Final day in Osaka

 

Thursday 6 July

Day 17

Today is our last full day in Osaka. After the rotten start to our evening sleep, we were both keen to stay in bed.  Noisy children were no where to be heard now, thankfully. We held off the morning routine until 8, turning on the box and trying to decipher what might be going on in the world. 

Now awake, we had breakfast, dressed, packed and were ready to go and check out a couple of spots mentioned in the tourist mag. Our first was the Umeda Sky Building on the other side of the train station. We navigated from our south exit to the north, avoiding the JR train gate that we usually take. We exited the station, made for ground and then checked out the art in the forecourt, before crossing the road and through a mural lined underpass and arriving at the base of the Sky Building.

These are 2, 173m tall towers connected by a floating sky garden. You can pay to go up and check out the garden and view, but I was happy to just view it from the ground. It was certainly interesting architecture. We wandered around at ground level and checked out the small vegetable and flower garden area before returning to the station and boarding the Osaka loop line to Tennoji Station. 

The area of Tennoji has a large park area, of which most is the zoo. I was expecting more of an area to wander about, so it was a little disappointing. The tourist mag, also suggested checking out 2 buildings, the Tsutenkaku and Abeno Harukas. We did, both were nothing special. We did however make a stop at keitakuen Garden. It cost 150yen each, but it was a quite, scenic Japanese garden to enjoy on what was turning out to be a warm day. 

We then made our way back towards the station, this time continuing the loop line to Nishikujo Station and then on to Universal City. As it suggests, Universal Studios can be found here. There were plenty of high school kids in uniform, heading to the park, not sure if they were wagging, but it was only 1pm. We needed lunch, so headed into the large, colourful shopping mall and found a ramen store to eat at. I finally got to try takoyaki, octopus balls. They were yummy. 

We then walked among the many stores selling all, things universal, towards the front of the theme park. Here we could hear the screams of the patrons using the roller coaster. The ride looked like it would be fun. 

As Universal Studios is down on the waterfront, I thought there would be more to see and do, but I was wrong. We decided to call it a day and return to the hotel, making it back before 3pm. I knew we would need the rest, as I was keen to check out the Dotonbori area tonight. I also wanted to be semi packed and ready for our Tokyo bound journey tomorrow. 

At 5 we left the hotel room and began the 3.5km walk towards the Dotonbori area. We could have caught a subway, but thought it would be more interesting to wander and it was. The workday crowd wasn’t quite on the street yet, so most of the pathways were fairly clear. We checked out the interesting buildings, the large carriageways crossing the river and the people and their pets. It seems the pets are most often carried in packs, handbags or pushed in pram like contraptions. It had us quite amused. 

Our first stop was Craft Beer Works Kamikaze. This was another small bar with room for 20 ish patrons. Paul checked the beer list, chose his beer and we sat enjoying the cool of the bar. It had been hot walking the streets. We chatted with the manager, who was keen to come surf in Oz and drink beer. We got by with his limited English skills. 

As the sun was beginning to set, we left the bar and continued our wander towards the Dotonbori. The crowds and colourful buildings began to appear and you got the sense that this was a happening space. We followed the other walkers further into the area and as the dark began to set in, the colours of the led lights began to pop. 

We stopped at a food stall offering takoyaki, octopus balls. We watched the chef create the small morsels on cast iron cake pop pans over a small grill and when we were finally served, we took ours to an empty bench to eat and watch the world around us. 

We were then heading to Dotonbori Brewery, but when we reached it, it was full, so we were back in the increasingly busy street and heading to Ebisu Bashi bridge for a view of the iconic running man screen. Paul had trouble with the increasing crowd, so it was a quick picture and skedaddle. We found a Portuguese egg tart establishment, so bought 4, ate them and then made for an underground entrance to Namba Station. We got on the first subway, heading to Osaka Station. This was the first time we needed to use our IC in Osaka, as we have managed to get around using the JR rail pass for our travels. 

Osaka station was only a few stops away, which gave Paul the chance to bring his anxiety levels slowly down. Coming in on a different line, was a little confusing and Google maps came in handy to navigate us to Craft Beer House Molto Umeda, a fancy spot on floor 31 of the Hankyu Building. Thankfully there was room for us to sit and take stock for a bit. We enjoyed a drink, took in the city light view and then were ready to find our way back to the hotel.

I followed the signs for JR Osaka, and then the central South Gate. Things didn’t look familiar and Paul realised we were on ground level, not B1. Once we went down the escalator, familiar shops appeared and we were able to find our regular route, making it back for 9.30pm. Time to breathe and then sleep.