Travels 150: Romancing Osaka, the Ramada Hotel Osaka

Having been invited to be the Chair of the Academic Session of the Asian Conference on Education in 2009, Journeys and Travels went to Osaka, Japan with an excited heart and ebullient spirit for this is his third solo trip overseas and what made it more exciting is the fact that Journeys and Travels is going to Japan. One thing Journeys and Travels loved about Japan is its very orderly and systematic subway and railway systems.

Journeys and Travels had been told by his friend Tatei Nobuhito that he will take the subway train from my Hotel TaiYo to go to Ramada Hotel Osaka. It took him very briefly to reach the venue of the conference. Upon walking up the stairs from the subway station, he came across the famous Ramada Hotel Osaka.

He noticed that Japanese are so orderly with their zoning and other traffic regulations. Even pedestrians follow where they should go when crossing and walking past alleyways.

Upon arriving at the Ramada Hotel Osaka, Journeys and Travels came across a pretty university student who wore a Kimono. Not to be edged out of the opportunity to get a photo with her, Journeys and Travels politely asked her for a photo op which she graciously approved of. He felt great after talking to her and knowing that she wore it to a wedding of her classmate. Even the Chinese ladies who are attending the conference had a handful of her Kimono.

Journeys and Travels’ experience in Osaka, Japan is one great way to introduce the Japanese culture. It will forever be an experience truly enlightening and rewarding.

Travels 129: Night-out in Osaka

While in Osaka, I met my Swiss friend Coco and we decided to get dinner and sightsee the city by night. Night-out in Osaka is one filled with bursting colors and one that I will never ever forget. I have seen the gargantuan food God and Goddesses there, replete with their viands in wide array of display for those who want to see what is on the menu in each restaurant.

It’s a chilly and windy night-out in Osaka and we went to this district to get some dinner and beers. It was after I and Coco had a warm and funny experience at the public bath in the hotel where we stayed.

The night-out was fun-filled. The beers were hugely popular and we took Kirin Beer after dinner. The most famous beer in Japan is considerably, the Kirin brand.

A night before that, I went solo night-outing in Osaka and I was casually on my walking Benetton shorts and sleepers as I planned to only take dinner by myself and then back to the hotel to prepare my presentation. Since it was my first night-out in Osaka, I want to sightsee it myself. As I was looking around, to my horror, I was the only one dining in walking shorts and everybody were on their suits and in the best dresses. To my chagrin, I hurriedly took my dinner and went off my way home.

Travels 128: Journeying Osaka Castle

In 2009, I was invited to Chair one Academic Session of the Asian Conference of Education in Osaka, Japan and I was also a research paper presenter at the conference. On the sidelines of the conference, I took a day out to do sightseeing in the lovely city of Osaka.

It was November so the air was cold ready for the winter in Osaka. They told me that Osaka is loveliest when you are there on winter as you will feel the breeze and the snow, just like any places in the world that has winter. Above all else, I went to Osaka Castle, not once but twice!

My first visit was with two Japanese friends who had been so generous in showing me around museums and castles, foremost of it was Osaka Castle. Tatei Nobuhito and his friend accompanied me to the castle and it is one sunny day before the conference starts that we went to the castle grounds. Tatei is one among many travel guide volunteers around Osaka.

My second visit was with my Swiss friend Cornel Graf. We both explored Osaka Castle earnestly and we took fancy dressing up as Samurai warriors. I would love to wear the samurai hat which Coco wore but it does not fit me well so I settled for a much lesser version.

In doing so, when we arrived at the 2nd floor landing of the Osaka Castle, there, a friendly staff greeted us and asked us if we wanted our photos taken dressing up as Samurai warriors for a minimal fee of 30 Yen. We took it and then off we go, history made! Swiss and Pinoy samurai jacks!

Journeying Osaka Castle is like travelling into a time warp. You will see how impressive the wooden beams and the castle structure as it is, although I have observed on my first visit that the Castle administration, installed a glass elevator for use by visitors to the castle. That, I think has not blended well into the entire Castle structure. But, I love the well manicured castle grounds complete with floral designs.

Travelling to Japan and especially to Osaka can bring you all the rich cultural diversity and understanding of how Japan is now and in their glorious past. The lives of the samurai and the castle, much more like Journeying Osaka Castle is one experience that a visit to Osaka will ever taught us history’s lessons. Their lives and societies are so interconnected to the one true figure and that person is the revered Emperor who sits on the Chrysanthemum throne for centuries now.