Have fun storming the (Osaka) castle!

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Trip Start Dec 24, 2011 Trip End Dec 31, 2011 Next
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  Osaka, Ōsaka, Japan
Sunday, December 25, 2011

This trip to Japan has been a long time coming. Arriving in Korea in mid-November meant there wasn't a lot of time to plan for Christmas vacation. Japan was my number one choice to visit over the winter break. I teamed up with Grace, another new arrival at the school, to plan a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. We left the winter wonderland of Dongtan on the morning of Christmas Eve for the palm trees of Osaka. Although it was chilly in Japan and there were times I was happy to have my winter coat, overall I was surprised to find green leaves on many of the trees and the flowers in bloom. It could have been spring with the narcissus blooming, or fall with all the Japanese Maples in their fiery glory. I spent Christmas Day exploring  the famous Osaka Castle with Grace and a couple of her Japanese friends. Christmas does not have the same significant meaning in Japan as it does in the Western world. It is more of a day for friends to get together. The castle is an impressive five storey buliding originally built in the 1500s and is decked out with gold leaf. The original castle was destroyed in a fire and has since been reconstructed, although there are some parts that are orginal, such as as well right outside the main doors of the castle.
After touring the castle, we went for some good old Japanese food: donburi, udon soup and tea. The tea is key here because I have yet to find good tea in Korea. It is mostly based off of barley. But here in Japan, this is the real thing and it's a welcome change. Donburi is my new favourite Japanese dish. It  simply consists of rice, soy sauce, mirin and an egg not quite cooked through and placed on top. You can add meat and veggies to the donburi, but any way you have it, it is deliciousness in a warm bowl. Christmas Day was festively celebrated with a fancy chocolate-orange cake which stood in for the traditional Terry's chocolate orange this year.
We spent three and half days in Osaka, mostly exploring the city at our own pace. Since we didn't have an itinerary for Osaka, it made exploring very interesting. We made the mandatory visit to the Hello Kitty store, ate lots of donburi, got lost among the city streets, found my authentic alpaca legwarmers in a Nepalese/Peruvian shop - yes, after two years of seaching, I had to travel all the way to Japan to find them! - and found the most beautiful Japanese paper!  When you don't have an itinerary and you are a crafter, you find yourself in local craft shops that stock traditional fabric and handmade paper...SCORE!

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storming the castle	corners	look way up!	the old well
fight face	big fish	lovely red	UDON!
woof!	little shrine	it's true! there are alpacas in Japan!	om nom nom

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