Day 19

Day 19 was my Osaka sightseeing day and an opportunity to visit things that had taken my fancy on previous trips but that I hadn't been able to include at that time, primarily Big Wheels which are common in Japan and some towers, temples and castles. I started the morning by heading down to Tempozan Harbor for the first of the wheels.

The imaginatively named "Tempozan Ferris Wheel" can be seen across the water from Universal Studios; this was pretty good and at 369ft high was when it opened in 1997 it was the largest wheel in the world before being passed 2 years later by one in Tokyo, which I was hoping to do later in the trip. As I've not yet ridden any of the bigger wheels, including the London Eye which is on my doorstep (I'll get to it one day) this was the largest wheel I'd ever ridden. Just to make it that little bit special I waited for one of the windowed floor cars, which didn't really make it any more scarier. It moved really slowly and smoothly and you barely notice the change in height as it completes its 15 minute lap.

Close by there's a small mall which houses a small Lego Centre and a small food court but the other big draw in this area is the Kaiyukan Aquarium. This is one of the largest aquariums in the world containing nearly 30 tanks of various sizes, the largest being a huge central tank that is big enough to hold two whale sharks, which is just mental. I could easily have spent a good chunk of the day here but thought better of it heading back into Osaka for some more sightseeing elsewhere.

My next stop was Hankyu Entertainment Park are "Hep5" as it's more commonly known. This is a huge mall with an amusement park and another big wheel. This one is only 246ft high but has been constructed on the 7th floor of the complex. This one was also pretty good but offered a view over the city of Osaka rather than the harbour of the previous one. There's also a Joypolis park in the building which I checked out before grabbing some lunch and heading elsewhere.

A short walk west of Hep5 is the Umeda Sky Building, two towers with a huge observation platform and a couple of cool escalators spanning across them. At 567ft this would be my high point of the day and after a very weird journey in where the entrance looks to have moved a few times, the view offered both from the indoor and outdoor floors is really good and recommended. Close by I found an exhibition by Japanese artist Koji Kinutani who does some cool pieces but the draw here was that they've taken some of his art and merged them into a 3D film, which was excellent!

From there a quick metro ride took me Shitennoji Temple, supposedly the first Buddhist Temple in the country. I love the serenity that comes in these places especially when they're buried in a very busy city. The buildings, mostly reconstructions, are stunning and include one of those towers where Kung Fu Master would battle up each floor to rescue his girlfriend. Another walk west would take me to the Shinsekai area, a piece of old Osaka and home to the Tsutenkaku Tower, an Eiffel Tower style construction built originally in the early 1900s. This is another Osaka landmark slightly blighted by the commercial gauntlet on the way in and out. It's also home to Billikun, a buddhist type figure who is a bit of a mascot here although I'd never heard of him. The views from up here were quite good too, again I like that it's in the heart of the city. The walk back from here to the hotel took me through Denden Town, Osaka's version of Akihabara full of geek shops and arcades, so I had to pop into a few of those to finish the day.

A lengthy post and I guess I had quite a busy day today!

Cartoon character on the way to the station.

Seeing the workers triggered a Beastie Boys flashback

This is the Tempozan Ferris Wheel and despite the grey day the view was pretty good.

I managed to get a shot of the Flying Coaster in Universal.

The Lego Center is kids-centric so as such there's no way I could get in without one. They have a 4D cinema and a dark ride, which was the only reasons I'd have for going in. Ah well!

The mall was alright but it was a bit odd to find a plaque with Michael Jackson lyrics on it. 

The aquarium has the obligatory water tunnel

The otters were quite popular, second only to the dolphins.

The penguin enclosure was very clear with minimal window fogging.

The main draw is the immense central tank. The path you take spirals around this so you don't need to spend much time at the first few windows where the crowd seems to gather. You'll spend a big chunk of time walking around this and rightly so.

A strange colour lobster, I wonder if being in the tank has got him down

I like how this came out.

The underside of a resting seal.

Inside the Hep5 building.

Over to the Hep 5 wheel. It's a shame that the skies were grey on the day I decided to do this but I'm still glad I did.

Decisions, decisions.

The Joypolis centre isn't as big as the one in Tokyo and so lacks a rollercoaster. There are a good selection of video games including a strange one where you race pigs, I think by grabbing their ears. I spent a bit of time playing Luigi's Mansion, a ghostbusters style shoot 'em up where you have hoovers instead of guns; only Nintendo! There was also an animal cafe where you can spend a bit of time with cats, hedgehogs and stuff like that. It was clearly aimed at the girls though as was half of one of the floors full of camera booths and cos play changing rooms.

I thought this was a sign for a ride of some kind, it turns out it's just guidance for how wheelchair users should use an underpass (I think).

Looking up at the Umeda Sky Building

The cool escalator, it's like the aquarium's water tunnel but with a ridiculous drop through the glass.

Again, great views from up here.

Looking back at the Hep5 wheel.

The Koji Kunitani gallery was a nice addition to the day. Unfortunately we're not allowed to take photos inside the gallery so the two middle ones are from the net. The 3D movie was incredible though, and there's no way I can show that here in 2D, it wouldn't do it justice.

Their manhole covers are better than ours.

A couple of Nio statues at Shitenjoi Temple

The temple was amazing and whilst I'd left it too late to get into the central garden I did still spend a bit of time here checking the area out. Most of it watching the turtles going at it, slowly. (Not really!)

Raiden welcomes you...

In the distance is Tsutenkaku, my next intended destination.

Another temple I passed on the way.

This is Billiken, who was actually created in Kansas but looks to have St Louis as a home. It's quite popular in Japan.  People were queuing up to touch his feet, an apparent good luck thing. Odd!

Some of the stands/shops you have to endure at the tower. The Alien props were good though.

The evening was spent in Denden Town. I'm terrible at most of the games now.

I liked this poster despite not having any clue what it was about.

Obligatory funny named product photo!

I cannot stand Pachinko Parlours, they're so damn loud and the people playing this are sat like zombies. I'm not sure you do actually play, it does everything for you!

For dinner I went back into Dotonburi and tried one of the smaller restaurants this time. I had belly of pork which was nowhere near as good as the Okonomiyaki the night before.

There's an owl cafe in Dotonburi, I didn't check it out but can't imagine it's like Hogwarts.

This is how Trump is portrayed on Japanese TV. Haha!

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