Category: Miscellaneous

I woke tired with the dawn but since my first goal didn’t open until ten I took the chance to slow down a bit and watch a movie. It was sublime albeit the movie not so much. Then I took two trains to the docklands to ride this:

It’s called Tempozan and for many years was the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world. KLS and I were out here back in 2017 but didn’t ride it since she gets scared of heights and I always wanted to return. The ride takes about 15 lazy minutes and provides great views for miles. Here’s me at the top:

My next destination was the Dotonbori canal district but – as if often do – I took the long way and walked after one train rather than catch both back. This led me to discover a lengthy covered shopping street in which I found a used game shop and bought an old Game Boy game! Which once again proves that you should always walk if you can 🙂

After a gourmet lunch…

I arrived at my second destination of the day:

That’s the Ebisu Tower, so named since the guy shown on the front is the god of fortune Ebisu (who is hanging out with the penguin mascot of the Don Quixote discount store).

This unusual Ferris Wheel sits riders in a car facing outwards (it spins 180 while loading) and also takes about 15 minutes to make a circuit. While the views weren’t great the wheel had a surprise for me: it’s a little bit scary! The carriages don’t hang, and mechanically rotate as they go around the curves. The led to judders and creaks that more than once reminded me it’s only been open 6 of its 15 years, being closed for mechanical reasons the rest of the time.

Here’s the view from the top:

I was laughing out loud like a fool most of this ride. I think it’s exhaustion catching up with me!

After a quick stop at the hotel my third goal for the day was only a short walk away:

That’s the Hep-5 Wheel, on the top of a shopping mall right in downtown Osaka. KLS and I rode this at night back in 2017, immediately before a memorable thunder storm, but today I got to ride it during the day. It’s taller than Ebisu but shorter than Tempozan (which speaks a lot for Tempozan’s height since this guy is built on top of the 7th floor!) and – surprise surprise – takes about 15 relaxing minutes to go around.

Here’s me at the top:

I very much enjoyed this one since I’ve been buzzing around the local streets every day and could plot my paths from above. It also afforded fantastic views of the nearby train station. However unlike the other two it had no commentary at all! Still worth a ride.

So three wheels in one day! They were all cheap (¥800, ¥500 and ¥600) and worth the trip. I’m now proud to say I’ve ridden three different wheels in the same day. I wonder how many others can claim that?

Tonight I pack for the train to Tokyo tomorrow, where the trip enters a new phase: otaku madness. Stay tuned…

Today I went to Universal Studios Japan! Apparently I had picked a good day to go since all of Osaka – perhaps even all of Japan – seemed to be there today as well 🙂

I had a very early start this morning (due to slight jetlag) but even though I got to the park 45 minutes before the gates opened the throng of humanity stretched as far as the eye could see. Once I was inside I made a beeline for the Harry Potter section and quickly joined the longest line for a ride I’d ever joined:

Yes the ride is in the castle, and the line is not supposed to stretch out this far. But this morning it did, and the employees scrambled to open up extra line space to accommodate us all. In actuality it wasn’t that long a wait (maybe 20 minutes) and when I rode the ride itself it was just as good as I remembered from Florida last year.

I then methodically went around going on the other available rides (skipping the log flume and the ones that would make me sick) – that’s my wearing the 3D glasses for Spider-Man above – which didn’t take long since there’s not that many and three were closed today! Eventually I joined the line for this:

It’s called The Flying Dinosaur and is apparently an amazing roller coaster. Unfortunately the very strong warnings of motion sickness scared me away and when I mustered courage and returned later I was confronted by this:

By this point the park was inundated with people and almost all the lines were excessive. So in quick succession, I watched the three special effects shows 🙂

Since they are all based on old films – Waterworld, Backdraft and Terminator 2 – each is showing it’s age. And yet I very much enjoyed all three. The vision of the future in Terminator is laughable now but the show mixes video and live action skillfully and the 3D is very good. Backdraft was two very long ‘making of’ movies (narrated entirely in Japanese) followed by an astonishing demonstration of (real) flame effects in movies.

But the real star was Waterworld. It was beyond good: it was amazing.

The arena as you can see was enormous, and the show was basically live action Mad Max with boats. The explosions and effects were ridiculously over the top and I loved it. Probably the highlight of my day!

I would have liked to ride the big coaster and stay for the light show, but early afternoon I was ruined and left the park to return to the hotel for a break. While those that know me are thinking “He rested?!?” I can assure you that a bit later I went back out and did some shopping!

That’s an original Ultraman suit used in a TV series, on display at an official store. I had my Ultraman shirt on and the employee saluted me 🙂

Now – it’s just after 7 – I’m so tired I can barely type, so an early night it will be. I’ll need lots of rest for tomorrow, since I’ve planned an equally full itinerary…

I’ve mostly finished packing on this last night of my Australia vacation. I’m absolutely exhausted from endless active days but my mind is full of many happy memories from these past three weeks.

Thanks to my parents for putting up with me for so long. Thanks to all my friends – AW, SMC, KB and MMC – for giving me their time. And thanks to Australia for – as always – welcoming back its emigrant son.

But my vacation is not over, since tomorrow I fly to Japan where I will stay for the next ten days. If you’re wondering what I’ll get up to… so am I! You can bet the otaku madness will be unfettered though, so look forward to lots of weird and wonderful on this blog (hopefully) every day starting tomorrow…