Summer Sonic in Osaka
Took the Shinkansen (bullet train) on Saturday morning down to Osaka for the weekend. Crazy train, feels more like a plane than a train really. First on the agenda was the major tourist spot: Osaka Castle for a view of the city and a taste of traditional Japan. Despite the air conditioning and elevators, the castle still offers an idea of what Japan was like 200 years ago.
Next up was the Osaka Aquarium to see some fish. The place was huge and had otters, penguins, dolphins and even a whale shark in the insane building. The seals live in an open air section at the top of the building so you can hear their barks reverberate over the whole harbour. Me & Brad let our man love show by buying the "sunset double pass" which got us entry to the aquarium and to the worlds biggest ferris wheel for a romantic sundown view.
Then for dinner we head down to the city centre Shinsaibashi for some of Osaka's reknown Okonomiyaki. Tasty indeed. One of my students recommended to go to "the bridge" which is apparently a famous pick up spot, but all we could see was some British travellers talking about pills.
The next day was time for the Summer Sonic concert at the Osaka ports. Giant venue, almost too big. To get around the stages was a bit of a hike. It was a good gig, but it should've been great. After watching some all-image/no-soul Japanese music acts, we caugh the terrific French band Phoenix, who were definately the highlight of the day. Next up were the New York band "The Rapture" who also put on a good show with plenty of cowbell going on. Then we hit up the 'club' type venue to see Ugly Duckling & Spank Rock who were both pretty good.
The next time slot was supposed to be filled by Keane the UK soft-cock rockers who I have a soft spot for, but they cancelled due to 'family matters'; I wish it could've waited another day. Next up was the Flaming Lips show (video here) which was good value for a little while. I dont really like their music but their live show is crazy: excessive baloons, streamers, cool costumes (santas & aliens on stage), giant inflatable dinosaurs, superman, and other assorted good-time nonsense. Then for the finale we were supposed to go see Daft Punk, however 000's of other people had the same plan, which created a queue hundreds of meters long that didnt move very quickly cause no one was leaving the hall. Boo! What a downer, I left a bit unsatisfied but it was still a good reason to take a trip to Osaka.
(The queue for Daft Punk; boooo!!!!)
On Monday we went to Minoh-quasi national park to take a look at the waterfall and have a splash in the river. Beautiful spot, supposed to be lots of monkeys there but I didn't see any. Lots of families trying to catch rock fish with little nets. Just before getting the train back we went to an open air city viewing platform for some city snaps and to farewell the city.
Overall it was a good time, definately needed to get out of Tokyo for a little while. Didn't meet too many locals but not to worry, still had a good time. I look forward to the next trip and getting my own camera to go nutso with! (These ones are courtesy of Brad)
Next up was the Osaka Aquarium to see some fish. The place was huge and had otters, penguins, dolphins and even a whale shark in the insane building. The seals live in an open air section at the top of the building so you can hear their barks reverberate over the whole harbour. Me & Brad let our man love show by buying the "sunset double pass" which got us entry to the aquarium and to the worlds biggest ferris wheel for a romantic sundown view.
Then for dinner we head down to the city centre Shinsaibashi for some of Osaka's reknown Okonomiyaki. Tasty indeed. One of my students recommended to go to "the bridge" which is apparently a famous pick up spot, but all we could see was some British travellers talking about pills.
The next day was time for the Summer Sonic concert at the Osaka ports. Giant venue, almost too big. To get around the stages was a bit of a hike. It was a good gig, but it should've been great. After watching some all-image/no-soul Japanese music acts, we caugh the terrific French band Phoenix, who were definately the highlight of the day. Next up were the New York band "The Rapture" who also put on a good show with plenty of cowbell going on. Then we hit up the 'club' type venue to see Ugly Duckling & Spank Rock who were both pretty good.
The next time slot was supposed to be filled by Keane the UK soft-cock rockers who I have a soft spot for, but they cancelled due to 'family matters'; I wish it could've waited another day. Next up was the Flaming Lips show (video here) which was good value for a little while. I dont really like their music but their live show is crazy: excessive baloons, streamers, cool costumes (santas & aliens on stage), giant inflatable dinosaurs, superman, and other assorted good-time nonsense. Then for the finale we were supposed to go see Daft Punk, however 000's of other people had the same plan, which created a queue hundreds of meters long that didnt move very quickly cause no one was leaving the hall. Boo! What a downer, I left a bit unsatisfied but it was still a good reason to take a trip to Osaka.
(The queue for Daft Punk; boooo!!!!)
On Monday we went to Minoh-quasi national park to take a look at the waterfall and have a splash in the river. Beautiful spot, supposed to be lots of monkeys there but I didn't see any. Lots of families trying to catch rock fish with little nets. Just before getting the train back we went to an open air city viewing platform for some city snaps and to farewell the city.
Overall it was a good time, definately needed to get out of Tokyo for a little while. Didn't meet too many locals but not to worry, still had a good time. I look forward to the next trip and getting my own camera to go nutso with! (These ones are courtesy of Brad)
posted by Dave Tran at 2:49 pm
4 Comments:
would have liked to check out flaming lips. when are you making me a mix cd? photos from kichijoji are up. well, part one anyway. do you actually plan on getting your camera soon, or is the whole shipping thing still an issue?
i have to order the camera over the phone in 2 weeks, i'll get it... eventually.
forgot about the cd, ill get on it right away.
here's the link to the photos for anyone who's interested.
http://gendesu.livejournal.com/9191.html#cutid1
lets try that again.
Gen's Fotos
Daveeee
need some blog action...feel like im missing out on whats happeing in the world of Dave!
The photos on that link were amazing..really really impressive.
What camera does ure friend use?
Jini xoxox
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