I picked the one direction I had not yet taken from the hostel and began to walk. After the initial restaurants and the odd shop I was left with what seemed like offices and the people on the street disappeared. On the other side of the road there were further office blocks and in geneal there was nothing of interest to see.

I had walked in this direction for about half an hour when I spotted a building I recognised from the brochures and books I had perused. It was called the umeda sky building. I crossed the street and made my way towards it. Because of its size it was actually some ways off and took a further 20 minutes to get to. At the bottom of the building it was busy with people cycling past and many tourists who like me had read of the building. The building contained mainly offices but also a couple of restaurants and a cinema in its 37 floors. The top 3 floors however were reserved for the sky garden. I made my way inside and followed the corridors and escalators taking note of the signs stating "173" as I went. This was to signify that the sky garden was 173 meters up. I passed a receptionist who welcomed me and pointed me in the right direction towards the elevator which was glass and inside displayed the current height of 10 meters This elevator only accessed 2 floors the 3rd and the 35th. I pressed the button and took out my phone to record the trip up. And noted the numbers on the digital display ticking up the current height in meters. The elevator opens up into a rather dull and anti-climatic corridor and I took some time to look out the windows and then followed the path around. Here there was another escalator that rose up the next floor in a glass tube. From here you could see all the way to the ground. The escalator opens up to a reception desk where you have to pay 700 yen to go any further. This is about 5 pounds so I paid and went up.

This floor wascircular and all glass on the outer edge. Little sofas where set next to the windows all around and you could sit and relax looking out over the city as many people were doing. There was also a café that looked out to the city. The inner edge of the circular floor consisted of floor to ceiling pictures detailing and giving history of the sky garden. Referring to the hanging gardens of Babylon and the pyramids and all manner of historical buildings that over looked cities across the globe. The last 8 or so of these of which there were many were reserved for fantasy. They detailed the future of the sky garden involving space stations and gardens on the moon as well as gardens that will float forever in space that tourists could visit. It seemed out of place amongst the history displayed on the walls.

There was one more staircase to go which would put me on the roof. Signs all around warned me to put away anything that could blow off and I packed my hat and coat away. I went up to the roof and was greeted by two security guys. There were 4 up here keeping an eye on every one. The roof was donut shaped and the inner wall was a 6 foot reinforced glass wall that let you lookdown to the street below. The outer edge was waist high but was still about 15 foot from the edge of the building. From up here you could see all off Osaka. I could see the coast and the river leading out to it as well as several bridges crossing it. I could recognise some of the sites id seen already such as the Ferris wheel on top of the hep 5 building. The view was fantastic and I took quite a few photos discovering the panoramic setting on my camera as I did. I sat up there a while looking at the view. And wandering what it would look like at night. This is something I will have to do again after dark when the city is lit up. One other thing about the roof was a seat sectioned off from the rest of the roof. You would need to walk down to it. It was red and the area around it was painted up unlike the rest of the roof. This section was surrounded by a fence that was crisscrossed with steel wire. And hanging on these wires were heart shaped padlocks. The umeda building sold heart shaped padlocks on which you had you and your partners name inscribed. You then picked a spot of fence and had the padlock attached there forever. They also took a photo of you sitting on the bench together with the padlocks and Osaka in the background. I thought it was a nice idea, ill bring cat here when she visits.