, so many people were in yukata on saturday!

have a taste of the crowd in osaka - it's always this crowded!

i had a friend from singapore visit -

 

and i think it's easy to get good food in japan for less than 1000yen per meal! i havent really paid more than 840yen for my food (except the buffets that're around 900yen) and they're all delicious.

like omu rice

dessert

 

and okonomiyaki, which tastes nothing like and far far better than anything you'll ever eat in singapore

shopping here need not be expensive either. i bought two t-shirts of fairly nice design and good quality for about 500yen each, which is way cheaper than anything i can ever get back home. i also got this really nice cardigan/jacket thingy for 499yen (below), as well as a cute pair of wedge shoes for 1000yen.

and above, you can see osaka castle. we visited there on sunday, and it's a really beautiful castle to look at, but you dont really have to bother going in as nothing of the castle is left. it's actually a museum instead, and not the place to go if you want to have a glimpse into what the inside of a castle might have been back then.

more pictures of the castle:

it even has a lift for the handicapped and elderly and is fully air-conditioned inside:

i've also been to the floating garden observatory of the umeda sky tower. i think it's one of the tallest buildings in osaka city, if not the tallest, and has quite a nice view from the top. it's famous for its distinctive architecture too, and is within cycling distance from my flat (although i didnt cycle there):

a glimpse of the view:

i love the way it looks right at the top:

it's a really popular places for couples and families too:

and i'll leave u all now with the last picture that i took - it's of my newly purchased handphone, and jac is so going to roll her eyes and declare that i've become kawaii-fied after just a mere week in japan:

i actually wanted metallic dark purple or metallic dark red, but they'd run out of stock unfortunately. but i like this pink one just fine too :)