Hong Kong to Osaka

First of all – Happy Easter!

On our penultimate day in HK, we take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the big Buddha on Lantau Island.

Up, up and away..

We pass the airport from where we’ll be leaving for Japan. Built to replace Kai Tak, it’s built on reclaimed land and is quite the engineering feat.


Chek Lap Kok Airport

A Chilean woman takes our photo.

Hong Kong to Osaka

After being blown around by strong winds pushing the cable car, we arrive.

Buddha’s mantra number one – ‘Bless Them All

A good place to have an escalator.

Buddha’s mantra number two- ‘I Think It’s Going to Work Out Fine

We arrive in Osaka at the tail end of cherry-blossom season.


‘So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet a union in partition,
Two lovely berries molded on one stem.’ – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Note the Sararīmen – the guys in suits – sitting on the benches, trying to stave off Karōshi.

The castle is surrounded by several moats, with curved walls built of enormous stones.

Tourist on the walls
Turret on the walls

Osaka Castle has a long and turbulent history.

Castle

City view from the top of the castle.

Osaka

Matcha-flavoured ice cream. Matcha is powdered green tea.

Not surprisingly, tastes a bit like maté

In a temple on the castle grounds, people tie small notes with their wishes on them to a fence.

When You Wish Upon a Fence…

We visit the Udema Sky Building.

Sky Towers

A good place to watch the sun go down.

Yodo River

Riding the escalators in the top is fun.

Around our hotel are several small temples and cemeteries.

Almost in the back yard

We’re fortunate to come across a rare exhibition of works by Vermeer and other Dutch masters at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts.

Porphyrogenitus

There’s a lot of commerce going on in Japan. Like most of Asia.

Arcade

Sight or Insight of the Day

We admire this stackable garage in town.

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These teeny-tiny vehicles are so cute

We can imagine this becoming a thing in North America. Of course, it would have to be scaled up in size to accommodate two or three F-150 pickup trucks.