August 1st, 2010: For the first day of a new month, some of us took a trip to the Umeda Sky Building and some other places near the train station. It was a trip we had been planning on taking for a while, and we finally had a free weekend to visit.
Getting to the Sky Building was easier than we thought. We took the train to the station between Juso and Umeda, and we could see the Sky Building as we got off the train. From the station, we just walked towards the Sky Building until we got to it (which took about 15 minutes or less). At the base of the building there was a large event going on; tents and chairs were set-up, along with a small stage and some penguins (for real). There was a small pool with a penguin swimming around in it and another penguin standing on a small table surrounded by blocks of ice. The penguin on the table wasn't very happy to be there, judging by how it pecked anyone who pet it (its beak was taped so that it wouldn't bite anyone). We pet the penguin and continued on,wondering what the heck this event was. We soon learned that it was some sort of Michael Jackson event, which didn't help us understand why there were penguins, but they seemed to fit in for some reason.
To get to the top two floors and roof observation deck, we had to take escalators up to the 3rd floor, an elevator up to the 36th floor, and then a big escalator to the 39th floor. Access to the top floors costs ¥700 but it's totally worth it. The 39th and 40th floors have out-facing windows with a great view, and there's an even better view from the observation deck. There are pictures on the inner walls of other "sky" buildings, such as the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings in New York (classified as "Sky Musical"). On the roof there are signs for the cardinal directions and large fences for preventing falling customers. One segment of the roof is the Lumi Deck, were lovers can sit at night and be illuminated by the city lights. The surrounding fence is covered in heart locks that represent the promise of a loving couple. I'll definitely be going back someday, but not by myself. When we were done at the Sky Building, we took an underground path that led back to the Umeda train station. We passed the first First Kitchen we ate at and the Yodobashi department store on our way towards the station, which let us know that we weren't lost.
Our next two stops of the day were the Pokémon Center - Osaka in the Umeda Center Building plaza and the HEP Five department store. Of course, I was super excited to be going to a Pokémon store in Japan and we finally made it! Unfortunately, one of the stickers on the window said no cameras so I wasn't able to take any pictures of the cool stuff inside. Out front there was the "Pokéwalker Corner", where you connect your Pokéwalker with a staff member, scratch a scratch ticket, and get a small item for free. I got a small plastic folder with the Generation II Pokémon on it. There was also an automatic gifting machine inside that sent an item to your Pokéwalker when you connected with it. I'm not sure what the criteria for obtaining items is, but I got TM 34 (Shockwave). We looked around for a bit at all the cool stuff they had; there were t-shirts, plushies, cookware, game-related items, toys, and lots of other Pokémon goods. When we were finishing up looking at stuff, a timid Japanese teen who came up to me and connected her two Pokéwalkers with mine, and her Nidoking and Nidoqueen met up and play-battled with my Furret. I will definitely be returning to the store to purchase souvenirs for people (and myself) at some point before October.
Our last stop of the day was the HEP Five department store that we kept seeing and hearing about. It's hard to miss, what with having a large red ferris wheel on top. The building itself has 9 floors, with the first 6 being mostly clothing stores (and as a result, being filled with lots of young women). The 7th floor has some food stores and access to the ferris wheel, and the 8th and 9th floors are devoted to Joypolis, a SEGA-owned arcade and amusement area. Of course, we headed straight to the top to see the arcade which didn't disappoint. Not surprisingly, the likenesses of Sonic and his friends are posted everywhere, from change machines to height-requirement signs. 
There are several "rides" inside the amusement area which we didn't explore (they were ¥600 each for admission) but one was a hanging cab that moved into a room with a large movie screen to simulate an adventurous flight similar to those virtual roller coaster machines. Another ride involved riding in a car and shooting things around you, but I don't know if it was simulated via screens or was an actual ride like those in Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida. I got to play two games in the arcade: the arcade version of Rhythm Heaven and Mario Kart Arcade GP. Each game was ¥100 which isn't too bad; Rhythm Heaven allowed three games to be played and Mario Kart allowed one race. 
After I played Mario Kart, we went down to the 7th floor and bought tickets for the ferris wheel. It costs ¥500 per person and each ride is about 15 minutes each. When we were there the ride was pretty empty, as were the lines to get to the ferris wheel. We were able to purchase tickets and instantly hop in a car. One of the cool things about the ferris wheel cars is that there is an iPod dock behind the seats on one side. Luckily, I had my iPod Touch on me and was able to put on some Sonic music from the Genesis era. There were also stickers on the windows on four sides to tell what sights could be seen from the ride. From where I was seated, I could see the Sky Building and the Namco arcade that we saw a few weeks ago but didn't end up visiting. We had actually planned to visit the Namco arcade while we were in the area, but after the ferris wheel ride everyone was ready to head back home. And once the ferris wheel ride was over, we did just that. Overall, the trip was a success and we learned that there are some cool places worth revisiting that are not too far from where we live.(Check out all the photos from our trip to Umeda here!)
(Next time: Fireworks and a trip to the historic city of Nara! Coming soon!)
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