Robot Claw

I was up early this morning and watched the sun rise from my room:

It was very pretty, and I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. After a delicious breakfast at McDonald’s (insert comment here) I marched down to the station and rode the subway to Dobutsuen-Mae station. A brief walk north and my first goal of the day was in sight:

That’s Tsutenkaku tower, which is an old tourist attraction here in Osaka. Of course I went up (¥800) and the views were pretty good. But it’s less than half the height of my hotel room, and I was more interested in the weird stuff in the tower than the views from it. For instance they are obsessed with ‘Billiken’, the god ‘of things as they should be’ and statues of him are everywhere! Secondly they have a massive Glico/Pocky history museum at the base, where a nice girl took this photo of me:

(She was probably bored; I was the only patron of the tower at the time.)

Thirdly I never expected to find this many gashapon machines in such a location:

It was a tourist trap to be sure, but a not unwelcome one, and I’m glad I went to see it.

Continuing further north brought me to ‘Den Den Town’, the otaku Mecca of Osaka. Here is a dense concentration of game/toy/anime/card shops unrivaled by anywhere outside of Akihabara. I spent hours there today, mostly in game shops like this:

I made some purchases, which I’ll blog some time in the next few weeks.

I also spent ages in the figure shops, especially the retro ones. I was primarily looking for (Ultraman) Zoffy merchandise, but ended up just gazing at the super expensive 1960s toys in the glass cases:

That’s about $1300 for a plastic toy that would fit in your hand, and it was far from the most expensive item.

Anyway I spent maybe 5 hours in Den Den before heading for my final destination of the day, the Umeda Sky Tower:

This curious double skyscraper was completed in 1993 and is about fifteen minutes west of Osaka station. Naturally I visited the observatory at the top, which even had an outdoor section. The views were amazing:

This was higher than my hotel and for a skyscraper observatory (as opposed to dedicated tower) it was very good. A tad pricey perhaps (¥1500), but I’m happy I visited if only for the two suspended escalators between the towers 🙂

After a gourmet meal (¥600) I visited a nearby department store and randomly happened upon a Gundam exhibit and pop up shop. It was very popular, and I most enjoyed looking at the professionally built and painted kits such as this one:

It looks simplistic but there’s some impressive talent at work there.

It was a long and busy day, and I didn’t even cover everything here (such as the game centers, the UFO catcher wins, the pet shops, the post office or the idol signing event I witnessed.) Another day in wonderland it was, and a very good one. As usual I have full plans for tomorrow as well. Look forward to it…

The flight was uneventful. I watched three movies, read half a Conan novel and listened to a lot of Depeche Mode before we landed about a half hour before schedule. The airport was busy and security/customs took about an hour. After the usual routine (money exchange, buying a SIM) it was time for the ‘Hello Kitty’ Haruka express to Osaka city:

I had sprung for the highest class seat and was the only one in the first class cabin! It was extremely comfortable, especially after the plane:

The trip was about 35 minutes followed by another half hour or so on the Osaka Loop Line to Osaka station and then a short walk to my hotel.

That’s my home for four days, and I’m on the 28th floor with an amazing view:

I’m extremely tired now, and I’ve got a big plan for tomorrow. Time for bed!

I took mum to Sydney for some shopping as a Christmas gift. We walked around for over 7 hours and visited many shops and had a great time.

We also stopped at the Cathedral to light some candles and check out the nativity, and it didn’t disappoint!

Mum had never stayed in a ‘fancy’ hotel so I splurged and got us nice rooms at the Sheraton in Hyde Park. She was astonished by how nice it was and by the size of her room 🙂

The true astonishment came the following morning. I used my charm upon checking in and was rewarded with a free continental breakfast for both of us. And when we went down to eat this morning our minds were boggled!

The selection was endless. Of course all the usuals were included (in spades) but they also had roast meats, a fresh fruit juicery, a fried noodle station (with chef), a congee bar, all sorts of seafood items, various egg and potato dishes, a massive salad bar and more and more. I’ve seen some impressive buffet breakfasts in my time (Hawaii comes to mind) but this was another level!

Due to trackwork (which required a coach for some of the way), extreme heat and a train breakdown the trip home was taxing. But we made it safe and sound and it’s good to be home and out of the heat.

A successful trip, and one mum says she’ll remember for a long time 🙂