Day 3 in Japan, Surprise and Dissapointment in Osaka-Kyoto
As usual, because of series of late sleep, not everyone was ready in the morning. I woke up early but the others were not. We were supposed to go to Kobe that day but had to cancel due to this situation. Naturally, after taking bath I went to Lawson 100 to buy my breakfast. No food shop was open at early in the morning, so the convenient store was the answer for breakfast. I guess most people in Japan breakfast at their own home.
Since we cancelled the Kobe trip, I suggested going to Osaka Castle instead since we couldn't go there yesterday. We arrived at Osakajokoen station and descended the long stair to enter the Osaka Castle's outer area. During the walk, we encountered several food stalls lined up. I tried the fried noodles because it does not have meat in it. The portion is quite big but it certainly needed more salt. After a pleasant walk to the inner side, we arrived at some kind of gate, but there was still need for more walk to really get into the castle vicinity.
Not far from the gate, we saw crowds of local and tourist. Surprisingly, they were gathering near Sakura trees. Apparently, the Sakura was already blooming a bit in this area. So we too went there and took some photos. This was my first time seeing Sakura from up close. It is indeed pretty but I couldn't appreciate more of the beauty because many people walking around and I must walk or stay out of the passage for people to pass. Next time maybe I will do like what I should have done, picnic in a garden and eating while looking at the Sakura.
From Sakura trees, we went to the front of Osaka Castle and took some photos with the castle as background. We also saw a couple who looked like they were doing a pre wedding photo shoot. We prefer not to go inside the castle though. The inside of Osaka Castle is a museum where we have to pay 500 yen for an entry ticket. My friends said they weren't that interested in the museum. Therefore, we then continued our trip to the next spot. But before exiting the castle area, we stopped by Lawson inside castle area. This Lawson is quite different with other Lawson we visited before, they have souvenirs that labelled like "only in Osaka Castle"(I can't remember the exact writing). But I had my doubt and decided not to buy it. Turns out it was indeed only sold in that Lawson, I never found the same souvenirs in other Lawson we visited(maybe other Lawson that we didn't visit had it, who knows). We also bought some dorayakis to eat at the food stalls we met before. At first, I wanted to allocate only a small amount of time in Osaka Castle, about 45 minutes, because there were many places we have yet to visit but eventually, we spent more than the allotted time.
Next spot is Namba Park, this was also the place that we could not spare some time to visit yesterday. Getting out of JR Namba station, we were still inside a building, we asked around on how to go to Namba Park. Combining that with Google Map navigation not making us arrive quickly to the destination. This is because Google Map walking instructions does not consider accessibility route. As we were walking with a baby stroller, finding an accessibility route was always the top priority. We finally reached Namba Park shopping area after walking for a long time and we were disappointed by it. The famous rooftop garden in Namba Park was not really that spectacular at all. There were only 5 people at the rooftop, proves that it is not a popular tourist spot. I suppose it will be amazing looking at Namba Park rooftop garden using drone, but being in the garden itself felt nothing special.
Immediately, we returned to train station to go to our next place, which is Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. As the schedule was pushed back, we made it to the Saga Arashiyama station at evening. Unfortunately, when we were really inside the Bamboo Forest, there was nothing we can see. Because, it was already dark. I read in the Internet that there were supposed to be lights in the sidewalk. Seemingly, it was wrong. We still took some photos, with flash, but the results were not great. From there, we proceed to Arashiyama Kimono Forest.
Arashiyama Kimono Forest is located inside other Arashiyama station which was not the station we came before. There were still some people with same intentions like us. Although it is called forest, but in reality they are pillars with kimono pattern and light that radiate from inside the pillars. It is very beautiful and colorful. Then suddenly my friend's phone behaved strange. Some of his photos are like corrupted. He claimed to have experienced it before and knew how to fix it. We waited for a while until he finished fixing it then continued taking some photos.
