Whoa. Where to begin? I continued on with the 3-hours-of-sleep thing like I’d suffered the past week. Got up about 6:30am, too early to do anything, too tired to do anything. But I ended up moving myself and went for a walk. As I hadn’t eaten in a day, I looked everywhere for something that looked edible, ie not seafood, vegetable or egg. I came across a bakery near Yodobashi Camera and scored myself this German sausage in a soft bun and a little bun with spicy chicken. Really filled the spot. From there I walked over to the Umeda Sky Building, but the observation deck was closed.
After a few photos, I tried finding my hotel again minus maps. It was pretty easy, and I found a few nice things plus, like some dogs hanging from a window, a funky radio/transmission tower of some sort, and a 7-Eleven on the way. 1400 Yen for 3 HUGE beers plus some chocolate bars and a Coke. Can’t complain.
From there I went back to the hotel, put the beer in the fridge and went out for another walk. I went for about 45 minutes through every single alley and laneway and at the end was about 200 metres from my starting point. Grrr. The HEP Five building also caught my eye. It’s been on my itinerary since day one, and I just had to go on the ferris wheel.
Biggggg mistake. I’m not usually scared of heights, nor am I claustrophobic, but after I’d been in the gondola for the first of 15 minutes I was ready to bail. It’s 106m high! I was up maybe 20 metres before I’d had enough. First and last time on a ferris wheel. I had to do it because if I didn’t, I’d regret it. The whole time I was all “PLEASE NO EARTHQUAKE! PLEASE NO EARTHQUAKE!”. I got my photo taken in front of a green screen which they superimposed the inside of the gondola as a souvenir. With that done, It was time to search for Osaka Castle.
I’d gotten about 600m before I gave up and caught a cab. The good thing is the taxis here don’t charge you while you’re stuck at a traffic light, unlike Australia, but I think this dude took me the scenic route, as my map said 3.5km. The first 2km was 660yen and every additional kilometre was about 320 yen. I paid 2000 yen. But who cares, I’m on holidays and enjoying myself.
So I’m at Osaka Castle for another 1-2 hours. It was fantastic.
Ok, I know what you’re thinking. Why does the pic on the right have “me” with hair and no glasses? I shaved my head last week. And put on my glasses for this photo. I don’t wear them that often, and being not too sunny, I could get away with it. After seeing Osaka Castle I went back to the hotel for a nap. I didn’t get a nap, but I did get to see some TV show with cute girls.
After a bit of time on Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr, I went to the Umeda Sky Building again for some more photos. The observation deck was open and the views spectacular.
I got there right on dusk and hung about for around 45 minutes, when it was dark outside. Have soooo many photos, in all directions, the above one is just a random one I picked. Below is the exit.
And with that done I headed back to my hotel, detouring by the hotel I’ll be staying at on Sunday/Monday night – Hotel New Hankyu.
I’ve kinda got my bearings all sorted, but this hotel I go to tomorrow is meant to be impossible to find. Might need to get another taxi. While I’m sooo loving this place, I couldn’t live here. To me it’s not as busy as Sydney or Melbourne, but the language barrier is the hardest. I buy a Coke at 7-Eleven [ Plus 3 beers and some chocolate ] and the cashier girl says something, I give a confused look, then she taps a screen in front of me, which I was probably meant to tap myself. In Australia everyone’s all “There ya go Champ. Seeya!”, but in Osaka they’re more formal and all say arigato gozaimasu [ Thank You Very Much ] amongst other things. I’m not sure what, but I do smile and nod/bow and say arigato!, but yeah, I’m sooo enjoying myself. I’ll definitely be coming back here in the future.
And that’s my day, this 20th of June. How was yours?
