We are nearing the end of the two weeks vacation in Japan. On the twelfth day, we visited the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館). It is one of the largest public aquariums in the world and is located in the ward of Minato in Osaka, Japan, near Osaka Bay.
Entrance to the KaiyukunRachel and I, in front of the KaiyukanThere’s a ferris wheel besides the KaiyukanOur ticketsRachel and IJapanese dude observing the fishPenguin decors
Rachel and I enjoyed ourselves at the aquarium very much. We saw live whale sharks, sun fish, and other exotic marine creatures for the first time in our lives.
Mark was quite a nuisance at the aquarium, constantly pestering everyone to hurry up and leave the place as he was getting very hungy (all of us had buns for breakfast, provided by our hotel except Mark who claims buns are not for human consumption). It doesn’t help that he cannot appreciate the beauty of the marine lifeforms and regarded all of them as “live seafood”, tempting him to eat them all up.
Indoor gardenThere’s even trees insideMark is only 1.68m tall, but he is a giant among the JapaneseFeeding time for the ottersThe otters pestering their keeper for foodSome common freshwater fish in JapanHow these fish looks like on the surfaceSmall freshwater fish from the surfaceCoral reef fishRich assortment of coloursMore coral reef fishCheck out the beautiful reflection on the water surfaceThe fish feeds on cabbage!Rich colours and layeringObserving the coral fish from the water surfaceA school of orange fishA school of sardineShiny, shimmering sardineRachel and I with the sardineSea octopus crawling aroundAnother look at the octopusFreshwater Amazon fishGiant Amazon fishMore giant Amazon fishClose-up shot of one of the giant Amazon fishWhite arowana fishA lady observing the fishFat Amazon fishTop view of the same fishScary-looking reptile-like fishThe full body of this strange sea creatureBlack duckBrown duckThe duck looks graceful on the surface, but have to paddle fiercely underwaterElegant white craneGiant tortoisesSunbasking sealSea otter washing it’s faceScratching it’s bellyRachel and Meiyen with the otters in the backgroundCleaning itselfSea lion flipping around the water surfacePeeking out of the waterSwimming sea lionThe penguin enclosureMore penguinsTwo medium-sized fishFierce-looking fishMark says these are all delicious, edible fishGiant “luohan” fishMore fish swimming aroundMark went crazy when he saw this “delicious” grouperThese fish were all “swimming seafood” to MarkA really fat fishSea turtleStingray gliding around with other fishHammer head stingraysGliding at the bottomStingray swimming around with the other fishUnderbelly of the hammer head stingrayFreaky face of the stingrayWider view of the underbelly of the stingrayDiver with food to feed the fishFeeding all the fishFeeding time for the stingraysSome of the stingrays prefer to eat on the seabedFinishing up the last bits of foodMajestic giant stingrayA very peculiar looking giant fish called Sun FishLook at the silly lipsFrom another angleRachel and I with the strange looking tail-less sun fishThe sun fish has a very silly-looking faceRachel alone with a sun fishBehold the whale shark!School kids gawking at the whale sharkThe full length of the magnificent whale sharkThe underbelly of the whale shark looks like a Chinese korou paoThere are two whale sharks in the giant tankThis fish likes to swim beneath the whale sharkLots of other giant fish in the whale shark tankFrontal view of the whale sharkA dolphinRachel is happy at the aquariumA giant catfishThe delicious Hokkaido King Crab, liveClose-up of the crabElectric blue fishClown fishSea cucumberBeautiful sea creatureTiny button mushroom-shaped jellyfishLong flowing jellyfishJellyfish that looks like scallopsThis jellyfish looks like firework sparksReally small flower pedal-shaped jellyfishClose-up of a jellyfish with strange pink tentaclesTop view of the same jellyfishGlowing yellow jellyfishFloating aboutA very beautiful jellyfishView of the same jellyfish from atopElegant white dancing jellyfishStringy jellyfishAnother white jellyfish, propelling itself forwardElectric bolt-like jellyfishTranslucent ghostly looking jellyfishLightbulbs jellyfishGlowing orange jellyfishAssorted mini jellyfishCotton-like jellyfishThis is not a pistachio nut – it’s a strange-looking sea creatureRachel collecting the Kaiyukan chop in her notebookWe went shopping at the Kaiyukan gift shop – Rachel bought a spoon and a handphone strapRachel likes otters very muchSea otter handphone strapStreet performer outside the Kaiyukan
We had a quick lunch at a Japanese fast food outlet called First Kitchen, located in a shopping mall food court near the aquarium. It was surprisingly good! There were a large variety of sauces for the french fries and the burgers were a nice fusion of Japanese and western flavours.
We bought our lunch from this fast food stallOur lunch from First KitchenMy delicious bacon egg burgerRachel’s burger
Thereafter, we headed to Hei Men Fish Market as Mark had a severe craving for fresh seafood after the aquarium visit. The fish market seems to specialise in selling fugu (puffer fish), with a fugu specialty store located practically every alternate store. We spotted a fish store specialising in whale meat. This upset Rachel and I who do not support whale fishing.