At the end of kimono pillars, there is a Pond of Dragon. It is said to be the guardian of the station. There is a stone near it that explains that if you pray to it and dip your hands in the pond, you will be blessed. The water is cold so I didn't do it. There is also a foot bath in this station where you can relax your foot dipping in the onsen water, but it was closed because it was already late(but not really that late). In fact, many places already closed and the lack of lights from houses felt like people around were all ready to sleep.
Because it was already night and to be able to get up early next day, we decided to call the day off. We returned to JR Saga Arashiyama station and I bought my dinner from the Lawson we encountered while walking back. We went back to Osaka station where my friends had dinner in a ramen restaurant while I ate some of my onigiris. Despite the intention, we actually went home late again and eventually sleep late again.
Since we cancelled the Kobe trip, I suggested going to Osaka Castle instead since we couldn't go there yesterday. We arrived at Osakajokoen station and descended the long stair to enter the Osaka Castle's outer area. During the walk, we encountered several food stalls lined up. I tried the fried noodles because it does not have meat in it. The portion is quite big but it certainly needed more salt. After a pleasant walk to the inner side, we arrived at some kind of gate, but there was still need for more walk to really get into the castle vicinity.
From Sakura trees, we went to the front of Osaka Castle and took some photos with the castle as background. We also saw a couple who looked like they were doing a pre wedding photo shoot. We prefer not to go inside the castle though. The inside of Osaka Castle is a museum where we have to pay 500 yen for an entry ticket. My friends said they weren't that interested in the museum. Therefore, we then continued our trip to the next spot. But before exiting the castle area, we stopped by Lawson inside castle area. This Lawson is quite different with other Lawson we visited before, they have souvenirs that labelled like "only in Osaka Castle"(I can't remember the exact writing). But I had my doubt and decided not to buy it. Turns out it was indeed only sold in that Lawson, I never found the same souvenirs in other Lawson we visited(maybe other Lawson that we didn't visit had it, who knows). We also bought some dorayakis to eat at the food stalls we met before. At first, I wanted to allocate only a small amount of time in Osaka Castle, about 45 minutes, because there were many places we have yet to visit but eventually, we spent more than the allotted time.
Next spot is Namba Park, this was also the place that we could not spare some time to visit yesterday. Getting out of JR Namba station, we were still inside a building, we asked around on how to go to Namba Park. Combining that with Google Map navigation not making us arrive quickly to the destination. This is because Google Map walking instructions does not consider accessibility route. As we were walking with a baby stroller, finding an accessibility route was always the top priority. We finally reached Namba Park shopping area after walking for a long time and we were disappointed by it. The famous rooftop garden in Namba Park was not really that spectacular at all. There were only 5 people at the rooftop, proves that it is not a popular tourist spot. I suppose it will be amazing looking at Namba Park rooftop garden using drone, but being in the garden itself felt nothing special.
Immediately, we returned to train station to go to our next place, which is Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. As the schedule was pushed back, we made it to the Saga Arashiyama station at evening. Unfortunately, when we were really inside the Bamboo Forest, there was nothing we can see. Because, it was already dark. I read in the Internet that there were supposed to be lights in the sidewalk. Seemingly, it was wrong. We still took some photos, with flash, but the results were not great. From there, we proceed to Arashiyama Kimono Forest.
Arashiyama Kimono Forest is located inside other Arashiyama station which was not the station we came before. There were still some people with same intentions like us. Although it is called forest, but in reality they are pillars with kimono pattern and light that radiate from inside the pillars. It is very beautiful and colorful. Then suddenly my friend's phone behaved strange. Some of his photos are like corrupted. He claimed to have experienced it before and knew how to fix it. We waited for a while until he finished fixing it then continued taking some photos.
Because it was already night and to be able to get up early next day, we decided to call the day off. We returned to JR Saga Arashiyama station and I bought my dinner from the Lawson we encountered while walking back. We went back to Osaka station where my friends had dinner in a ramen restaurant while I ate some of my onigiris. Despite the intention, we actually went home late again and eventually sleep late again.
