It has been 8 weeks since I last updated my blog on our Japan trip. My apologies for the long break and it sure feels great to be back blogging about it. :-)
Today, we set off for a day in Osaka!
First stop of the day is Kaiyukan Aquarium and as usual, we made our way there by train. We loved the experience of travelling amongst the locals there as there is just so much to see… boy scouts, newspaper vending machines and of course…
the experience of buying train tickets! Even Julian loved it!
Osakako station… here we come!
While we were walking to Kaiyukan Aquarium, we saw grapevines growing outside the walls of a building sealed off for reconstruction. The sight of numerous bunches of grapes hanging on the grapevines really amazed us especially Julian since it was the first time he saw grapevines! They looked so different from the ones we saw in France and Australia as these were much bigger, probably because they were not pruned. It was really tempting to try the big juicy grapes but to be safe, we didn’t try them. 
We decided to make a short detour to Suntory Museum first for a view of Osaka Bay since it was just beside Kaiyukan Aquarium. But we ended up spending more time at the museum shops selling interesting toys, books and crafts.
A view of Tempozan Market Place and Tempozan Ferris Wheel while walking to Kaiyukan Aquarium.
We finally arrived at Kaiyukan Aquarium!
This was a great place outside the aquarium to cool down… a powerful spray of cool water mist! But after awhile, Joan and Julian walked off with very wet hair. Yes, it was that powerful!
So many fishes!
Feeding time for the Sea Otters!
A Harbour Seal (AKA Common Seal) sunbathing and a curious Brazilian Giant Tortoise.
A Green Iguana…
and baby penguins in their incubators… and the rest of their family… the King Penguins.
Pacific White-sided Dolphins swimming…
and the star of Kaiyukan Aquarium, the Whale Shark in the 620 sqm tank holding 5400 tons of water!
One of the Whale Shark’s companion, a huge Manta Ray… the largest of all rays. Look at its size… it really made Julian look so small!
Here we have the Ocean Sunfish and a starfish…
Schools of sardines and mackerels…
and Japanese Spider Crabs.
During the aquarium tour, we bought a toy that Julian was eagerly waiting for since he arrived in Japan… toys that came in capsules sold in vending machines! I remembered Julian wanted to buy one at Watsons Toa Payoh on the day we departed Singapore for our Japan trip but I told him “Ju… we buy one when we go to Japan ok?” and Julian stopped insisting on getting one but nodded his head instead. So you can imagine how trilled Julian was when we gave him 2 100JPY coins to buy a toy capsule. It didn’t matter what toy was inside… Julian just loved slotting the coins into the coin slot and turning the release dial to get the toy capsule out.
Once we finished our aquarium tour, Julian managed to remove the wrapper of his toy capsule. When we opened it, we were trilled to get a miniature model of the Whale Shark! Wow! We got a model of the aquarium’s star attraction! I think I was more trilled than Julian was… haha.
Toilet break… another high-tech toilet feature… a basin that has sensors to automatically dispense soap, water and then blow dry your hands (on the hidden side of the basin)!
Lunch time! We were attracted to this restaurant by Joan’s favourite cartoon character… Doraemon! Even Julian loved it and kept saying “Xiao Ding Dang”!
We ordered Katsudon, Mushroom Porridge and an Udon Soup kids meal! The food was great! Look at how much Julian enjoyed his meal!
Julian pretending to eat the huge ice cream displayed outside the restaurant… I think he still had space in his little tummy.
After lunch, we headed for a ride on the Tempozan Ferris Wheel. Julian was just so excited to ride on it! The view of Osaka Bay at 112.5m was just breathtaking!
Julian was so tired that he dozed off soon after the ferris wheel ride. So we took that opportunity to relax… spending time eating ice-cream and window shopping in Tempozan Market.
Once Julian was awake, we headed for Tempozan Park where Julian got to touch and feel a variety of flowers, although there weren’t many.
But the main reason for coming to Tempozan Park was to climb Mt. Tempozan. Yeah! Since it was the first time the whole family was going to climb a mountain together, we figured that this mountain would be a great start to our mountain climbing experience. Why? That’s because Mt. Tempozan is the lowest mountain in Japan… standing at an amazing height of 4.53m above sea level! Yes, Four metres and Fifty-Three centimetres above sea level just in case you thought I made a typo error.
