Osaka, Japan - Day 2 (Museum of History, Osaka Castle, Cosmo Tower, Tempozan)

Mar 28, 2018

Osaka Amazing Pass Day 1

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On the first "real" day of exploring Osaka we used the "Amazing Osaka Pass" as it was only ¥33,000 and it includes plenty of attractions as well as certain subway line that can be ridden for free. The pass is a great deal if you plan to go to many attractions in the two days you are there. We made sure to try and fit in most of the attractions in our itinerary before setting off to Japan to off-set the cost. 

The first day of exploration was on a very hot and sunny day. I was dripping in sweat even though I was in a t-shirt and shorts. Our first stop of the day was to the Osaka Museum of History. We got there at 9:30AM just as the museum opened. As we headed into the building we had checked in at the counter to redeem our tickets (without the pass, it would've cost ¥600 yen). Once we got our tickets we headed to the elevator to go to the top floor (10th) as you have to start from top to bottom. I thought there was an exhibition on every floor but it was only 4 floors. They also give you a little booklet to collect stamps on each floor. 

The 10th floor begins with the "Age of the Naniwa Palace." As you enter, the floor is pitch black with an ancient Japanese instrumental melody to represent the ancient period. This floor basically represent how the palace looked like during that period and also includes life-size dolls of imperial consorts, guards, etc. They also have a video that is played on the wall with subtitles. (I thought this floor was the most breath-taking)

Why hello there, handsome.

Once you are done with the 10th floor, you can take the escalator down to the 9th floor which is "The Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period." On this floor there is a lot of statues and life-size replicas of buildings and boats. Remember to collect those stamps!

 As we head along down to the 8th floor, you will encounter a "archaeological evacuation" area but I walked through it as it felt like it was only for kids and nobody was there as well. On this floor there is a lot of artifacts and reminders of the past. Not very exciting.

And finally, as we head down to the 6th floor, which is also the end of the exhibition; we enter the "Modern and Contemporary Era." - Showa Period. This floor is a paradise for those selfie takers. The entire floor is full of life-sized representation of the Showa Period; it feels as if you are transported back to the Showa Era. It is just unbelievable! Even better if you somewhat have the entire place to yourself, making it less awkward to take awkward selfies with every FAKE person you encounter.

 How buildings looks like in the Showa Period. 

Our next destination for the day was to see Osaka Castle and the surrounding area. As we crossed the street from the museum, we enter Osaka park where the castle is. It was also cherry blossom season so all of the cherry blossom was blooming and there were a lot of tourists and locals taking pictures or having picnics under the cherry blossom trees. I was a bit surprised to see a Lawson inside the park as well. Since it was quite hot, we had to head over to the Lawson store to buy a drink and some food.

We took some pictures of cherry blossoms before we headed over to check out the surrounding attractions before entering the castle. And I got to say it was so hot under the blazing sun. We went over to check out the Otemon gate, Sengan - Yagura Turret, Important Cultural Property Osaka Castle Yagura (Turret) ¥700, and gupowder store where you have to exchange for a ticket with the pass first before entering.

The turrets and the gunpowder store does not contain much inside. What you see is how the building looks like inside during that era. But as you enter the building for the turret you do you have to take off your shoes and change into slippers each time. (I believe we changed into slippers 3x - to protect the castle floors).

There's rows and rows of cherry blossoms.

The lineup to enter Osaka Castle was extremely long. There are two lines, one where you can take the elevator up to the top of the castle and the other which is to walk up the stairs to the top of the castle. We opted to take the stairs as the line was a lot shorter. And because we have the Osaka pass, we did not need to lineup to exchange it for a ticket. If you were to buy the pass to enter the castle (includes the  museum) then it would cost ¥600.

The walk up the castle was brutal in the heat combined with the huge crowd. Once I got to the top of the castle, it was a relief as I can BREATHE. The downside is that it was crowded and I had to wait for a gap before I can check out the view from the balcony. 

As you make your way back down the castle, you can visit each floor as it contains a exhibit regarding the castle. Some floors do not allow you to take pictures or videos. 

After taking some pictures of the castle we explored the rest of the park. We also hurried along as we wanted to go to the Okawa River Sakura Cruise (¥1200) and it was a 20 mins walk over and we needed to come back here for the cruise around Osaka castle as well.

We headed to the Keihan City mall, did some shopping and then grabbed lunch before attending the cruise as the line was a bit long and we hoped that by the time we finished lunch the line would've become shorter, unfortunately it did not.

