Turning Japanese by Emma and Devon

This morning we went to Osaka castle where we enjoyed eight floors of japanese awesomeness. Each floor hosted an

exhibit depicting the origins of the castle. We split up into groups, and were each required to retrieve 3 fun facts about the castle before returning to our meeting place. Our fun facts included:

There were 800 original bridges in Osaka.

There are 388 steps in the entire complex (yes, we counted)

There is a legend that Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the founder of Osaka Castle, was born under a strange star resembling the sun. We decided that the people present at his birth were actually very confused, and didn't realize that it was daytime.

During our presentations, we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to purchase some macha (green tea) ice cream. As we consumed our verdant confections at an inappropriate hour of the morning, we shared our fun facts with glee. We journeyed to Nanba where we ate okonomi yaki, a medley of fried noodles, sizzling pork, thinly chopped greens all sandwiched between two egg pancakes drizzled in a curry barbeque sauce. After a sumptuous banquet, we perused the streets of Nanba, peeking into cosplay stores, and buying strange robots. The stores we saw were famous for their outrageous signage, some of which included giant moving crabs, giant octopi, and giant fingers holding a giant tuna sashimi. Following an hour of shopping, we went to the Umeda Sky building where we stood 400 meters above the city. Those of us who were brave enough to open our eyes at that height were lucky enough to enjoy the spectacular view.

We then ran to the electronics store, and frolicked through unending aisles of 3D cameras and laser toys. Ryan and Macrae had found God in the mega lens behind the camera counter. Ryan happily attached the $11,000 monstrosity to his camera, where he proceeded to snap pictures of people on the other side of the store (it was a very big store and a very impressive lens).

Upon arriving home, we met Mami's Mommy, who we called Oka-san (mother in Japanese). She even brought us sweets! Oishi (delicious). What an action-packed day!