The Most Beautiful Japanese Garden in OSAKA
That balloon is everywhere. Everywhere you look. I worked hard for this shot. So, did I bring you to a nice garden? We caught the train first thing in the morning to Sakai Higashi Station. It was quite packed. And after that busy ride, I think I need a coffee. So, we’ll go there first, shall we? This over here in this direction is a uh what we call coffin. K O F U N. Thank you. Surrounded by a moat all the way around and um past emperors, people like that were buried in these areas. Now, you can’t actually see it from this side while you’re walking around it, but you have to see everything from above. And a bit later, we may go to a place where you can do that. So, I think there’s a tea house in here and some kind of library or something. Museum, really nice park and a big fat balloon up there. We’ll go in the visitor center first. We might find something out and then be able to actually talk about something instead of just meandering. See, it says Moed Tombs. Moounded Tombs Visitor Center. Aerial view. Oh my god. Stampoo. If you want a piece of paper to stamp. No, I’ve got my own. Marvelous. Look at that. Japan’s culture. That’s pretty cool. Look at that Lego one. H I like it. 10,000 blocks. One 10,000 1 516. What’s this one over here? a cylindrical hanoa. I have no idea. We’ll find out. Magnets. Someone’s excited. Good magnets. Probably me. Oh, they’re nice, aren’t they? Of course, everybody needs a shop. You’ve just got to look at things. It’s just ah and buy nothing like I do. But other than that, it’s full of information about the area of Sakai and of this beautiful parkland we’re going to go and visit. What about this one? It’s like an incense holder or something that I don’t mind that. Or maybe the incense comes out of his mouth, you know? I like that. What about this cup? I like too many things down. Look at that. No, it’s like attached. I thought, you know, Oh, there’s people up there. Oh, it must be coming down. Let’s go have a look see. What are those? Well, that’s nice. Look at that. What are those ones in the middle? The ones in the middle. What do you mean those colorful things? Fluffy flowers. This one has got there’s all herbs like mint and mint and this one’s got appendages. Something else. Yeah. Alien flowers. Very nice. You see, I’ve been here before, but it’s not as exciting when you be here by yourself. What’s this guy? Because you can’t you talk to yourself where it’s like you’re being silent. Guy with a guy with a helmet with no face. Research center for inland. Come and enjoy the admission free area of Sakai City Museum. Oh, so there’s a free area with a shop. Everybody should go. It’s got a shop, man. Tea house. Come and enjoy the garden of Sakai City’s tea house. Do it now. Another selfie. Got to get selfies galore today. It’s so nice. And there’s a tea house up here. We can see what they’ve got. That’s not bad. You know, 500 yen to get some tea and some treats from 10 to 4. It’s not yet 10:00. It’s very nice. It’s very quiet. Let’s go out again. Maybe we’ll feel like green tea later on. I don’t know. I’ll have a can of beer. I don’t have to have beer, but we might find somewhere here that has beer. Now, over there, there’s another coffin. Of course, you can’t see that as well because it’s just it looks like a big mound with trees on it. And across the road, I think, is the main one, but you can’t get into it. This is um a cafe area. You got cafes. You got bicycles you can hire here. All right. There’s a few different spots with bicycles. So, you can just ride around. Oh, barbecue. Oh, pizza. Walk and see what I am. I’ll have pizza. What’s this? Oh, this is the barbecue area. Oh, this is pretty cool. So, you can come sit out here and have a barbie. You can get your family and friends and different and this one. You can get this one. You can get sets and then have your own Barbie. Oh, bloody marvelous. Like a quiet stream to uh ponder your day away. Oh, look. This is nice. Whole lake area. Wow. This is really nice. There’s so many people here. Oh, look. People feeding the fishies. You cannot swim. Feeding the fishies. Fishies. Yeah. Look at the crane over there though in the middle. Wow. It’s very nice. Little tiny turtles. And they’re cute. Bit like our neighbors one that sits out the front of a plastic box. Tell everybody that. So, where’s this big balloon again? Just look. Oh, look. I can see the shadow. The shadow’s coming up. It’s right above us. Where? I can’t see it. There it is. Oh, look. Osaka Sakai balloon. Maybe that’s when it started. 7th of the 11th. Let’s go have a look. Is it my head or is it a balloon? By the way, this balloon is $42 for an adult. So, we’ve decided that uh not a requirement of our day trip. So, there you go. Another big rock sculpture. That’s a really nice spot to sit. Look, peaceful men over there fishing. Wow. No swimming though. It’s really nice. I’m going to sit here all day. Okay. Now, here’s this shot. You go from behind the bushes. All right. And then you reveal the majestic tower. You look down at the ground. You come up and you reveal the majestic balloon. Look at the Look at the men fishing. See, that’s what you do in your spare time. Massive school thing going on here today. So, I’m not going to show that. I don’t know what they’re doing, but there’s all different flags from all different countries. And all the kids are here. We’re going to see another cafe. What do they have at this cafe? Kohi. Kohi. They’re huge. And there’s more. I think when they’re like that, they look really nice all bunched up together like that. But also because they’re so old. But look at this. This is Ginko Alley. That’s what I’ve called it. I don’t know what it’s called. It’s just the road. It comes into the park and it’s beautiful. And also these trees, if you come to Japan at this time of year and you smell something, it’s like a jasmine smell. These trees are magnificent. They got orange flowers all over them and they smell beautiful. Look at this Japaneseeness. We all like some Japaneseeness. Yeah. And you can buy matcha and tea and coffee and