Yokoso! Japan Day 1 - Osaka

Osaka Castle and Umeda Sky Building

Land of the rising sun-- finally coming here after months of planning and anticipation. We had a small episode of H1N1 scare before the date of departure whereby there was a huge jump in no of H1N1 cases in Osaka/Kobe due to community spread to about 200+. H/e as the situation remains stable, we decide to make the trip after all.

Our flight was on 30th May (Sat) at 1140pm. It was our first time taking SQ Airbus A380, and we were pretty excited, since it is the largest passenger flight to date that promises great comfort and entertainment in air.



Us waiting at the departure gate:



To our disappointment, the leg space on board the Airbus was similarly limited as compared to other flights like Cathay Pacific and Qantas. The only exception is the great entertainment KrisFlyer and good service by the air steward and stewardesses. We even spotted a yan dao air steward who was very attentive to us :) I watched the "He's just not that into you", which was pretty good. Scarlett Johansson was hot man, haha. Besides movie, there were also dramas and games available. We were addicted to the Bejewelled Blitz game ;) Even though there was little turbulence, we did not sleep much during the 7-hour journey.

We reached Narita Airport close to 7 a.m., Japan time (Japan is faster than Spore by 1 hour). Our first stop was the JR office for us to exchange the exchange order we bought in Spore for the JR pass. This allows us 7 days' unlimited ride on Shinkansen (or bullet train) and JR lines. The JR pass had cost us 28,000 Yen (or ~S$430), but considering the fact that a single trip on the bullet train can cost you an easy sum of ~S$150, the JR pass saved us alot of $$.

The "magical" toilet bowl at Narita Airport that provides "washing" and "drying" services while doing your "business". There are also cubicles with small table for women to change their babies' diapers or with small urinals for young kids.





We took the Narita Express to Tokyo, before changing for the bullet train at Tokyo station to Osaka.






The journey to Tokyo took about 1.5 hours, while the bullet train would take us close to 3 hours to Osaka. Good time for zzzz-ing. We spotted a chio-bu waitress who pushed a snack-cum-drink cart on board for thirsty/hungry passengers.





There are also mini-marts and o-bento shops on the train platform who wish to buy food to eat on the train.



We reached Shin-Osaka station at 1pm+. As our hotel is at Osaka station, we took JR line and alighted at the next stop. We stayed at Hotel Kinki, which was a small but comfy place that was a convenient 7 mins' walk away from the station.

The room may look small, but it's rather comfy. We had 2 rooms, one was Western-style (the usual queen-sized bed), and one was Japanese-tatami style. It only cost us about 7,200 yen per room per night, which translates to about S$54 per person per night. Definitely cheap!







At the train station near Osaka Castle:





Our first stop was Osaka Castle. As it was a Sunday, there were crowds of Japanese strolling, walking dogs or just milling around in the gardens around the castle. There were also stalls selling Takopachi, fried noodles or skewered meat in the area, which we bought for our late lunch.











A huge tower at the outside of the gardens. There were many pple gathered there.



In the gardens around the castle:







Baseball grounds:



A moat of sorts outside the castle. Very nice scenery.





The moat. We even saw pple fishing on the other side.





Nice flowers outside the castle:



The gate that leads to the main tower of the Osaka Castle:



We had to cross the bridge to enter the castle grounds:







Lotsa greeneries along the way:



The main tower of the Osaka Castle:



We took at least 30 min to walk from the entrance to the castle. h/e as the weather was cool at about 20 degree celsius, we didnt feel tired or thirsty at all.



For those who wish to enter the Osaka castle can pay an entrance fee of 600 Yen (~S$9).

At the entrance, a life-sized cannon:



The Osaka Castle was founded by Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1536-1598), who unified Japan and ruled Japan during the Momoyama period. H/e the existing Osaka Castle was reconstructed by the Tokugawa Shogunate. There remains no single piece of stone wall from the Momoyama period.

The castle is now a symbol of Osaka. There is also a museum that showcases the history during Toyotomi's period, and the historical artefacts.

We headed to the observation deck on the 8th floor first.

The observation deck is 50m above ground, which gives us a pretty good view of the surroundings:







We next went down to the museum at the lower levels.

A portrait of Hideyoshi Toyotomi:



You could pay a fee of 300 Yen to try on one of these and take a photo. We did not try it, of course:



This is rather impressive:



Some photos we took outside the castle



We left the osaka castle for our next destination: Umeda Sky Building.

The Umeda Sky building is pretty near our hotel at the Osaka station vicinity. H/e we couldnt find our way at first, and had asked a sales staff at a Hankyuu department store for directions. He actually brought us all the way out to the main road, and pointed us the correct direction to walk towards! Very helpful, indeed.

As a result of being lost and walking a fair bit to the sky building, it was almost dark when we reached.

There is an entrance fee of 700 Yen (~S$10).

The Umeda Sky Building from afar:



A fountain outside the sky building that lights up at night:



Sky building from below:



Escalator up to the ticket office level. It was pretty long, and took at least 1-2 min to reach the top, which meant a good time for photo-taking







On top the umeda sky building. It's the 1st time that i've entered a sky observation deck that is open-air. The wind was rather strong then.



Ferris wheel at HEP 5 Building. We had planned to go there later, but to our disappointment, it was closed for renovation/maintenance (?)



Bird's eye view of Osaka city:







We saw the sunset at the observation deck. H/e as it was qt cloudy and gloomy, the sunset was rather dimmed.



Group photo taken on tripod:



Food street at the basement.





We had ramen at one of the shops in the food street. It was surprisingly good! It costs us 610 yen (~S$9).



Huge bowl of ramen that costs 910 yen (~S$13.50) with one whole egg.



Us looking kinda tired after one night without much sleep



We left for HEP 5 Building to take the ferris wheel, but as it was closed to our dismay, we took a quick walk around the area before heading back to our hotel.





Next day, Universal Studio and Dotonbori.