After getting back from Nunobiki Falls in Kobe,
I had to start getting my shopping list done. I went to Osaka station and walked out side and saw Yodobashi-Umeda.
Went inside and bought what my wife and kids were looking for (Bento box and Harry Potter pen/wands).
Always see cool stuff, but I had to note, I spotted a couple Leopards here! Obligatory pictures.
Pretty cool toys, but they had a rotating Tomica Premium display.
Probably one of the most visible structures seen in downtown Osaka is a Red Ferris Wheel on top of a building. This is the Hep 5 wheel.
HEP stands for “Hankyu Entertainment Park” (credit to Osaka station website).
This was one of those things I would typically excuse, but this is also a huge wheel on top of a building, so I wanted to try it.
I walked from Osaka station to the Hep 5 building. It was a few minutes walk.
Once I got into the Lobby of HEP 5, I followed the escalators up to the 7th floor.
I had the Osaka Amazing pass and the HEP 5 wheel was covered. But the cost of the ticket isn’t much, I believe 600 Yen (about $6).
This was on Saturday and there wasn’t a line.
The wheel moves slowly and takes about 15 minutes to make a full revolution.
On the capsule’s glass, facing each direction, are red outline guides to what buildings are in view. That’s pretty cool.
When I was looking for things to do around Namba station (the station I would arrive at) I saw something of Google Maps that caught my eye.
We went up and around Namba Parks. It is hard to capture it as it is huge, but also staggered. We had fun exploring it and enjoying how calm it was.
The Limited Express Haruka is a train that runs from Kyoto to Kansai airport.
I was able to experience this train on the way back to Shin-Osaka station with Okuni and Iishi-san. Okuni-san gave me the ticket for later as he planned out the day.
Here is the Official map from JR West.
I have passed up going up this building a few times due to time restraints. This time, I had to visit before leaving Osaka the next morning.
After dinner with Tanaka, Okuni and Iishi-san, we walked to a JR station (forgot the name) and then took the train Tennoji Station. Then we took the Super Haruka Express to Shin Osaka station. We exchanged farewells.
As soon as I got to Shin-Osaka station, I jumped on the Subway Midosuji Line to Umeda station (next to Osaka Station). I then started to trek to Umeda Sky building.
I got to the portion that is under construction/walkway and just enjoyed the view, but also knew it would close within an hour.
When I got to the lobby, I was instructed to go up and pay at the entrance. I believe it was 1500 Yen.
After that, I went up a couple floors.
I can’t tell you how amazing Osaka looks at night. The views are spectacular!
It was an awesome experience and I might have to try and do this during the day time in the future.
Website: Kuchu Teien Observatory
My wife really wanted to do the River cruise. I believe during the night is when people really want to do them, but I didn’t mind it being day time.
The host was pretty cool and was filled with information and history.
When Jasmin and I got to Osaka, we went to our place of stay (not a hotel) and it felt awkward. First off, the sign on the building’s front door says no AirBnB services. Then when we got to our room, it wasn’t super clean (hair was in the bathroom, bed sheets and floor). Almost like they forgot to sweep.
I was content, but Jasmin wasn’t. So she called AirBnB. We mentioned the sign on the front door and they said take a picture. After they received it, they refunded our money and said that the host wasn’t being honest with them. This place was kinda further away from the things we wanted anyway.
Jasmin found a decent priced hotel on short notice (we were staying here for 3 days). Best Western Hotel Fino in Shinsaibashi!!!
Not only that, We were walking distance to Dotonbori!!! This is that really cool food district in Osaka!
Once we checked in and put stuff away, we decided to check out Dotonbori at night and boy was it active!!! Food places galore!
You have to have decent navigation skills and sense of direction because looking down each street… they look all the same.
It has been 10 years since I was in Osaka.
We couldn’t check in til 4pm. So we left our stuff at Shin Osaka station and decided to get take the JR Tokaido Sanyo Line as it is a direct train to Osaka Station.
Once we got to Osaka Station, we had to look at the map on which train would bring us to Osaka Castle. We jumped on the Tanimachi subway line and that took us to the Tanimachiyonchome Station. Osaka Castle was a block away.
I remember coming up to the corner of the Osaka Museum of History. We walked to the corner of the Park and the over view of the Moat was gorgeous!
-osaka castle moat video
I accidentally merged pictures from a different folder with my Osaka Castle pictures, so many are gone (I’m an idiot!!! smh). I do have video though!
After getting some food from the mini Food trucks there, I went to go to the bathroom. The bathroom that was outside the entrance to the Castle itself was squatter style.
There was a short line to buy tickets and go in. The ticket itself was 600 Yen.
We slowly got inside (yes it was that busy) and went to the top. Great views of Osaka from a 360 perspective. As you make your way down, each floor had some history. Two of the floors had some historic relics from the days of the samurai and so they asked people not to video or take pictures. There was some very cool paintings of the battles!