Pothole in Osaka (all around Japan there are pictures on the pothole to represent the prefecture)

This was my lunch for the day, it was very filling. It was rice with egg inside some kind of thick sauce, soup and karaage with salad. It was a bit over ¥1000. The karaage was really really good. My sister got curry, which I am not a fan off. We chose this place because the line was the shortest and it was the most appetizing to us. It was very straight forward to grab a table as we used our fingers to signal two people and we were then bought to our seats where we did have to take off our shoes to enter and sit. 

By the time we finished our lunch, we had to exchange for the Sakura Cruise tickets. Once we got the tickets, we headed back outside and the line was even longer. Regular price for the Sakura Cruise is ¥1200 but luckily we have the Osaka pass which covers it. We were in line for around 1.5 hours as they only take passengers every 15 minutes or so. The boat ride lasted around 20 minutes and it was an open air boat. While in line, one of the peddlers tried to push the boat to set sail but his pole got stuck in the hole and it fell into the water. LOL. He can't retrieve it as it slowly floated away. It happened right in front of me but what can you do. When it got to our turn to board the boat, me and my sister both sat in an aisle seat instead of together so that we can take pictures. Nobody sat beside me so I got the entire row to myself. The boat ride was very scenic as we got to see the cherry blossom along the entire river bank. 

Why hello there, little ducks.

Right after the boat ride ended, we quickly headed back to Osaka castle to catch the Osaka-jo Gozabune boat ride which we reserved tickets for with the Osaka pass. ✧ ─=≡Σ((( つ•̀ω•́)つ
You can only reserve the tickets once and if you miss that time slot then it's too bad as you cannot reserve again unless you pay. This boat ride around the castle is very popular so the time slots does get sold out pretty fast. I suggest to reserve first and then roam around the castle.

As we were heading back, we had to cross the street with one of those overpass that you see in mangas. Pretty cool, but the stairs was a killer. On the way down, we saw vending machine selling cheap drinks (cheaper than the ones at busy streets or near tourist attractions). I believe this was less than 100yen. This one was a strawberry punch soda drink. SO GOOOOOOOD!! (❁´◡`❁)

When I went on the boat I felt like the boat driver dislike me as he kept on frowning at me. ಥ益ಥ This boat ride was okay, as it there was not much to see other then to stare up at the castle which does not move other then to sit there majestically. All the stones on the wall looks the same to me, not sure why other people gawk over it. The Osaka Gozabune ride does cost ¥1,500 but is included with the pass.

How the boat ride looks like from the castle.

View from the boatride. 

After the boat ride we had a couple of other attractions which we had to abandon as we did not have enough time. We quickly made our way to the train station but we got lost on the way. We somehow stumbled upon a stadium or close to the stadium where a famous Japanese boy band was holding a concert and there was a hoard of fangirls holding fans. I believe they are getting ready to go in.

After passing the stadium, we got very lost as our GPS wasn't working very well and it took us a while of walking back and forth to find the nearest station. Once we got to the station, our next destination was the Osaka Prefectre Government Sakishima Building Observatory (Cosmo Tower). To get there we had to take the new tram to Tradecenter mae station.

The new tram is so cute!! Its' so pink inside!!! 

Once we got to the Tradecenter mae station, we got off and had to walk a little bit to reach the tower. The regular ticket to observatory cost ¥700, but it is free with the Osaka pass. Once you enter, you need to take the elevator to the 52nd floor and then take the elscalator to the 55th floor and from there you get a panorama view of the bay area, Akaisi bridge, ports, etc. Since it was quite late, we almost had the entire place to ourselves except with a few stragglers.  (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)

Our last destination for the day was the Tempozan Ferris Wheel at the Tempozan Harbour Village which is also where the Tempozan shopping mall is. By the time we got here, it was pretty late, perhaps around 8PM so we missed the cruise. (Apparently the cruise is beautiful at night). The admission for the ferris wheel is ¥800, but is covered by the pass as well. Yay. Once you get there, there is two lines to get on the ferris wheel, one is regular and the other is for glass floor. The glass door have a very long wait so I opted for the regular one as I was a quite scared as well. Once I got on, dang, I was shaking, it was difficult to look outside too. It is SO HIGH. It doesn't rock though. At night, the view is beautiful though you can't really see the ocean. All the lights light up at night and you can see the moon as well. WOW!

As we strolled around the mall in search of dinner, we stumbled upon some UFO catchers. A lot of shops were already closed as the mall was closing. 

Boobies UFO catcher

And lastly, for dinner we went into a restaurant to grab foooooood!!! YUMMMMMMMMM!!!

This place was a bit pricey than the other places we've been as my dinner of udon and rice cost around ¥1500.

If not for the Osaka pass, the entire day would've cost  ¥6,100 in terms of attractions. SAVED.