Osaka

We went to Osaka for two days which I think was enough time. We decided to get the Osaka Amazing pass which includes entrance to a bunch of attractions and also unlimited metro rides. We had mapped out the previous day what we wanted to hit and made a whole itinerary with times and everything because we had to make sure we got through what we wanted to. 

Our first stop was the museum of natural history and bottanical gardens. Mat likes to go to science museums and this was the closest thing that was included in the pass. It was a hike to get there and was really underwhelming. No story was really told and it was just a bunch of items with some labels. There were a lot of animal bones though. The gardens had these random beans all throughout one section and we later realized its for the exhibition at night which involves lights. Alas we were there in the morning.

Next up was the Osaka zoo which had a surprising variety of animals. The notables included these penguin

and a KIWI!!??!

And these bats look so strange my goodness.

I didn't really know how to feel about the zoo, seeing all these animals were cool, but also the amount of space they had was surely not sufficient in any way. 

Next up was this tower, and it was cool until it really wasn't. This tower is like sponsored by some company with this annoying theme song and mascot and you weren't aware of it until you were past the tickets and on your way up. Then you are really blasted with it on the way down. We had to wait for the elevator while this shrill voice was screaming annoying advertisements into our ears. Would definitely skip this if we did it again.

Then off to Osaka Castle which turned out to just be a modern museum in the old building. The entire inside is super new wood and stone and the exhibits were pretty cool, lots of art and models of the city and the story of the different periods Osaka went through. But we were getting hangry and were not expecting a museum. Our fault on both of those.

Stopped for udon.

The river in the super commercial district. This place was packed along the side streets and we were not feeling the crowds. Cannot imagine this place in nice weather.

We ended the mad sprint at this rooftop which we had to get up before 4:30 because after that our pass no longer granted free entry. It's a popular sunset spot which is why they don't let you up for free, but jokes on them because we can chill for 2 hours.

The building is a super strange shape, not what I was expecting when I heard tower. It's a square building mostly, well two square buildings, and then a weird circle connecting them. It's a business office that happens to have a rooftop thingy on in as opposed to a tower like the Space Needle.

The views were nice and we could see where we had been throughout the day.

Our first match ice cream, it was SO good. I wasn't expecting to like it that much, but the sweetness of it was phenomenal and it was so creamy! Highly recommend.

The sunset is the money shot. All the lights become visible and the sky was that amazing color.

The street at night.

Got more noodle soups before we left the country for Vietnam!