While I have written a few posts about the Buggers trip to Osaka and Kyoto in the past week, I've also been asked whether I was planning to write an actual travel post, with quality content that would benefit someone planning his or her trip to Japan. The answer is no, because I do not consider myself good enough as a tour guide (I got lost a lot, and brought the Buggers along on a trip to nowhere), and research is just another word I pretend doesn't exist.

So to satisfy the people asking for a "touristy post", here it is. This will basically be a compilation of the pictures we took at the most scenic tourist spots, as well as a couple from the beautiful blossoms from Osaka Castle. I will be including the names of the places we went to, but anything further than that will be a direct violation of my blog's "No Research Required" clause.

You can also see by this picture that I don't really know my priorities when snapping photos. 

Be warned that this is a picture heavy post, so if you're experiencing slow loading times, go ahead and make yourself a cup of coffee while you wait.

Take a nice scenic walk inside Osaka Castle, but prepare your walking shoes because it's a freaking castle and the interior is about as big as you would imagine castle grounds to be. Take a picture in front of the scenic Osaka Castle with the friendly samurais who will not hesitate to use their swords whenever necessary.

That guy on the right is just ITCHING to draw his sword.

There are also plenty of sakura blossoms in the surrounding areas, which I will be telling you more about later in the post. 

Next, you should probably want to visit some temples. There are A TON of temples in Osaka and Kyoto for you to visit and most of them don't even require you to pay a cent. There is, however, a lot of walking in between, so lazy people, just keep that in mind. 

Tofukuji Temple, Kyoto to size. 

Take a stroll down this scenic street in the Gion area, where kimono clad ladies roam the streets, giggling. 

No SERIOUSLY.

Roll your hands over these bells while walking around the shrine for good luck. Located near the Tenryuji Temple, which also houses a large marble Guan Yin (or Kannon) in Kyoto.

I have no idea what this place is, but it's probably just an elaborate gateway into one of the Gion streets (like the one above). 

The Kinkaku-ji Temple behind us is made completely of gold. Like, for real. That's why it's so small looking. It's about 500 yen for admission.

You should also visit the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine because it looks beautiful and touristy.

But I will not suggest walking all the way up the mountain because it's a reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaally long way. Trust us, we walked to the first checkpoint and almost died. 

A failed attempt to take a picture of the Kōfuku-ji Temple in the palm of my hand, thanks to the Bugger Seah.

You might also like feeding the deer at Nara, because those little buggers are cute as buttons and they roam the streets freely. They also remind me mostly about Bambi. 

You may also not want to buy the deer biscuits because the cute little buggers will swarm all over you and you will know the meaning of true fear, just like Bugger Seah and Ah Sou Celine here. 

Of course, a view of Nara at dusk is always a sight to behold, so be sure not to miss it. 

Sakura blossoms are one of the main reasons we were so excited to visit Japan. The legendary beauty of the blossoms as they fall upon your head is unrivaled; the romantic strolls with your partner, the happy smiles and memories and possibly getting hay fever can only come with cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, when we were in Japan, the weather decided to screw around with us and leave the cherry blossoms sadly, unbloomed.

Dead trees all around.

So we got the next best thing. Plum blossoms. Enjoy.

See how romantic it all is? Bugger Seah is actually smiling. 

It even makes Bugger Marcus all sad and needing a shoulder to cry on because he's single and it's sad to view plum blossoms alone. Trust me, I know.

This little bird is actually trained by an old man who just walks around and chucks the bird upon different branches for the tourists to snap photos of. Spot him if you ever get to the plum blossom garden in Osaka Castle.

I have done my best to write a "travel" post without being too snarky or sarcastic about anything. I think I did a good job? 

Cheerios!