OSAKA PICTURES!!

I'm going to break my pictures up into two posts because there are so many pictures to look at and I want you to be able to enjoy them fully.

First i'll start with the Osaka pictures! 

Look at his little thing just sticking out there!
XD 

If you remember from the first post I went to Himeji with some lovely ladies I met the first day I was there. There were naked statues all over the place (and I guess there are a lot of naked statues all over Japan according to one of the girls but I haven't notice any in Tokyo...) 

At the end of this road is Himeji Castle. 

It read "Shiro Maru Hime" Which means white ball princess  

 This guy is like the mascot of  Himeji. I think it's a mochi ball (rice cake ball) with Himeji castle on it's head.

The part that's all in scaffolding is the main part of the Castle. Doesn't it look like their just building a hotel or something right on top of it though?

           

In spring the cherry blossoms make this place look even
more amazing. There were winter cherry blossoms
though so we didn't miss out completely.

This building is the part we got to walk through. It's a long corridor that surrounds part of the castle grounds and was originally were the princess' maids lived. During the Meji era (1860's-1900's) the castle was turned into a fortress and this part was turned into a sort of barracks for soldiers.

It's supposed to be a butterfly but it looks like a mosquito
to me. 

All the lords and rulers and whatnot choose flowers o,r in this case, butterflies for their emblems because beauty was what displayed power unlike in Europe where the castles look like fortresses and everyone had something fierce like a lion for the coat of arms.  

mmmm, so good!!

Then the next day we went to a local shrine and made mochi!! 

From L-R: Me, Santa, Lauren, Melanie, Teresa, Rudolph.

These are the three lovely ladies that let me join them on their escapades. Plus Santa and his reindeer. 

That little boy was so cute!!! XD

Let the mochi making commence! 

I wasn't able to make mine into a nice round ball
like everyone else...I think it's cuz i'm too white XD 

Nick the Aussie (in the bright jacket), and Ed
English 

Xmas dinner

I didn't get a good group photo but the guy in the yellow is
the other Aussie (the one who ended up in the wrong bed)
And the guy in the background is the American Navy
guy

She had a cold but I was just trying to keep warm. 

Me and Yukie on our way to Universal Studios Japan!

Even though it was the day after Xmas they still had Xmas everywhere. 

I had to fight little kids to get this picture!

We tried jumping but we couldn't time it right...

I fail at being a Vegetarian... 

Okonomiyaki time!!

This one was called the "Early American"
...it didn't taste as good as it looks though. I preferred the
Kimchee one. XD 

Okay, later i'll post the Kyoto pictures. Now, I'm going to go finish Biohazard! XD