Osaka Castle (大阪城)

Osaka Castle was the first stop of our Kansai (関西) trip. At that time, we stayed in Kyoto (京都), but because of the weather, I adjusted the itinerary so that we can have the best weather on the best spots.

Anyway, I read that the best access to Osaka Castle is via Tanimacho 4-chome Station (谷町四丁目駅) of the Tanimachi Subway line (谷町線) and the Chuo Subway line (大阪市営地下鉄中央線). Using our Kansai Surutto pass, we started at Kyoto station (京都駅), took the Kintetsu Kyoto/Kashihara line (京都線/橿原線) and got off at Kintetsu Tambabashi station (近鉄丹波橋駅). From there, we transferred to the Keihan Main Line (京阪本線) and took the limited express train to Yodoyabashi (淀屋橋行). We got off again at Temmabashi station (天満橋駅) and transferred to the Tanimachi Subway line bound for Yaominami (八尾南行). Since the Kansai Surutto pass covers all non-JR trains (with some exceptions to Nankai and Kintetsu Limited Express trains), this route was free!

From Tanimachi 4-chome Station, we went out via Exit 2 and headed east. After about 200 meters, we were already in front of the NHK Osaka Broadcasting Hall (NHK大阪放送会館) and the Osaka Museum of History (大阪歴史博物館). After crossing the street, we're already at the Osaka Castle ground and headed towards the Otemon gate (大手門). Even along the way, the autumn colors were very pretty.

Otemon Gate

Once inside, we went to the direction of the main tower (大阪城天守閣). Right before the main tower was the former Osaka City Museum (旧大阪市立博物館) to the right, and souvenir shops and food stalls to the left. Originally, we planned to get inside the main tower. The admission was 600 yen/pax, but once we were outside, we thought what's inside won't probably interest us much, so we decided to just stay out and enjoy the scenery.

The former Osaka City Museum

Osaka Castle from japan-guide
Official website of Osaka Castle

Halloween in Tama Center 2012 (ハロウインin多摩センター2012)

It's not a tourist spot, nor a big time event, even just on a city-wide scale, but the Halloween event in Tama Center last Oct. 27-28 was quite interesting that I thought I'd post something about it. It was really not the reason why I was around Tokyo that time, that even though I brought my camera because I heard there was an event, I didn't bother to check it, and only when I came there that I realized I forgot a memory card.

Tama Center is probably more famous for being the location of Sanrio Puroland. It's accessible from three train lines, the Keio Tama Center station (京王多摩センター駅) of the Keio Sagamihara line (京王相模原線), Odakyu Tama Center station (小田急多摩センター駅) of the Odakyu Tama line (小田急多摩線) and the Tama Center station (多摩センター駅) of the Tama Monorail (多摩都市モノレール線).

My wife and I were just invited to go to this event. I heard there was some sort of illumination, but I didn't know that they were going to do it on Halloween pumpkins. It was scheduled to start at 5:30PM, and we arrived there at around 4:30PM, so we had some time to kill. There was a park near where the entire event was happening, though I wasn't able to go there, only my wife and my friends did. Why? I had to scramble to find a memory card. Good thing there were malls all over, so I was able to buy one immediately. Since I was left alone, I just took the opportunity to take some pictures of the event right before sunset.

When it was almost 5:30PM, we went back to the Halloween pumpkins, and by this time, there were already about 4 rows of people surrounding them. We just waited until those in front were done taking pictures, so the next row would move, and then they would move out again, and so on. After about 10 minutes, we're already at the front and I found myself sitting near the pumpkins. There were different designs, and there was even a Doraemon pumpkin! They also came in different sizes, so even if they were just pumpkins, looking at them together and illuminated was an eye candy.

When I got home, I searched about this event and found out that it has an official website found here.