some little round balls. Coffee. Thank you. There you go. Check it. Thank you. Look at this splendid garden. This is a really nice garden. If you come to Japan and want to see a nice garden, there’s those flowers again. Come here. It is amazing. $2 to get in. Look at that. It’s a beautiful shot. There are so many nice shots here. Look at that. It is just a beautiful garden. Why? Say hello. It’s a really nice autumn bol. Oh, look. Fridge. Another nice shot. Line it up. It’s going. Wow, this is so nice. This is the nicest garden I have ever been to. I’m going to put it out there right now. the nicest garden. Leave Kyoto, leave Osaka, leave Tokyo and just come to Sakai and see this garden and then go back. It is amazing. Photo spots everywhere. I’m kind of hiding with my hat. And here we have Michael pondering, dreaming about his next beer. Anywhere where there’s a seat, the Pilma will find it. Look at this magnificent grassy null. Let me touch it. It’s bamboo or something, isn’t it? Wow. Um I think I I think um I think someone’s not coming. I think he’s found a chair staying up there. Fine, I’ll go by myself. You’re trying to find a way across the bridge with your GPS. Dive in. There’s another chair. Quick, this one would be better. Look at the orange flowers. Come on, PMS. Let’s go. Come on. Get off your chair. Give me a beer. All right, sit down. Look at that. It is a splendid view, isn’t it? It is really nice. Look at that waterfall. A waterfall. Wow. free. Worth the two bucks. Absolutely. Very nice. I think it’s the best $2 ever to come here. While we’re sitting here pondering life, we thought of uh well, Michael thought of something really good. Turtle on the rocks. A new drink. Over there. Turtles on Can I have a turtle on the rocks, please? Thanks. All right. Someone’s got to invent that one. Maybe it’s got to be green tingy. I don’t know. Maybe you got to invent your own gin and name your own gin or something. Gin turtle on the rocks and it’s got a green tinge to it. And by the way, a great time to come to Japan for um all the chrysanthemums. Look at that. Look how beautiful they are. They are magnificent. Holy hell. Look at this. mini bonsai ones, too. Amazing. Wow. Look at this. That’s incredible. Oh my god. Really? That is amazing. Oh, I lost him again. I thought he was taking a seat somewhere. No, there he is. All right, I stand here. You walk out the door. Go on. I’ll film you. Now, off to our next spot. That’s right. We’re sitting in the park drinking drinking beer. Drinking a beer in Japan. Place where you can do it. And it’s amazing. And it’s 11:30, but we’re going to tell you it’s 5. All right. It’s 5:00 p.m. 5 p.m. Okay, enough of that deborttery. We’ve gone to the Sakai City Hall now. We’re going up to the top floor to the 21st floor to see the coffin. Those big mounds with all the trees on it. This has been there for a year now. Some Sakai manga artist, I’m pretty sure. Saitto, I can’t remember his name, but I’ve got his book, so I’ll put it down below. But you can see beautiful views here of all the way to Asaka and all the way around. It’s 360° view. But there’s the coffin right there. And another one really stand out because they are so green in the middle of all the buildings. Oh, and there’s that dastardly balloon again. All right, let’s walk. We’re going to one more place now through Sakai. It’s about an 18minute walk from the city hall, but it’s all about the local traditional crafts. And there’s knives there. And found your pub. Knives there. And and more knives. Let’s go have a look. Oh, wait. We found the Pilma pub. The local boozer. Thank goodness it ain’t open. All right. We’re on a journey now to go to the traditional crafts museum, the Sakai. So guys quite well known for um making knives and what else? You know those cloth things? I’ll tell you later when we get there. I can’t remember what they’re called. No, look at that little house. Some cute little houses down there. A little abandoned one maybe. I like going little down little roads. And in Sakai there’s also a park here that has monkeys in it in a cage. You can go see it. I was trying to find the lighthouse and I went through this park on Google Maps and there was this cage and it was just full of monkeys. So, strange things. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. N. Oh. I bought this postcard because you know I like drawings and I bought these um you know edibles made in Sakai. Nice. Bad news. We cannot catch tram back but uh I bought this food. That’s all that matters. Oh red bean. I don’t know. That’s surprising. Look at this cute house or whatever it is. It’s a house. I don’t know what it is, but it um just tastes, you know, like everything else tastes I don’t know, just general sweet stuff that really doesn’t taste too magnificent. But that’s a nice plant. Wait for me. I’m coming. Number two. What is this? Ki. I don’t know. Oh, you might have to open it for me because I’ve only got one hand. Wrapper is childproof. All right. Taste tester. That’s huge. I don’t know if I can eat that all. You’re going to have to now. Look at that. Sakai Sweeps. Take two. M. M has a bit of a biscety flavor. Oh, I better cross the road. I mean, a biscety aroma. I haven’t even tasted it yet. Or should I do the fake thing? Oh my god, it’s so delicious. No, it’s not. It’s just general I could do without. I don’t know how many times I eat sweet things, but every single time, especially things like donuts, I’m just disappointed. It’s never like it lives up to its expectation of grandness. But anyway, we’ve had enough for today. We’re going home. I was going to take Michael to a temple, but he just refused. I don’t understand why. Templed out. Temple have walked out. All right, we’ll see you another day and thanks for watching. Open him.
We went out for a day in Sakai, a city just outside of Osaka.
Sakai is a great day out with beautiful gardens, traditional houses, temples and plenty of history, and monkeys in the park.
Today we ventured into Daisen Park, the traditional crafts museum and city hall.
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