O s a k a

This is my 1st trip to Osaka and also my virgin ride on a bullet train, the Nozomi. The train is clean and comfortable but if you have large luggage, you might want to get on board quickly as the luggage compartment filled up pretty fast. We could not place our luggage there and have to squeeze it near our seats, taking much of our leg room. Perhaps they could have a larger luggage section for tourists.

 Sit on the right side when you are heading towards Osaka, and you could catch Fuji-san along the way.

 We were fortunate as the weather was sunny and not cloudy. Photos taken by Sharon. Great shots!

 Dotonbori canal below our Ryokan...

 ...which is at Soemon-cho, a street filled with restaurants and bars

 The south side of the canal is Dotonbori, a popular street with eateries, shops and gaming centres.

 Osaka is famous for its food, and Dotonburi is the place for food traveller to start the journey. 

 The mechanised claws of Kani Doraku Restaurant.

 Even when you are not hungry, the signs, billboards and displays are enough to keep you attracted to the food.

 The street comes alive when the sun sets.

 An interestingly shaped building.

Besides food, Osaka is also popular with shoppers, and the place to go is at Shinsaibashi.

  Shinsaibashi Suji is a covered shopping street of 600m long.

All kinds of stores and eateries lined both sides of the street.

 You would need a few hours and a lot of patience if your other half goes into each and every shop.

Home improvement & lifestyle department store.

 Tinkering what to 'catch'. We ended up spending a lot of yen here.

These are our catch, for the fun of it.

We only have 2 days in Osaka, so we did not venture beyond where we stayed. Beside being a smaller scale of Tokyo, Osaka is as vibrant and exciting as her bigger sister. In fact, its uniqueness is said to be as different to Tokyo, as possible. Osaka people stand on the right side of the escalator while those in Tokyo stand on the left. Thank-you become Okini instead of Arigato. Well, it does not matter to me because I like both cities. 

And another travel trip awaiting....