Here, you can see Julian climbing up the mountain on his own, hydrating himself at the peak of the mountain and finally climbing down the mountain. For the record, Julian conquered a mountain at the age of 2 Years and 2 Weeks old! Great job Julian! Too bad we forgot to plant a Singapore flag at the peak… haha!
A last view of Tempozan Ferris Wheel before leaving Osaka Bay area.
While walking to the train station, we came across this eye-catching structure. It is not a building under construction with scaffoldings around it but actually a multi-storey car park with an elevator to transport vehicles up and down the car park! It really felt kind of strange to see such a crude-looking car park in Japan, a country famous for high-tech facilities!
Next, we headed for Kids Plaza Osaka, the place which we came on Day 1 but was closed. This time, it was open and we all had a great time exploring it. Kids Plaza Osaka is a fun museum for kids that aims to bring kids fresh discovery and surprises from everyday things through playing and enjoying themselves.
It has 3 main floors starting with The Let’s Try Floor of the 5th floor that gives kids various experiences through exhibitions and workshops that teach through playing. This level resembled a mini science centre where we had fun exploring the world of physics through play!
The Let’s Play Floor of the 4th floor is where kids can enjoy the ladders and steep slides of Henteko-na-machi (strange town), the symbol of this plaza designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Julian was so brave to walk through the suspended bridge on his own! Joan and Julian also had fun trying on costumes of different countries but it was the various types of percussion instruments that kept Julian really busy!
On the Let’s Make Floor of the 3rd floor, kids can experience the joy of making things with computers or their own hands and feet. There were many rooms with different settings and one of the most popular ones was a supermarket setting with everything kids size ranging from small shopping carts, shopping items and cashier counters! Julian was so happy shopping for eggs and milk and playing at the cashier counter! He was so engrossed playing pretend-roles in all the other rooms that we ended up as the last visitors to leave the museum!
After we left Kids Plaza Osaka, we headed towards Okawa River to watch the Tenjin Matsuri Festival Dedication Fireworks Display. Tenjin Matsuri is the biggest festival in Osaka with history dating back over a thousand years. It is also the world’s greatest boat festival, which started on the morning of 24th July and climaxes on the evening of 25th July with a display of 4000 fireworks!
Many people who were heading towards Okawa River walked through Tenjimbashi-Suji shopping street. The street that looked so empty on Monday evening was now packed with people! All shops were open this time with many of them selling takeaway food… mouth-watering food!
These Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) looked really tempting although we have never tried them before. So we bought a box of 8 and it were fantastic! We loved it so much that we went hunting for Takoyaki when we returned to Singapore but we still haven’t found one that tasted just as good.
We got a glimpse of Tenman Shrine, where the festival is held and where Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903) is deified as Tenman Tenjin, the patron god of learning and art.
And finally, the highlight of the evening… the Tenjin Matsuri Festival Dedication Fireworks Display with about 1 million spectators lining the streets closed for the festival. The thought of sqeezing among 1 million people seems crazy but hey… how often can you do that as tourists?
After the fireworks display, we headed back to Tenjimbashi-Suji shopping street to hunt for dinner. Joan was so happy to see her all-time favourite food, KFC! We even posed with Colonel Sanders but too bad, it was full-house inside. With 1 million people in town, we wondered which eatery would have seats.
So eventually, we ended up with takeaway dinner from McDonald’s near the train station, where even the Mconald’s crew were dressed for the festival. With recommendations from Julian’s Godpa, we tried the Shrimp Burger and it was delicious! Wished they have it in Singapore.
So this wrapped up a wonderful end to our day in Japan. Tomorrow, we will head back to Tokyo!
finally day 5 is out! I hope U had more Takoyaki during your stay in Japan.
In fact U can get Takoyaki pan and try to make it at home on the fire stove.
is that the 1st kids meal Julian had?
Yes! Day 5 is finally out and I’m working on Day 6 now.
And yes, it wasn’t our last Takoyaki in Japan… haha. U make your own Takoyaki at home?
The kids meal Julian had was the 1st kids meal we ordered in Japan. It was the 1st restaurant we visited in Japan that has kids meal!