The hotel we are staying at provides a free shuttle bus from
the station to the hotel from Sakurabashi.
We look for any signs which might indicate where the bus departs from,
but it’s all a little overwhelming. I
spot a policeman who looks friendly and approachable and I ask him where Sakurabashi
is in Japanese. He looks a little
puzzled as he tries to explain that Sakurabashi is near Osaka Station and we
are at Shin Osaka…he says sorry many times in English which is very sweet, but it's my mistake! Thanks to the helpful policeman we realise we
need to take a tube or train to Osaka Station so I ask the man at the information
counter which is the easiest way and he gives us a platform number. We head down to the platform, but now all of
the departure information is in Kanji which I can’t read! I ask a lady on the platform if the next
train is for Osaka and she says it is and gestures for us to board! I thank her and we’re finally heading in the
right direction…it’s only taken us half an hour to figure out where we need
to go!
We’re in a spin on arrival at Osaka Station; not
surprising really as it’s the fourth busiest station in the world! It takes us an age to get off the platform
and into the heart of the station. There’s
just so many platforms, escalators and people! We
need to find the tourist information booth to buy our Osaka Unlimited Pass, but
this proves to be a real challenge. I
have to ask a string of people before we finally find the booth. A lady explains all of the attractions we can
use the pass for and how we also get unlimited travel on a range of local
transport. I can’t wait to start
exploring tomorrow!
It’s early evening now so we decide to find something for
dinner. During my research I read a
great deal about Tokyu Hands, and discovered that the Osaka Station branch
includes a café called Shake Hands so it’s my optimum dinner choice. We find the cafe located on the 12th
floor of Daimaru Depāto within the Tokyu Hands area of the store. There’s a selection of adorable plastic
models showing the different meals on offer which include a Pasta Set or Pizza Toast. We make our selections and I
enjoy a meal of Grilled Burrito with Ham and Cheese and a Melon Soda. I’ve read many tales of Melon Soda and I’m
not disappointed! It’s neon green, very
sweet and now a new found favourite!
With full tummies we take the opportunity to browse Tokyu Hands and I soon find myself with a basket full of cute. I buy a beautiful Mickey kokeshi doll, but
unfortunately they’ve sold out of Minnie!
I hope I can find one during our travels. I also buy Daruma doll, a selection of
stickers and some Rilakkuma stationery.
We’re starting to feel a little sleepy now so we make our way to our
hotel on the free shuttle bus, which is also a little tricky to find…
I feel a little anxious as we check-in as our baggage should
be ready and waiting. There was no need
to worry though, because as soon as we give our name the receptionist confirms that they received our luggage earlier and it will be bought up to our room
shortly. How efficient! I make a few Skype calls to family back home so
they know we have arrived safely and we have a relatively early night.
We’re up early the next day as we have a full day ahead of us! I’m delighted to find a branch of Lawson on
the doorstep of our hotel. I’ve heard so many positive stories about the chain
from Ebony’s blog at Hello Sandwich and Marceline’s blog at Asking for Trouble. We buy some drinks, and I’m
excited to see that there’s a Rilakkuma promotion going on where if your buy
anything from a selection of baked goods, desserts and sandwiches you receive stickers
which you can use to redeem for free gifts including a Rilakkuma bag and
plate. We’ll definitely be returning here for snacks!
We take the subway to Osakako and our first destination is
the Tempozan Ferris Wheel which we can enjoy for free with our pass. It’s early in the morning and there is no
queue so we board quickly. We enjoy a
leisurely ride, and there is an excellent view of the bay area with the heart
of the city in the distance.
While we’ve been on the ferris wheel a huge queue has formed
for entry to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan.
When we get to the ticket counter we discover that we no longer qualify for
discounted entry to the aquarium with our pass.
It’s a little disappointing but we don’t let it get us down. It proves quite tricky to get a good view of
many of the aquatic animals as it's so busy.
We do see a baby emperor penguin who is incredibly fluffy and cute, even
if he is pretty smelly! There are also some entertaining octopi...
There are stamps to collect along the way and I’ve bought a
notebook with me especially! I’m very
happy to find a stamp which depicts Yu-Chan the whale shark who is the pride of the
aquarium. We watch in awe as she glides
gracefully around and she seems to have a close friend in the large ray who is
often by her side.
The highlight of the aquarium for me is the swarm of Spider
Crabs which are creepy and thrilling in equal measure! They sway slowly from side to side and their
sheer size makes me feel as though we’re on an alien planet. They’re quite simply mesmerising!
We make time for a trip around the (not so little) gift shop and I come away with a selection of whale shark items including an adorable plush toy which squeaks and a rice paddle.
We take the Captain Line, which is operated by an all female
crew, from the Tempozan Harbour area to Universal Studios Japan.
Unfortunately we don’t have time to visit the theme park, but we make a
beeline for Universal City Walk and the Takoyaki Museum located on the fourth
floor. I buy endless items dedicated to
the Osaka speciality of takoyaki including socks, decorative tape, a purse and
a happy plush takoyaki.
Feeling hungry we enjoy lunch at Bubba Gump’s; a family
favourite holiday restaurant choice. It’s
funny to find all of our usual favourites on the menu, and there are
surprisingly few dishes which are Japanese exclusives.
We board the Universal themed train and head back to the heart of the city so that we can visit Osaka Castle. Osaka Castle is located in a large park, and as it's a Sunday afternoon there are a variety of rock bands performing. There are also food stalls and groups of teenagers hanging out and having fun which helps to create a lively atmosphere. Although the castle looks close it proves to be quite a trek, and we make it to the entrance just twenty minutes before it is due to close. We join the queue for the lift and head up to the observation platform on the top floor. There's just time to take a few quick snaps of the view, stamp my book with the two commemorative stamps and view one of the exhibitions before the castle closes for the day.
Back on the train we head to Umeda so that we can take a ride on the HEP Five Ferris wheel. The night view is lovely with lots of bright lights twinkling and we can just make out Osaka Castle in the far distance. Not wanting a big meal for dinner we head back to Shake Hands within Tokyu Hands where we enjoy a portion of apple pie and a stack of banana chocolate pancakes. Delicious!
There's time left to browse all three floors of Tokyu Hands tonight and I end up with a basket full of goodies. Highlights include a set of panda cookie cutters, a cutter for making panda shaped sandwiches, a piggy steamer and even more stationery and stickers! With my appetite for shopping sated we return to our hotel to get some rest.
