Yesterday I didn’t update the blog as I did not really have all that much to report. We started off early, and headed by subway to Amerika-mura, as we ran out of time the day before to really check it out. Unfortunately it was very cold and rainy, and most of the shops weren’t open by the time we got there, as they tend to open later and then stay open until 9 or 10pm. We wandered around for a while to get a feel of the neighbourhood – it is obviously a hip and happening place for the young fashion set, but as we were getting progressively wetter and colder before long we gave in to the temptation of the nearby covered arcades, and spent most of the morning wandering through them doing some shopping, including buying a few ‘must have’ items from the huge Sanrio ‘Hello Kitty’ store (three levels of Hello Kitty goodness!!).
After this we travelled back to Umeda, and spent the late afternoon/evening in the shopping district around the Osaka hotel. There are quite a few department stores and other shopping arcades here – you could wander for hours and never see the sun, as so much of it is underground!! We found a cool shopping plaza called Heps (Hankyu Entertainment Plaza) and it had some really wierd red whales in the centre of it hanging suspended (about the same size as the ones outside the Brisbane Museum, but painted red??) as well as a huge red ferris wheel on the roof. There were heaps of groovy fashion shops and at the top an amusement parlour with loads of arcade games and a few rides. We went on one called ‘The Room of Living Dolls’, which was scary…you went into a small room, with 8 seats around a table. You sat down, put some headphones on and it all went dark. A very scary voice starts telling a story (in Japanese, thank goodness, if I could have understood the story it would have been totally scary!!!) and because you have the headphones on they have recorded it so that it sounds like she is standing right behind you whispering in your ear. At different points through the story the chairs shudder and a cold wind blows through the room, and lights flash – it was pretty cool, but like I said not too scary because we didn’t know what she was saying but from her voice you could tell it was a spooky story!! There was a Dad who had brought in his little girl, who seemed about 6 years old – she was all keen to go in, but was sobbing by the end, I think it might have been a bad choice on their part!!
Anyway, after this we needed to restore ourselves, so we went to one of the several cafes that sell enormous sundaes, and each had a huge dessert (well before dinner!!) of ice-cream, cream, toppings and fruit as well as the cornflakes that seem to be a ‘must have’ in every Japanese parfait.
We found the local Kinokuniya bookstore, and of course had to make a purchase, and then returned to the hotel room to regroup and pack a parcel each to send home before heading back out for dinner. This was when I discovered that the book I had just purchased was one I had purchased several weeks earlier in another bookstore (memory like a sieve). So before we went out for dinner we spent about 30 minutes wandering through the various arcades trying to find the bookstore again (it truly is like a rabbit warren around Umeda/Osaka station). Luckily they let me exchange it, and then we headed to the top of the Yodabashi Camera building for a yummy dinner of Tonkatsu, before heading back to the hotel room for bed.
Today was nice and fine, and our plan was to go to the post office to send off our parcels, and then to head to Nara to see the temples and deer park. The parcel sending went fine (we are getting it down to a fine art!!) but unfortunately when we got to the train station, we found out there had been an accident on the Nara line and they were not able to tell us when the line would be open again. Japan’s train lines are very very safe and efficient, but unfortunately there is a very high suicide rate in Japan, and frequently (particularly on Mondays although on other days too) people jump in front of trains and this is then called an ‘accident’ while the line is out of service. I hope that this was not the case on the Nara line today but it apparently does happen quite often. This is one of the less happy aspects of the Japanese culture, and seems to be a side effect of the high pressure/high expectations that jobs place on people here.
We therefore changed our plans, and over coffee decided today would be a good day to visit Osaka-jo, the famous Osaka castle, and the Osaka aquarium.
We took the train to Osaka-jo, and spent a lovely morning wandering through the grounds and up to the castle, which is unfortunately only a replica, but what a replica it is!! It has been rebuilt with amazing attention to detail, and the thing I really enjoyed about it was that most of the signage and information was presented in English as well as Japanese, so I could learn about the story of the castle, and not just look at the displays with little comprehension. There are great views at the top, and displays of samurai armour, and the story of the castle is very interesting as was the house of the Toyatomi family, who were eventually defeated by Tokugawa – very important people in Japanese history.
In the grounds of the castle we also got to try Takoyaki, or octopus balls, which are a delicacy in Osaka, and which we have had in Australia many times, but to try the real thing, fresh off the hotplate was so good (even if I do now have a burnt lip from the hot batter!!). The takoyaki was much softer than at home, and was really really yummy. While we were eating them we made friends with two little Japanese boys who were with their father sitting next to us. As they were leaving they shouted ‘goodbye!’ to us over and over, even when they were quite a long way away – it was a great game to them to say this English word, and people all around us were laughing as they yelled ‘goodbye!’ as they walked off into the distance!!
After this we headed off to the aquarium. We caught the train for several stations and then changed to subway for one more stop, before a brief walk took us to the aquarium which is part of a harbour complex that also includes the huge ferris wheel that seems mandatory at any sightseeing destination.
The aquarium was awesome – it had many smaller tanks that you walked past on one side of the corridor, with a huge central tank that houses the famous whale sharks and other large rays and sharks as well as many fish. They also have the cutest river otters, sea otters, a sloth (which I had never seen before), spider monkeys, dolphins, seals, massive deep sea king spider crabs, a jelly fish display and tanks and tanks of fish. It was a really cool aquarium – very similar to Underwater World, only I think they have more here in Osaka, but built sort of in the same style. Here James made another little friend, this time a little Japanese girl, and we decided to give her Kevin, our stuffed Koala who has been travelling with us – I think that her mum was a bit surprised by it, but James was really taken with her and wanted to give her something from Australia, and it was all we had.
We arrived back at the hotel and decided a food hall dinner was the go, so we split up and I bought some awesomely yummy chicken and some crab salad, as well as a beautiful blueberry cheesecake, and James bought a tonkatsu pork dish, and some cheesecake also – pretty awesome for a cheap meal!! We settled back in our hotel room to enjoy it, and here we are!!
We have changed our plans somewhat, as we have decided to see Nara on Friday if it is fine, and spend the next two days shopping and taking it a little easy. On Thursday we think we shall go our separate ways and do a little shopping alone, as I want to look at the bead shop I found and also see if I can find some bento box goodies, and James wants to find the sword shop he has read about. I can’t believe that this is our last few days in Japan – it has gone so fast, yet it feels like forever since we were home -I can’t wait to see Sooty again!!
Bye for now.
