I had planned to wake up and set straight off for Himeji. However, when I woke up and finally got out of bed (around 7 or so), I thought that the train station would be packed with a craziness that I did not want to navigate right off. So, I looked through the Osaka City Guide I had picked up from the Tourist Information Center and saw that the Umeda Sky Building was a short walk away. I decided that such a modern edifice would make a good start to my stay in Japan.
To start off my morning, I headed to a nearby mini-mart place. They were ubiquitous, and would serve me well during my journeys. However, entering one for the first time felt like crossing a threshold ... I felt like such an adventurer, walking through the ailes of goods of a brightly lit (but foreign!) convenience store. Pocky on the left, dried seaweed on my right, with American staples like Kit-kats and Ritz crackers in between. I purchased some large, lemony pastry (which I never did learn the name of), and what I thought was water. It would take me three tries throughout the day before I actually succeeded in purchasing good, old fashioned H2O. The other two beverages tasted vaguely like Squirt.
To reach Umeda, I went through an underground walkway. That was actually pretty fun. It was still mostly empty by the time I got through there. Coming back, it was full of people. And, despite the crowds, people riding bikes. After leaving the tunnel, I soon came across the plaza that contained the tower. The Umeda Sky Tower is quite tall. The pictures to the right are taken from the bottom of a small park nearby. I was amazed that, in the middle of this urban sprawl and right next to such a futuristic building, they had made space for a small reminder of nature. I also liked it because it had a bridge to enter it from one side. I like foot bridges without railings. There were few others in the park that early, so I had it to myself. The park had strange carvings everywhere that struck me as almost Christ-like.
On the otherside of the building was a garden. The flowers were being planted, so nothing was growing yet. The coolest thing about this place was the host of odd statues placed randomly around the garden.
Extra Stuff
A view looking up between the twin towers of the Umeda Sky Building.
A giant screen above a subway entrance showing a dancing... thing. I saw a group of men standing around, staring lazily it at while they waited to go into work.
The pigeon that begged food off of me while I ate my breakfast in the shadow of the Umeda Sky Building. Notice how it is missing a toe. Hard life for Japanese pigeons...