Japan Day 10: Having A High Old Time

Roger doesn't like heights. He much prefers to stay on solid ground and avoids floor to ceiling windows above 15 stories, and that's pushing it.

Me on the other hand? I dont mind a wee bit of head spinning vertigo, particularly if it's behind solid glass. Or perspex, in the case of ferris wheels and the like. 

I headed off to go do some high things before Roger arrives in a day or two. First up was the Don Quijote ferris wheel, just a few hundred metres from my front door.  

Don Quijote is a large Japanese dollar store, the one at Dotonbori being not only exceptionally large but also having a ferris wheel built in, and of a unique design too.  After a spot of futile beanie-searching in Don Quijote I paid my dues and lined up for my ferris wheel experience.

It was fun.

Here comes my ride.

Then came the Umeda Sky Tower which promised all kinds of thrills including an elevated escalator in a glass (perspex?) tunnel and a rooftop walk. 

Theres my building.

Lots of other tourists had the same idea as me, so there was lots of queueing and the experience of being neatly packed into the lift by a young lady obviously very experienced in tourist tetris.

"Beware of falling suitcases!"

Tunnel in the sky.

Views and a very trippy mirrored ceiling.

Courtesy of some very helpful fellow tourists.

 

From the roof top, observation deck below, and below that the two escalators.

Of course I had to have high altitude snacks while I was there.

The final tourist experience of my day was a visit to Osaka Castle, occupying what was once a very defensible position and was now a hillock in suburban Osaka. 

The inside of the castle was a museum so as I plodded up the eight flights of steps I was educated on the history of the castle and life in Japan in the days of feudal warlords when the samurai were an elite fighting force.

The view from the top was fantastic. I spent ages working my way around the building and watching the ebb and flow of the crowds in the grounds below.

Just a hint of blossoms coming into bloom.

I came back down to earth at 5pm when the castle closed and all us tourists were kicked out of the castle to wander through the grounds on our way home. Wander I did, taking in views of the moat and marvelling at the massive stones used to construct the foundations of the castle.

I like the shadow patterns.

Big rock. The biggest rock in the castle's foundation.

Big gates.

Big walls.

There were turtles in the moat. Believe it or not, there is a turtle in this picture.

I had a lovely day, even if it was still bitterly cold and I didn't have a beanie.  On the way home I popped into a little dumpling shop and had a most satisfactory dumpling dinner with bonus garlic shrimp that I ordered quite by mistake.  

Even better, I didn't drop a thing and now consider myself promoted from Ls to Ps in chopstick management.