Japan Trip 2013 - Floating Garden, Umeda Sky Building
Apologies for the really long hiatus. The workload for my course had been really heavy over the past 1-2 months. Alright, so from Osaka Castle we then moved back to the main city centre to head towards another modern landmark in Umeda, which was none other than the Umeda Sky Building. The main attraction here would be the Floating Garden Observatory on the highest floor of the building.
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| Pretty staircase shaped fountain |
At the Higashi-Umeda station, we had to take an underpass which was about few hundred metres long to get to the building. To find this underpass can be quite confusing hence having Google maps to navigate around is always helpful (if you can't converse in Japanese).
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| Underpass to the Sky Building |
Upon coming out from the tunnel, the modern and sophisticated design of the Sky Building really blew me away and I could only stare in amazement. This was probably the most 'wow' looking building in all of the places that I've been to in Japan so far.
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| View below the Sky Building. The hanging structures are actually the escalators! |
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| German Beer Festival |
Without further ado we then made our way up to the sky garden. Firstly we had to take an elevator, and then a cool looking escalator to the reception counter. Thanks to the Osaka 2-day pass, entrance was free for this attraction as well!
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| Dedicated seats for couple to enjoy the sights |
First impression of this place is already very good. Actually it's much better than the Tokyo Sky Tree. The area here is much bigger, and they have a properly cafe with a decent menu!
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| A much bigger and complete menu |
Up here on the observation deck we can get a bird's eye view of the whole city itself, without being constrained by thick glass panels. Most of the area here is open hence you can get a really clear view. It was quite windy on the day I went, with a mixture of the summer heat as well. During autumn the breeze may be the best for enjoyment I guess.
Seems like it's a norm to have love locks in all these tourist attractions. It's the 3rd place that I've bumped into this. Just that the locks here have to be purchased from the main reception I presume, considering they all look the same and not random locks.
There's even a random wedding photoshoot happening during my visit and I decided to take a random shot. Finally some street photography moment!
It was about 3.30pm and we haven't had any lunch yet. We then headed to the basement food court which is also known as the Takimi-koji restaurant mall. It is built based on the replica of the Japanese street during the early Showa period and it is quite fascinating. Unfortunately most shops were closed already since it is way past a normal lunch hour so we just randomly entered a shop and have a quick bento meal before heading back.
On its own the Umeda Sky Building is not a tourist attraction, since the whole building is dedicated to office lots. But if you are in Osaka and in the vicinity, I strongly recommend that you visit this place, and perhaps give Tokyo Sky Tree a skip.
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