Japan 2015: Osaka-jo and (a tiny bit on) Shitenno-ji

In my last post, I mentioned that I would be writing about Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle) and Umeda Sky Building.

However when I looked back at all the photos taken on that day, we actually stopped by a few more places between Osaka-jo and Umeda Sky Building!

So I'm breaking the day into two posts! This post has more photos than words, as usual lah.

This of course wasn't my first time visiting Osaka-jo. I was there in 2012 (read here for my post) before I met up with fellow UVERworld fans and I also managed to catch two UVERworld shows at the Osaka-jo Hall.

From Daikokucho-eki, we took the red Midosuji line towards Senrichuo and stopped at the Shinsaibashi-eki. Then we took the light green Nagahoritsurumiryokuchi line towards Kadoma-Minami to stop at Osaka Business Park-eki. Take note that there is another station which you can go to Osaka-jo, which is the Osaka-jokoen-eki. I purposely brought the two girls using this route because I liked how seeing the hall while going up the escalator left me in awe the first time I was there haha

gosh this brought back memories to 2012

Just had to check out the information board for events happening for June.

ONE OK ROCK!

I just love this route. Ample space for people to cycle, jog, walk..

If I'm living nearby this park I would jog almost everyday!

I wonder what happened to the ducks I saw in 2012?

View from/on the bridge:

As the castle is located on a hill, it was quite a journey to get to the top.

But since the scenery was quite nice, we just took our time walking, only stopping to snap photos here and there..

Okaylah I was a bit tired so I ran up these stairs to lepak for a while haha

I'm pretty sure some visitors at some point have this kind of photo! XP

We decided not to go into the castle, so we roamed around the area. There is an admission fee to go up to the castle. We went into the souvenir shop and just looked around.

Ah. This time capsule is still here!

Hot weather calls for shaved ice!

On the way out of the Osaka Castle park (or Osaka-jo-koen) we spotted a shrine:

It was the Hokoku Shrine, which was built to honour Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was responsible for the construction of Osaka-jo in 1538.

There was a wedding at the wedding hall, but I'm not sure how much of the ceremony we have missed.

so cute ah this sheep

peeking from the outside since we were unsure whether we could go in

After a short hangout at the shrine, we started our way out of the park.

We exited into Hommachi-dori and walked towards Tanimachiyonchome-eki.

Our next stop was Shitenno-ji, which is a Buddhist temple.

From Tanimachiyonchome-eki, take the purple Tanimachi line towards Yaominami and stop at Shitennojimae Yuhigaoka-eki.

It takes about 10 minutes to the temple area on foot.

this wheel rotates!

I was trying hard to remember the hand-washing ritual so that I won't screw up and risk upsetting the Gods

We didn't go in to check out the pagoda and the main hall because we were just killing time going to places before catching the sunset at Umeda Sky Building..

..which I will cover in my next post!

Thank you for your time!