Seperti biasa, karena dari kemarin tidur telat terus, pagi ini pun pada ga siap. Aku sih tetap bangun pagi. Harusnya hari ini kita ke Kobe, tapi dibatalkan deh karena pada bangun telat. Habis mandi langsung ke Lawson 100 di depan buat sarapan. Di sekitar situ tidak ada warung makanan yang buka pagi-pagi, jadi cuma bisa cari sarapan di Lawson deh. Kayaknya kebanyakan orang-orang Jepang makan pagi di rumah sendiri.
Karena kita batal ke Kobe, aku saranin pergi ke Osaka Castle karena kemarin kan tidak sempat. Kita sampai di stasiun Osakajokoen dan turun tangga cukup jauh untuk sampai ke area luar Osaka Castle. Pas jalan masuk ke dalam, terlihat banyak kios makanan. Aku cobain mie goreng karena tidak ada daging di dalamnya. Porsinya banyak tapi kayaknya butuh garam. Setelah jalan dengan santai ke dalam, kami sampai di gerbang yang ternyata habis dilewatin, masih perlu jalan lagi untuk sampai ke Osaka Castle.
Tidak jauh dari gerbang, kita lihat banyak orang lokal dan turis berkumpul. Tidak tahunya ternyata mereka berkumpul dekat pohon Sakura. Ternyata bunga Sakura sudah mulai mekar di area ini. Jadi kita foto-foto deh. Itu kali pertamanya aku melihat Sakura beneran, tapi mau lihat lama-lama agak susah karena banyak orang mau lewat, jadi harus sambil jalan atau ke pinggiran. Lain kali kalau ada kesempatan harus cobain piknik di taman, sambil makan sambil lihat Sakura.
Dari area pohon Sakura, kami lanjut ke depan Osaka Castle dan foto-foto dengan kastilnya sebagai latar belakang. Ada yang lagi foto pra nikah juga di sana. Kami tidak masuk ke dalam Osaka Castle karena untuk masuk harus bayar tiket 500 yen dan temanku tidak tertarik untuk ke museum di dalamnya. Jadi kita pindah deh ke tempat selanjutnya. Sebelum benar-benar keluar dari area Osaka Castle, kami mampir ke Lawson di dekatnya. Lawson ini agak berbeda dengan Lawson lain yang sudah pernah kami kunjungi, mereka jual suvenir yang ada tulisan "Hanya dijual di Osaka Castle"(Aku tidak ingat tulisan persisnya sih, kira-kira begitulah). Tapi aku tidak percaya, masa sih di tempat lain tidak ada yang jual, jadi batal beli deh. Tahu-tahunya memang benar tidak dijual di tempat lain. Di Lawson-Lawson berikutnya yang kita mampir, tidak terlihat adanya suvenir itu(mungkin Lawson lain yang kita tidak mampir ada kali yah). Selain itu kami juga cobain dorayaki di kios makanan yang kami lewatin tadi. Sebelumnya, aku cuma alokasi sedikit waktu di Osaka Castle ini, sekitar 45 menit, karena banyak tempat lain yang harus dikunjungi tapi tidak tahunya, waktunya banyak terpakai lebih dari itu.
Tempat berikutnya adalah Namba Park, ini juga salah satu tempat yang kemarin tidak sempat dikunjungi. Keluar dari stasiun JR Namba, ternyata masih satu gedung, kami tanya-tanya sekitar bagaimana caranya ke Namba Park. Sambil pakai navigasi dari Google Map ternyata tidak bikin kita cepat sampai ke tujuan. Ini karena instruksi jalan dari Google Map tidak mempertimbangkan rute untuk aksesibilitas. Karena kami kan jalan ke mana-mana bawa kereta bayi, jadinya waktu banyak habis dipakai untuk cari lift. Setelah jalan cukup lama, akhirnya sampai deh di Namba Park area perbelanjaan dan kami kecewa. Taman di atap yang terkenal di Namba Park itu ternyata tidak menakjubkan sama sekali. Di situ aja cuma ada sekitar 5 orang lagi berkeliaran, bukti kalau bukan tempat tujuan turis yang populer. Mungkin kalau dilihat dari atas pakai drone akan terlihat wah kali ya. Kalau tamannya sendiri sih, tidak ada yang spesial.