Fish market entranceLots of people at the fish marketRachel at the fish marketVegetable and fruits stallObasan selling fried seafoodWe bought squid and sweet potatoA pharmacy where Rachel bought some ulcer medicineJapanese beancurdAtrocious whale meat specialty store!We bought a cup of concentrated liquid beancurd to share – it was very thick and filling and we were glad we didn’t order a cup eachThis is what a wasabi plant looks likeFreshly slaughtered fuguYou need to be highly trained to prepare fugu meat, removing the poisonLive as well as sliced up fuguFugu are priced differently according to grade and sizeFish tails for feeding cats
After leaving the fish market, we made a short stop at the “Akihabara of Osaka”, Nipponbashi (日本橋). Like Akihabara, this shopping district is packed with electronic gadgets and toys. There were lots of porn shops as well. It is here that we chanced upon the most vile porn video store ever – a shop specialising in all kind of sick fetish videos ranging from hidden cameras to torture to woman urining or defecating…
Anyway, we did not stay long here as all of us were very irritated with Mark who is constantly hunting for Transformers toys everywhere he goes. If we were to linger there longer, we jolly well might get stuck there for the whole day waiting for him.
An entire Taito arcade buildingSuper sick porn video shop – it’s called “SLUM”Cute little green van
We headed to the shopping belt of Dōtonbori (道頓堀) in the evening where we spent the rest of the day shopping. Rachel and I bought quite a bit of clothing from a large Uniqlo store.
Dōtonbori is a single street, running alongside the Dōtonbori canal between the Dōtonboribashi Bridge and the Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba ward of Osaka. A former pleasure district, Dōtonbori is famous for its historic theaters (all now gone), its shops and restaurants, and its many neon and mechanized signs, including snack/candy manufacturer Glico‘s giant electronic display of a runner crossing the finish line.
As per our previous nights, we did a quick supermarket sweep and bought some discounted food back to our hotel to eat. That concluded our twelfth day in Japan – a really jam-packed schedule. 🙂
Dotonburi entranceRachel and I in DotonburiStreet viewAgnes b. – one of Rachel’s favourite brandLots of giant billboards everywherePart of the famous Dontoburi canalA shopping mall besides the canalAsahi neon signboardNeon signboards everywhereThe famous Glico’s running man billboardRunning man signboardRachel and I copying the running man’s poseGiant octopus signboardKabuki theatre buildingKabuki postersA Sanrio specialty shopBusy streetI suppose this restaurant specialises in fugu dishesRachel’s favourite place – cosmetic storeAs usual, Mark headed straight to Mandarake to hunt for Transformers toyMandarake – Mark’s favourite shop in JapanRows and rows of comics in MandarakeI like this manga titleRachel and I went to check out cult brands and vintage storesI like these, but they were too expensive at around S$400 for a pair of jeansMascot of another Japanese snack brandWe had dinner at this giant food courtThe entranceMe posing with the cute obasan who guided us inThe obasan posing aloneThis fat moustache guy is all over the placeHe’s all over the walls tooCashcards are used to make purchases in the food courtThe cashcards issued to usGold moustache man statueInside the foodcourt which is decorated like olden JapanRachel was delighted to spot an old Shiseido posterRetro tin robotCaricature/potrait artist’s worksFortune-telling postersFake retro photo studioPainted fake old buildingsRed lanternsThe icon of the Osaka World ExpoAn interesting carColourful flagsFooling around with some Japanese traditional toysRetro Japanese kids’ playing cardsRetro gamesVarious food stallsAnother food stallNoodle stallA ladies’ clubGyoza specialty stallFake retro Japanese provision shopsA liquor barWe chose to eat at this stallPreparing our foodThe lady who prepared our okonomiyakiOur dinner is almost readyDinner is served!At the cashier where we paid for everythingWe had yakitori for supperThe ad said there were 8 sticks – they cheated by counting the stick of lemon too!Fierce-looking takoyaki chefsYucky takoyaki balls with no sauceRachel bought a Japanese red bean paste pancake to eatRachel with her fish-shaped pancakeRoadside stall selling pork innardsMark tried a plate of itFood we bought back to eat in our hotelRachel’s shopping haul at UniqloMy Uniqlo haul
Links to my previous blog entries on my Japan trip:
Enjoyed the info and pictures.
I am in Texas and have never been to Japan, but like the culture.
Thanks for the blogs.
You list Marks height as 1.68 meters and say he is a giant among the Japanese. I lived in Japan for eight years and saw many people taller than this. Wikipedia lists the average height of the Japanese male as 1.7 meters and three of my Japanese wife's brothers are taller than me, I stand a towering 172.72 meters. Mark is actually just a smidgen short of average. :-)
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Enjoyed the info and pictures.
I am in Texas and have never been to Japan, but like the culture.
Thanks for the blogs.
You list Marks height as 1.68 meters and say he is a giant among the Japanese. I lived in Japan for eight years and saw many people taller than this. Wikipedia lists the average height of the Japanese male as 1.7 meters and three of my Japanese wife's brothers are taller than me, I stand a towering 172.72 meters. Mark is actually just a smidgen short of average. :-)