First up we went straight to the river and hopped on board a river cruise! Boy, were we in for a treat when they told us that a Japanese TV show was being filmed on that exact lunch time cruise!They asked if we were okay with it…well of course we were! It was hilarious! These guys were dressed in full black suits with crazy hairstyles and were acting like such silly billy’s! Of course everything was in Japanese, and we sat there with these goofy grins on our faces the entire time. Every now and then they threw out these English words at us. The camera man eventually came and sat with his camera pointed directly at us, the only foreigners on the boat. Who knows if we will make it onto the show or not but it was definitely a crazy experience!
As we were walking away laughing about it, another group of guys came and asked if they could interview us on our experience of Japan! How random? Hopefully we will get to see some of this! We mozzied on over to Umeda and wandered around on the way towards Umeda Sky Building to try catch the sunset, however as we got there the sky turned ominous grey and soon started shooting down some big drops of rain. Our plans of hopping on the Ferris Wheel on top of the HEP 5 shopping mall nearby where also crushed because of the bad weather. We made our way back to our AirBNB for a bit of a rest before hitting Dotonbori again to try ALL THE FOOD! I wish we had taken a video of us tasting everything like our friends Megan and Scott over at BoboandChichi, but I was TOO BUSY ENJOYING IT ALL and Mark found himself some other forms of entertainment…FISHING in a games arcade!!
Back in Umeda we went on the hunt for some okonomiyaki, a type of savoury pancake made on the grill with whatever you like in it, plus some octopus shavings on top. Flipping delicious. We finally got up to Umeda Sky Garden (and were a little disappointed to find no actual garden). The sunset over the river and the views of the city were great!
We really loved Dotonbori, mainly for the food and lights and bustling-ness of the city! Umeda, however, made me feel a little nauseous as we kept getting lost inside Umeda station!! I don’t know how, but the two or three times we found ourselves there we just couldn’t seem to get out. It really didnt help that our google maps went crazy because of all the railway lines connecting there! Have you been to Osaka? What was your impression of Umeda Station? Are we the only ones to have felt this way??
I can't believe you got interviewed AFTER you got to be on a game show! That's so awesome! You will have to share the tv show if you ever find it! That Asahi Brewery tour was so fun! We also went to the Umeda Sky Building afterwards and ended up with a hangover headache at the top! Haha! Loving your travel stories and looking forward to hearing more!
We're heading back to Osaka this winter. I missed the Ferris Wheel in my research so thank you for the tip! Our son will be thrilled 🙂
great! There are actually two Ferris Wheels – one at the HEP 5 shopping mall, and another nearby still in umeda! If you are using the OSAKA AMAZING PASS, the ferris wheel is free (along with many other attractions!)
I know it was really crazy! They said the TV show would be out in October so im going to have to start doing some research now! The other guys for the interview took our email addresses and said they would contact us…so here's hoping haha! Asahi was the best!! thanks to you guys for the heads up! at umeda we had more beer and ice cream ahha! what a combo!
What a unique experience you had visiting Osaka! Its the little big things like getting interviewed randomly and some kind person helping you out that makes traveling so great. We plan on moving to Osaka/Kyoto next year so it's great to read about your experience. Thanks for sharing!
Seems like you and Mark had a lovely trip to Osaka. I love that you guys had that experience with the Japanese show! I'm sure you'll remember that forever! Can't wait to check out Osaka for myself!
You had me at Brewery, lol. I'm the queen of brewery visits and knowing that there's an Asahi one in Osaka, I must visit right this moment. The question is how much beer did you guzzle in 20 minutes? lol
I bet those 2 random tv interviews were the highlight of yoir vacay. That gave you something to talk remember about Osaka.
hahah!! They told us the limit was 3…but there are 4 on tap! So we had one of each and a few shots of their whiskey highball mix drink!
Wow! This seemed like a great trip, and I'm impressed by your persistence to get into the Asahi brewery….great job!
Osaka is great for a jam-packed day! I really enjoyed it as my first trip out of Korea in my first contract, but probably won't go again. Good on you for getting your tour!! Did you make it to Kyoto or Nara?
Yeah we spent the day in Nara (http://www.chasingkm.com/2016/09/nara.html) and 4 days in Kyoto- blog post coming soon!