天気：寒い
We just witnessed a parade of 神輿 (mikoshi - portable shrines) in the main street of Hirakata. In the Kansai region they are called 壇尻 (danjiri) and we think they might have been preparing for a particular festival tomorrow, in which the participants lift the danjiri and bash into other danjiri in combat; maybe I'll be able to see it. Anyway, we're now on the limited express to Kyobashi. I'm with Jessica and Diego. We are going to the Studio Ghibli exhibition at the Suntory Museum next to the Osaka Aquarium. After that, we're going to アメ村 (ame-mura - America Village), and then the Umeda Sky Building; It's going to be great.
3:37pm 御堂筋線
We're almost at Umeda now; we decided to go to the Sky Building first. After seeing the Studio Ghibli exhibition, we ate lunch and then got back on the trains. We changed over to the 御堂筋線 (Midosuji line) at Honmachi and are now just one stop away from 梅田 (Umeda).
7:05pm 御堂筋線We're now on the train to 心斎橋 (Shinsaibashi). Now we're going to America Village and getting some dinner. Umeda Sky Building was amazing. We got there during sunset and were treated to a spectacular scene at the top. We stayed around until dark, and saw the city light up. We met with Ash and Katie, and Amber and Joey when we got there, and then split up again when we left...
7:40pm サイゼリヤ
We found this really great Italian resturant chain called Saizeriya near America Village. We're eating now...
8:16pm サイゼリヤ
Finished eating. Tirimasu for dessert!!! Sooooo good, and it was all so cheap too.
9:06pm 長堀鶴見緑地線
We're now on the train from Shinsaibashi to Kyobashi ~ the nagahoritsurumiryokuchi line (lol, had to put it in cause it's sooo long). After dinner, we walked around America Village a bit. It wasn't as grand as I had expected, but there were a lot of clothes shops. Unfortunately they were closing; this was disappointing. It is a Sunday I guess. Today was a very long day, but it was a lot of fun... The Ghibli exhibition was so cool. We got to walk through a number of rooms with the original layouts from all the movies, shorts, and cartoons Ghibli has produced, in frames covering the walls. At the end there was a gift shop, and I couldn't go past buying the book; a compilation of thousands of the layouts. I also bought some postcards. 
We saw Ash and Katie; they'd came out about 10 minutes after us. We weren't expecting them to be here (they were supposed to be with Amber at Joypolis), and exchanged numbers so we could meet up later. The lines were really long (it took almost an hour to get in, and we waited in the gift shop line for about 15 minutes), but it was well worth it; a once in a life time experience. We had lunch in the nearby plaza; it was almost 2:30 by this time. I had かつ丼 (katsudon - a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet and egg - so yummy), and Jess and Diego had KFC; lolz very Japanese. Anyway, on the stage above the main food court, there was a dance competition (presumably) going on...9:29pm 急行電車
Now we're going back to Hirakata on the Keihan line... As I was saying, a dance competition was going on between groups of kids! They were all really talented and the costumes were so cool. I got a bit on film. After eating, we walked back to the station, and saw Ash and Katie again, walking in the opposite direction (they were going to eat, and then would catch u
p with us later at Umeda). From the aquarium on the Chuo subway line, we went down five stations to 本町 (Honmachi) and then transferred to the Midosuji line and went up two stations to Umeda. Once there, we had a little trouble figuring out how to get to the Sky Building; the station is a huge shopping complex, and it was easy to get turned around. We ended up exiting on the wrong side of the station, and walking through a shopping street for a while. We asked for directions and were turned around back to the station. 
Finally, after more directions, we exited on the correct side and walked out onto the street, before entering an underground walkway under a train yard. With the building clearly in sight we made our way over, and sat near the gardens for a while. It's such a cool looking building; two towers connected at the top, like an upside down "U" with a big hole in the centre. We met with the girls and Joey, and made our way up; there was a lot of crossing over involved... You start at the right tower, go up to the 4th floor (I think), cross over to the left tower and go up to the 31st floor by elevator (which is made of glass so you can view outside), then finally take an escalator that spans to the right tower to the 36th floor (so cool). From there, you pay 700円 entry fee, go up some more escalators and stairs (or elevator if you like) and finally you're at the top. The viewing platform is circular and skirts the circular hole in the centre. At night, black lights are turned on, and the floor glows with multicoloured pebbles. There is also a place on top for lovers to have a padlock engraved with their names locked on a wire fence; very cool. In fact, it was a bit chilly :P. 10:46pm バス
Diego and I are now on the bus back home; we said goodbye to Jess at the station. We might be going to the Danjiri festival tomorrow, but if not, today was awesome, and I can always study tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment