With USJ our of the way, we’d decided to explore Osaka using the Amazing Osaka pass on day 2. Its something I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone considering a visit here. It get’s you onto all the cities public transport (excluding the JR lines) and into a massive range of the city’s attractions waaay too many for the single day we had, but there’s a 2-day pass available too if you’re here longer than we were).
First stop was the Umeda Sky Building. Quite simply a
stunning piece of architecture and engineering. It’s one of those places that
words don’t really do justice. It happened to be valentine’s day today and
there was something of a Valentine’s theme going on up the top of the sky
building so we took advantage of it even though the day isn’t something we
usually bother with.
Next stop was Osaka Castle with a plan to both walk the castle and take a boat ride around the moat. Turns out the moat doesn’t fully encircle the castle, but it was still pretty cool to get most of the way around and back again. We climbed the heights of the castle which not only gave us amazing views of the city, but an appreciation for the full extent of just how big the complex must have been during its heyday, built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (some 400 plus years ago thanks very much).
With the castle visit over, the next task was to find some
lunch, which we decided to do at the next stop which was to be a visit to the
Glico running man., something Sam had put me onto as one of those … you haven’t
been to Osaka if you haven’t seen it kind of things. There was a market nearby
where we thought we’d be able to pick up some food, but sadly by the time we
arrived options were getting a bit limited and more people ate at Family Mart
than from the market stalls (where seafood was one of the most common options.
Thomas managed to snag some half-priced sushi as they were
packing up and he and Caroline shared a salmon skewer from one of the vendors
that was very tasty. From there we headed from the running man, snapped some
obligatory photos and I noted there was a Uni-Qlo just down the street and
given I had under-dressed for the occasion, decided to seek out an extra layer
of clothing to wear (and to be sure no-one missed me in as it turned out).
Remember the bargain gloves I’d bought back in Tokyo? Well
given I had bought them for the mountainous areas and hadn’t needed them while
we were in Tokyo, I figured I wouldn’t need them in Osaka and Kyoto either.
Perhaps checking a weather forecast would have been a good idea because the
temperature was getting down toward the freezing point! Sometimes I surprise
even myself with how foolish I can be!
We opted to seek out a local ramen joint for dinner and Sam
did some quick research to find us a highly rated place in the area, which was
great until it only had eight seats. Given there were ten of us, the Temby’s
opted to stay and the Rowlands went off to forage elsewhere. We thoroughly
enjoyed our Ramen and Thomas kindly donated an Aussie $5 note to pin above the
doorway where there were already a number of other foreign currencies. So if
you’re in down town Osaka and spot one above a random little ramen joint, maybe
it’s the one he left behind.
We rendezvoused back at the hotel where we collected the
luggage we’d stored and set off for the train station to transfer to Kyoto for
the next stage in our adventure.
Something I neglected to mention about our arrival in Osaka
was the little mix up we had with our hotel bookings. Apparently I’d managed to
book 5 double rooms … which would have meant that Sam and Thomas and Emily and
Aimee would have been sharing beds. Fortunately for a small incremental cost
increase we managed to get them into twin rooms instead.
Cue reception in Kyoto and apparently I’d even more cleverly
managed to book five twin rooms … and this time there was no double room
vacancy. Single beds for everyone! I may never be trusted to book accommodation
again! Just quietly, I did sleep well though.
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