Buru-buru deh kami lanjut ke stasiun kereta untuk pergi ke tempat selanjutnya, yaitu Hutan Bambu Arashiyama. Karena jadwalnya banyak mundur, kami sampai di stasiun Saga Arashiyama sudah sore. Sayangnya, pas kami sudah sampai di dalam Hutan Bambunya, tidak terlihat apa-apa. Ini semua karena sudah gelap. Padahal aku baca di Internet kalau di pinggiran jalannya ada lampu penerangan. Ternyata informasinya salah. Kami tetap foto-foto sih, pakai mode flash, tapi hasilnya tidak terlalu bagus. Dari situ kami lanjut ke Hutan Kimono Arashiyama.
Hutan Kimono Arashiyama ini lokasinya ada di dalam stasiun Arashiyama, tapi bukan stasiun yang kami pakai buat kedatangan tadi, melainkan yang lain. Ada beberapa orang di dalamnya yang tujuannya sama seperti kami. Walaupun namanya hutan, tapi sebenarnya adalah pilar-pilar dengan pola kimono dan lampu terang bercahaya dari dalam pilar. Tempatnya cantik dan berwarna-warni. Lalu hp temanku tiba-tiba jadi aneh. Foto-foto di dalamnya seperti rusak. Dia bilang sih sudah sering begitu dan tahu cara benerinnya. Jadi ditunggu deh agak lama sampai sudah benar, baru lanjut foto-foto.
Di ujung area pilar kimono itu, ada Kolam Naga. Katanya sih naganya penjaga stasiun. Ada batu di dekatnya yang menjelaskan kalau berdoa dan memasukkan tangan ke dalam kolam, nanti diberkati. Airnya dingin, jadi aku tidak cobain. Di stasiun ini juga ada tempat pemandian air panas untuk kaki untuk relaksasi, tapi sudah tutup karena sudah malam(sebenarnya pas itu ga malam-malam amat sih). Bahkan banyak tempat sudah tutup dan lampu-lampu sudah dimatikan dari dalam rumah-rumah seakan-akan mengatakan kalau semua sudah siap untuk tidur.
Karena sudah malam dan supaya besok pagi bisa bangun lebih pagi, jadinya kami putuskan untuk pulang. Kami pulang ke stasiun JR Saga Arashiyama dan aku beli makan malam di Lawson pas lewat. Pas di stasiun Osaka, temanku makan malam di restoran ramen sedangkan aku makan beberapa onigiri yang tadi kubeli. Padahal niatnya pengen tidur cepat, tidak tahunya kita pulang juga sudah malam sekali dan jadinya tidur telat lagi deh.
Karena kita batal ke Kobe, aku saranin pergi ke Osaka Castle karena kemarin kan tidak sempat. Kita sampai di stasiun Osakajokoen dan turun tangga cukup jauh untuk sampai ke area luar Osaka Castle. Pas jalan masuk ke dalam, terlihat banyak kios makanan. Aku cobain mie goreng karena tidak ada daging di dalamnya. Porsinya banyak tapi kayaknya butuh garam. Setelah jalan dengan santai ke dalam, kami sampai di gerbang yang ternyata habis dilewatin, masih perlu jalan lagi untuk sampai ke Osaka Castle.
