Exploring the city in Plains & Prints -- Day 1

"The World is yours to Explore"

There's something about being in a different country or a city that makes me feel alive and ready for new experiences.  With that being said, I woke up early on the first day despite the fact that we've only arrived the day before and were dead tired from our trip.  However, I honestly felt like we had no time to lose if we wanted to see everything that was on our itinerary.  Not to mention, we did not know the language (although Carlos knows the basics) so starting early was a MUST for us.

The first on our list was one of the famous landmarks of the city, Osaka Castle.  It was something I wanted to see because it's very different compared to my perception of castles growing up as a kid and thinking they all look like the ones in disney films and that they all have dungeons.  Thank God Carlos was up for it too.  From the outside, it consisted of layers and if you ask me, I thought it looked like a 3-4-storey-house with an attic on top.  And from the inside, as expected, there were a lot of stairs and a lot of climbing up.  You can pretty much imagine how tired we were by the time we reached the top.  There were more stairs compared to when we climbed up to see the Buddha in HK, but it was definitely worth it.  

The tickets to climb up the castle was only 600yen/person, which is about MOP40.00 or 5.00USD.  

What's on me: Dress: Cotton On | Cardigan: Forever 21 | Bag: LongChamp | Shoes: Vans |

We both opted to wear something really comfy because we knew there was gonna be a lot of walking... Also, I've gained a lot of weight as you can see from my photos, but I'm alright with that.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.  But I can't deny the fact that food (in general) is just too good!

Another reason why it's worth visiting this landmark, in my opinion, is because of the "street-food" just outside the castle.  We definitely were able to try different kinds of food, such as Takoyaki balls (1,100yen) in four different flavours and rice cakes in teriyaki sauce (300yen).  Carlos bought some sausages wrapped in eggs (500yen) as well, but I do not have a photo of that.  The food was definitely great!  Even as I'm typing right now, I'm drooling over those Takoyaki balls!  They were just that good!  A must-try if you go to Japan! :)

Do check out the castle if ever you're in town because it represents a great deal of Japanese traditions and history, in my opinion.  Despite the hustle & bustle and other wonders of this city, I believe that people should be able to escape to rural areas whenever they feel like it.  It's a pity that Macau is too tiny to have parks scattered all over.  Anyway, I hope you like the photos and in the next post, I'll be showing you Dotonbori (a "town" where a lot of people, tourists in particular, go to shop and eat a lot of really good food) so stay tuned!