On our second day in Osaka, we got up and did Osaka castle right off the start. From the outside, it definitely looks very nice…
… and here we are, about to enter into the castle proper.
… and some of us pretended to be tall once we got to the top of the castle.
Honestly, though, I think that Osaka castle was a little disappointing. It was very office-building-esque on the inside (hence no pictures). The entire inside of it had been renovated into a six- or seven-story museum; all with very nice hardwood floors, etc., but it has lost pretty much any pretense at authenticity. 
Which is not necessarily to say that it was not interesting, however — the entire museum was basically dedicated to explaining the life and times of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, which is quite the story in and of itself (see the link for Wikipedia’s information on him). Quite interesting stuff, but it would have appeared more “natural” without the elevators, fine hardwood flooring, etc.
After we finished going through the museum inside, we headed off to eat dinner at a little okonomiyaki restaurant that we found on one of Osaka’s side-streets (although Angela is the only one that actually had okonomiyaki [sort of like an omelette], the rest of us had yakisoba [fried noodles]).
… and then the group split up. Andrew and I went in search of arcade goodness; and everybody else went in search of a rice museum, with basically no success (the exhibit was not where it was supposed to be).
After we met up again for supper (which we had at a not-very-good curry house), we decided to spend our last night in Osaka out on the town… so we went and got tickets to the movie The Devil Wears Prada. Having a bunch of time to burn before the movie started, we found quite a cool place to hang out — there was an arcade on the first and second floors, and an Australian restaurant/bar on the third floor. So Dad, Andrew, and I played at the arcade (taking the odd break for drinks in the restaurant/bar); and Mom and Angela got quietly tanked on wine. Everyone wins!
The movie itself was a curious experience because I don’t think many other people in the audience found it very funny. Ah well, you get used to laughing alone. 
