Hello~♪

This will already be the last travel entry of my winter vacation.
After leaving Nara, I went to Osaka for my last day for some shopping <3

Osaka - Day 1 (January 8th, 2010):



I arrived there at night, went to my hotel to check in and then wanted to eat dinner and go for some shopping.
Unfortunately a lot of huge department stores close already at 8pm even in Osaka, so I didn't have that much time left.



That was my dinner: beef with egg, rice and miso soup. It was good enough and I was just super hungry. It was difficult to find a restaurant that didn't allow smoking that night (x_X) ....
I can't eat when everybody around me is smoking!



I got up quite early the next morning. On my "to do list" was only shopping, but as both, the Johnnys Shop as well as Mandarake wouldn't open before noon-ish I decided to try and go for some sightseeing.
In the end I decided to visit "Sumiyoshi (Taisha) Shrine (住吉大社)". It's probably the most famous shrine in Osaka (!!) with a history stretching back 1800 years. Its traditional architecture is unusual amongst Japan's shrines, and its park-like surroundings with the sacred bridge arching over a tranquil pond make it a restful break from the busy environment of Osaka.
The main shrine is designed in the oldest style of shrine construction and is registered as a National Treasure.



As it was still winter vacation and before the entrance exams for high schools and universities there were a lot of jr. high and high school students as well.



The shrine’s symbol, the gracefully arched Taiko-bashi Bridge, spans the pond in front of the shrine.





Finally the weather was nice (on my LAST day!!!! ;o; ....), but it was still SUPER cold (x_X)



I love that tree <3





Old lucky charms that have fulfilled their duty.



You can pray to that tree?!?!?!









The trees there were really awesome!



And it really seems that you can pray to them.





The shrine grounds were really huge and there was so much to discover (*_*)
It was really a nice morning stroll ^^







Hello Kitty lucky charm for the win!!! XD



Although it was already the 8th of January there were still many people doing their "Hatsumode" (first visit of a shrine in the new year), so it was kind of crowded there XD



I DID mention that I loved the trees there, right? <3



Btw. that's the view when you stand on top of the famous bridge that leads to the shrine grounds (*_*)v



On my way back, I took this random photo XD
I remember a woman smiling out of her car when she saw that a foreigner (=me) took a photo of these kimono pics XDDDDDDDDDDDDD
半額 which is written on the pictures means that they have a campaign and that it will only cost half the price :)



There's also a small park almost next to the shrine. Basically you'll get out of the train station and if you go left, you'll get to the shrine and if you go right instead, it will lead you to the park.

Anyway, it was close to noon and thus time to move on for what I ACTUALLY wanted to go to Osaka XDDDDD
FANDOM SHOPPING [insert nerd laughing here]




It was my first time to visit the Johnnys Shop in Osaka. So far I've only be IN the one in Harajuku, Tokyo and OUTSIDE of the one in Fukuoka XDDDDD
Luckily there doesn't seem to be a ticket system like in Tokyo, so I could enter right away. But because it was during the winter vacations it was quite crowded (anybody has EVER been in a NOT crowded Johnnys Shop anyways??!).



And then I went to Mandarake (*___*)
Actually there are 2 Mandarake in Osaka and I wanted to visit both that day, but in the end I spent so much time in the one in Namba, that I didn't have time for the one in Umeda anymore ;o;
Now I've been to the Mandarake in:
Ikebukuro, Shibuya❤, Akihabara❤, Kokura, Fukuoka and Namba. (6)
I still have to go to the ones in:
Sapporo, Nagoya, Nakano, Utsunomiya and Umeda (5)
XDDDDDDDDDD



And finally it was time for drunch (lunch-dinner) XDDDDD I was VERY hungry - as you can tell, ne? XD
That's chanpon again, plus extra rice and 6 extra gyoza (those are not on the photo XD)

After that I left Osaka and headed back home by Shinkansen. It takes a bit over 2hrs to get back home by Shinkansen + 25min. by local train (+ sometimes up to 40 min. waiting time for the local train *grmpf*). Although my city is the capital of the prefecture it doesn't have it's own Shinkansen station which is really inconvenient at times (>_>)


And that was my winter vacation 2009/10 . I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did (although - as you know now - it wasn't the "luckiest" vacation I ever had).
In the end I still enjoyed it and managed to get some nice photos out of if (^-^)/❤



I think I want to update my "japan travel" tags. By now I have soooo many entries, that it needs further management. I'm not yet sure how exactly I wanna organize my travel entries. I'm open for any suggestions.
I might order it by city (Osaka, Kyoto etc. -> *japan: travel: Kyoto), by prefecture (*japan: travel: Okayama Pref.) or by area: Kyuushuu, Kansai (*japan: travel: Kyuushuu).
Furthermore it might make sense to also do something like: *japan: travel: shrines / *japan: travel: castles / *japan: travel: onsen etc.
What do you think?
Thanks for your suggestions and ideas (^-^)/