Japan, Final Chapter: Osaka

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Well, it might not be the most beautiful city in Japan, but we had fun in Osaka! We had pretty much decided that we wanted to see no more temples and thought there wouldn't be enough to keep us busy for 2 days in Osaka. Enter Osaka Unlimited Pass! Seriously the best deal we have ever encountered in a city, we paid 2,700yen each (roughly 30$) and for 2 days got unlimited use of subways and buses plus free entry into 26 tourist attractions! Since most of what we had planned to do was on the list, it was an obvious choice to buy the pass!

August 20
We got up early, like little kids at Christmas, really excited to do some fun tourist things that normally we wouldn't pay the money for! We started out at the museum of Housing and Living which was a life-size replica of a village from the 1830s. There were stores, a bath house, restaurants and houses that you could walk around and experience! To top it all off, we were allowed to put on Japanese kimonos for the time we toured the museum! Score! All for free! Assah!

Next we went to HEP Five where there is shopping, arcade games and a ferris wheel. We rode the big red ferris wheel and were the only people on the ride! We got some nice views of Osaka city and had fun! Next we went to the harbour where we went on a 45 boat cruise aboard the Santa Maria, a boat made to look like Columbus' boat. The ride was nice, but it was really hazy outside and the harbour is filled with cranes, industrial buildings and is not overly attractive for the most part. Maybe not the most scenic cruise, but it was free and the breeze was welcome! We went to the National Maritime Museum next, not expecting much from it, but went because it was in the area and, of course, free! This museum surprised us! Despite the fact that there was little displayed in English, it was a neat museum with a big replica of a wooden ship and lots of hands-on activities involving maritime activities. We met some cute little Japanese girls that took us on a tour of the ship even though they spoke no English except "I'm sorry" ahha! It was a comical tour!

A short distance from the museum was the Osaka World Trade Center, so using another free coupon, we went to the top floor Observatory to watch the sunset on the "Cosmo Lounge" seats for couples! Sunset was not stellar but watching the traffic, soccer players and swimmers on a nearby rooftop hotel pool made the stop an interesting one. Back on the subway, we rode to Umeda, where we went up yet another tall tower observatory, the Floating garden Observatory. This observatory had no floating garden, nor did it have views out over any garden, actually, but it was an outdoor Observation deck which gave us a great view (and a wonderful breeze) over the city. This city looks prettier at night than during the day that's for sure!! While on top of the building we had some malfunctions with our brand new camera lens (the zoom snapped and wouldn't work) so that kinda killed the buzz from an amazing day, and we went back to our hotel not in the best of moods.

August 21
In better spirits the following morning we first went to a Botanical Garden which was great! It was part indoors, part outdoors and featured every different plant and flower you could think of with colourful fruits and flowers along the full climate spectrum! At the end of the tour was a beetle garden that you could walk in and touch the beetles. At first we thought they were all fake because they are so shiny and black that they LOOK fake, but no, no, I assure you they were moving!! Mike convinced me to face my fear of bugs and pick up one of the beetles and put it on my arm...which I successfully did after a few shrieks and close calls! haha! I felt so proud of myself after, that is until I saw tons of little kids playing with the bugs like it was nothing! So much for feeling brave - a 5 yr old is braver than me! It should also be noted that Mike "just didn't feel like" touching the beetle. If you ask me, he was scared.

Next we went to the Osaka Peace Center, a museum dedicated to promoting peace, both in Japan and worldwide. We went to this museum simply because it was on our way to the castle and it was the highlight of the day for us! In 3 exhibition halls it presented the history of war in Japan, both with them as victims (WWII) and as the instigator (basically when they tried to take over each of the rest of Asia at one point or another). It was unbiased and so interesting!

After a quick lunch (most meals in japan are quick) of delicious pork noodle soup, we visited Osaka castle, riding the train around the outer moat before strolling around the castle grounds. Our visit coincided with a candle lighting festival that night so we saw everyone getting the candles ready in various shapes all over the grounds. Deciding to savethe castle keepand museum for dusk to see the candles better from above, we took a short detour to the Panasonic Center where we got to test out full body massage recliners, 3D HD tvs and all their latest Eco-friendly home products! Kudos to Panasonic for being so innovative and energy conscious (and also for letting us use the massage chairs which were amazing after walking around all day!)

At dusk we entered the castle keep, quickly bypassed the mediocre museum and went to the 8th floor observatory to see the candles dotting the landscape in different shapes. There were also lots of white balloons with lights in them floating around in the garden next to the castle. it was a great ambiance and a beautiful sight to see!

August 22
Being our last day in Japan, we had scraped together just enough money to get some coffee and a pastry from 7-Eleven for breakfast and get us to the airport for our 12:30 flight to Busan. Waiting in the airport Mike found a few extra coins in his pocket and we passed the time waiting for the flight by perusing the souvenir stores and picking the exact combination of items tp use up all of our money (all 420 yen of it, about 5$) haha! The flight was uneventful and we arrived back to Yangsan tired and happy from a successful trip!

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