Osaka Weekend

Aaron and I headed to Osaka the weekend of Aug. 23rd to meet up with my Uncle Joe! He was the first family member we have seen in Japan. Osaka, the largest city outside Tokyo/ Yokohama, is home to a very big aquarium (shown on the left), so we met up there to begin our Osaka adventure.

Highlights of the aquarium are the whale shark and the Japanese spider crabs. The spider crabs live in the ocean depths and look sort of like outer space oddities.

There were several different types of animals, everything from a tree sloth to an iguana, to my personal favorite, the sunfish.

Then we hunted around for a good place for dinner, and ended up in a tiny Italian restaurant with Japanese chefs who cooked the food right there at the counter. The last stop for the night was literally called The Beer Restaurant!

On Sunday morning, Aaron and I headed to the Umeda Sky Building, one of the top architectural sites in Osaka and also a controversial building. I guess you either hate it or you love it. We loved it. To the left is the view from the connection between the 2 towers, as we're standing on the ground.

After riding a glass elevator to the 35th floor, you take a 5 story escalator that is a glass tunnel. Pretty cool views!

Here is the view of some of the Osaka skyline. Other interesting sightings included tennis courts on the top of a building and a large swimming pool on a rooftop. You can see all the Osaka pictures by clicking on our Shutterfly link on this blog.