Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Culture and nature in Osaka's Minoh Park (Photo-essay)

Whenever I'm in Osaka, I eat (and drink) a lot.  This is the city of kuidaore (eating oneself bankrupt) that we're talking about, after all.  But when I had a night out at Dotonbori last May, I found -- sadly -- that my stomach got full too fast, so I couldn't have as many different foods as I had aspired to! 

On my most recent visit to Osaka, I decided to exercise quite a bit during the day to build up an appetite for dinner -- and found the first night that I was there this time around that the hike up Kojima's Washu-zan had indeed given me a good appetite for what was on offer that evening at Koyoshi Sushi.  

So the next day, I headed over to the forested valley on the city outskirts known as Minoh Park for another appetite-building walk -- and found a lovely spot that, although more built up than Hong Kong's country parks, still had natural beauty and quiet there to help me further relax while on vacation in Japan along with some interesting cultural -- including edible -- elements! :b

  I can't read Japanese but get the distinct impression that 
this is a monument to a man who cared much for his mother

I couldn't resist trying some of the momiji-no-tempura 
(maple leaves deep-fried in batter) that Minoh Park's famous for!

Happily, despite posted signs attesting to the park having monkey problems 
these were the only simians I saw at there that day! :)

the park's most popular attraction and scenic spot

Of course Puppet Ponyo had to pose for a photo 
with Minoh Falls in the background! :b

The spray from the waterfall and the sunlight combine
to make a pretty little rainbow :)

 The clear water beautifully reflected sunlight and also
revealed the bottom of the interesting looking stream bed

Another statue -- this one of Hideyo Noguchi, a respected 
bacteriologist who also was known for his love for his mother

4 comments:

eastcoastlife said...

元宵节快乐 幸福美满
Missing you and Ponyo

YTSL said...

Hi EastCoastLife --

Awwww... and/but remember, you can see lots of Ponyo (Puppet mainly but sometimes also Stress and Muse Ponyos) pictures on this blog, and read my musings on it too! ;b

Bill said...

Hi YTSL,

Glad to see another entry of your obviously memorable and maybe "classic" last Japan trip...And always another welcomed photo of the joyful Puppet Ponyo, this time posing with her water element in the background...If you and Puppet Ponyo manage to take another vacation or two in 2015, I look forward to reading about it on these pages.

Bill

YTSL said...

Hi Bill --

Rest assured: I plan to take more vacations in 2015, including back to Japan (but a different part of the country), again! ;b