UWC Day 128 – Osaka, Japan – A Leisurely Day Wandering Around Osaka

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by

Matthias Chan
in ,

The Kansai region is one of my favorite parts of Japan, so naturally with a full day here, I set out to just wander the city.

  1. Osaka Castle Park
    1. Entrance and Moat
    2. Osaka Castle
    3. Gardens
    4. Running / Walking Route
    5. Exiting the Park
  2. Back to Port
    1. Tempozan Market Place
  3. Osaka Aquarium
    1. WHALE SHARKS!
  4. Errands
  5. Market Place
    1. Victory
    2. Food
    3. Ferris Wheel
  6. Food
  7. Late Night Running
  8. Vibe Check
  9. Feedback

Photo Gallery: https://pics.mattichan.com/-uwc128

Osaka Castle Park

Decided to go with Andrew and Alé to Osaka Castle for a bit before heading out and about. Thought about potentially heading to Nara or Kobe to catch the sunset and then make it back to the ship, but headed into town first.

Entrance and Moat

Osaka Castle

Felt like half the ship was at the castle and I’ve been before so didn’t want to bother with the crowds so I headed off on my adventure. Really enjoyed the time away from the crowds and some more secluded places in the park.

Gardens

Wandered toward the subway station and walked through some gardens which were just lovely.

Running / Walking Route

Kept seeing signs everywhere and then a store where you could rent running shoes. Was definitely tempted to get a run in but it was hot and I had all my camera gear with me.

Exiting the Park

Finished walking all over the park and wandering before finally finding a subway station.l (wasn’t trying too hard).

Views from this other entrance were really nice too.

Back to Port

It was pretty warm outside and I’m still pretty tired from the last couple days so I decided to just call it and go back toward the cruise ship instead.

Tempozan Market Place

Walked around the plaza for a bit right outside the ship before heading into the aquarium. I have lots of memories from this aquarium and wanted to go back and just chill for a bit inside.

Osaka Aquarium

Had a great time wandering around again, doing a bit of reminiscing and just enjoying the aquarium (and avoiding / dodging people).

Some cute out of the water animals.

WHALE SHARKS!

And other underwater creatures. Super majestic. Feel for them inside the tank :(.

Really, really want to see a Narwhal (maybe off Greenland in a couple months) — doubt it, but that would be really special.

Errands

Headed out after the aquarium a couple blocks to the Amazon Locker to get the replacement screen protectors for my phone (since that person knocked my phone out of my hand in South Korea). Pretty easy and efficient, even though I needed to use Google Translate to figure out which buttons to push.

Market Place

Had a couple extra hours till we needed to set sail, so wandered a bit around the market place. Almost went into the Legoland, but ended up wandering in search of some food instead.

Victory

I noticed the claw machine had some interesting instructions, and realized that you actually have a slightly different system here, you don’t just let the claw go all the way to the bottom here, you tap the button a SECOND time when you want it to close, and you need to time it right so it doesn’t just scrape along the bottom of the machine. Got a Hamm on the second of six plays (so the rest of them were useless cause there’s only one in the machine at a time), but he’s adorbs and love his skeptical eyebrows…it’s very…me.

Food

Got some food at one of the vendors, and it was freaking delicious…and super cheap.

Ferris Wheel

As I was leaving dinner, ran into Dr. Jenny and Kristian who had just come off the ferris wheel, and they said it was good, so I figured why not…and went up (also it was fairly cheap). As I got in, and we started going around, I realized that I hate heights (not terrified, but not my favorite), and also hate being enclosed….but what are you going to do…lol.

Ended up distracting myself by taking photos from the view, and then really enjoying the lighted displays and getting some shots straight down the center with the different patterned lights and angles…really neat.

Blue hour over the city was quite gorgeous as well.

Food

Went to dinner just to say hi and catch up with Shangam and the waitstaff, got a tiny caesar and the special to go for later.

Late Night Running

Got a nice quick run in on the deck after dinner. Good to get back out there as usual.

Vibe Check

5 parts joy

Feedback

Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!

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