Dari area pohon Sakura, kami lanjut ke depan Osaka Castle dan foto-foto dengan kastilnya sebagai latar belakang. Ada yang lagi foto pra nikah juga di sana. Kami tidak masuk ke dalam Osaka Castle karena untuk masuk harus bayar tiket 500 yen dan temanku tidak tertarik untuk ke museum di dalamnya. Jadi kita pindah deh ke tempat selanjutnya. Sebelum benar-benar keluar dari area Osaka Castle, kami mampir ke Lawson di dekatnya. Lawson ini agak berbeda dengan Lawson lain yang sudah pernah kami kunjungi, mereka jual suvenir yang ada tulisan "Hanya dijual di Osaka Castle"(Aku tidak ingat tulisan persisnya sih, kira-kira begitulah). Tapi aku tidak percaya, masa sih di tempat lain tidak ada yang jual, jadi batal beli deh. Tahu-tahunya memang benar tidak dijual di tempat lain. Di Lawson-Lawson berikutnya yang kita mampir, tidak terlihat adanya suvenir itu(mungkin Lawson lain yang kita tidak mampir ada kali yah). Selain itu kami juga cobain dorayaki di kios makanan yang kami lewatin tadi. Sebelumnya, aku cuma alokasi sedikit waktu di Osaka Castle ini, sekitar 45 menit, karena banyak tempat lain yang harus dikunjungi tapi tidak tahunya, waktunya banyak terpakai lebih dari itu.
Tempat berikutnya adalah Namba Park, ini juga salah satu tempat yang kemarin tidak sempat dikunjungi. Keluar dari stasiun JR Namba, ternyata masih satu gedung, kami tanya-tanya sekitar bagaimana caranya ke Namba Park. Sambil pakai navigasi dari Google Map ternyata tidak bikin kita cepat sampai ke tujuan. Ini karena instruksi jalan dari Google Map tidak mempertimbangkan rute untuk aksesibilitas. Karena kami kan jalan ke mana-mana bawa kereta bayi, jadinya waktu banyak habis dipakai untuk cari lift. Setelah jalan cukup lama, akhirnya sampai deh di Namba Park area perbelanjaan dan kami kecewa. Taman di atap yang terkenal di Namba Park itu ternyata tidak menakjubkan sama sekali. Di situ aja cuma ada sekitar 5 orang lagi berkeliaran, bukti kalau bukan tempat tujuan turis yang populer. Mungkin kalau dilihat dari atas pakai drone akan terlihat wah kali ya. Kalau tamannya sendiri sih, tidak ada yang spesial.
Buru-buru deh kami lanjut ke stasiun kereta untuk pergi ke tempat selanjutnya, yaitu Hutan Bambu Arashiyama. Karena jadwalnya banyak mundur, kami sampai di stasiun Saga Arashiyama sudah sore. Sayangnya, pas kami sudah sampai di dalam Hutan Bambunya, tidak terlihat apa-apa. Ini semua karena sudah gelap. Padahal aku baca di Internet kalau di pinggiran jalannya ada lampu penerangan. Ternyata informasinya salah. Kami tetap foto-foto sih, pakai mode flash, tapi hasilnya tidak terlalu bagus. Dari situ kami lanjut ke Hutan Kimono Arashiyama.
Hutan Kimono Arashiyama ini lokasinya ada di dalam stasiun Arashiyama, tapi bukan stasiun yang kami pakai buat kedatangan tadi, melainkan yang lain. Ada beberapa orang di dalamnya yang tujuannya sama seperti kami. Walaupun namanya hutan, tapi sebenarnya adalah pilar-pilar dengan pola kimono dan lampu terang bercahaya dari dalam pilar. Tempatnya cantik dan berwarna-warni. Lalu hp temanku tiba-tiba jadi aneh. Foto-foto di dalamnya seperti rusak. Dia bilang sih sudah sering begitu dan tahu cara benerinnya. Jadi ditunggu deh agak lama sampai sudah benar, baru lanjut foto-foto.
Karena sudah malam dan supaya besok pagi bisa bangun lebih pagi, jadinya kami putuskan untuk pulang. Kami pulang ke stasiun JR Saga Arashiyama dan aku beli makan malam di Lawson pas lewat. Pas di stasiun Osaka, temanku makan malam di restoran ramen sedangkan aku makan beberapa onigiri yang tadi kubeli. Padahal niatnya pengen tidur cepat, tidak tahunya kita pulang juga sudah malam sekali dan jadinya tidur telat lagi deh.
Komentar
Posting Komentar