Day 2- Getting lost in Osaka
I'm ashamed to admit it but in true Westerner-style we kicked off our day with a stop a Starbucks for breakfast!
After tackling a very Japanesey Italian sausage muffin and mango frappe we ventured on to tackle the minefield that is Osaka's subway system. There's a subway stop basically under our hotel which made the 'find the subway station' step of our adventure much easier.
After fumbling at the ticket machine and attempting to ask the station master for help we finally managed to get two tickets. We made our way out to the station which we were told was nearest to the city's famous aquarium. We enthusiastically jumped out of the train and followed a pack of Japanese people in the direction we hoped was the aquarium. To our dismay this pack of people suddenly ALL turned into a staff entrance of Universal Studios, leaving us lost and stranded on a now empty, cold and wet street, somewhere in Osaka. We could see the giant aquarium in the distance but quickly realised there was a river between us and it, with no apparent way of crossing over.
A friendly Canadian girl, eventually rode past and stopped and gave us directions. She directed us through some deserted streets to a free ferry service which was seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The ferry stop seemed more like a container ship terminal so we weren't too surprised when a big old rusty and empty boat finally approached the dock. It was definitely no CityCat but it did its job and got us to the other side of the river.
After a short (and wet) walk we finally made it to the aquarium which was very impressive! Osaka's aquarium ("churaumi" in Japanese) is huge! Big enough to even house a whale shark!!! Definitely worth getting lost for. The place housed dolphins, seals, hammerhead sharks and even sardines. Just about every sea creature you could think of.
We came out of the aquarium ravenous enough to eat a whale (Funny? No?). Fortunately it seemed luck was in our favour as the aquarium was right next to a food theme park. Yes, that's right. A FOOD THEME PARK! After wandering the isles we finally settled for some fried rice and dumplings (would you believe we haven't seen a single sushi place yet). We were now ready to hit the next destination on our to do list- s***ennoji Temple.
Another train ride, another wander through the rain in the direction we hoped was the temple. It seems we are now very good at getting trains and getting lost in Osaka. Somehow we finally stumbled on the temple. It was very temple-ish! Possibly not so worth getting lost for, but interesting enough.
We are starting to realise the amount of sun shining dramatically affects how we feel about a certain place. It was grey, dark and cloudy so naturally, while loving the holiday, we don't yet love Osaka.
Hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow.
Sayonara!