First of all – Happy Easter!
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On our penultimate day in HK, we take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the big Buddha on Lantau Island.
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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.
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Chek Lap Kok Airport
A Chilean woman takes our photo.
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After being blown around by strong winds pushing the cable car, we arrive.
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A good place to have an escalator.
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We arrive in Osaka at the tail end of cherry-blossom season.
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‘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
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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.
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Osaka Castle has a long and turbulent history.
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City view from the top of the castle.
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Matcha-flavoured ice cream. Matcha is powdered green tea.
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In a temple on the castle grounds, people tie small notes with their wishes on them to a fence.
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We visit the Udema Sky Building.
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A good place to watch the sun go down.
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Riding the escalators in the top is fun.
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Around our hotel are several small temples and cemeteries.
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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.
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There’s a lot of commerce going on in Japan. Like most of Asia.
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Sight or Insight of the Day
We admire this stackable garage in town.
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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.