Osaka in 2 Days: It Totally Blew My Mind!
[Music] Good morning. It’s quite early. It’s 8:00 a.m. and I got my luggage packed and I’m still in my hotel in Kyoto on the way to the station about to make trucks to Oaka. [Music] We just made it to Oakaka trying to get off the train in a very very busy station. Now, as we find our way out, one of the very first things we need to do is find a bag deposit because our hotel check-in is at 4 p.m. and we have quite a few luggages that we can’t really bring around. We’re taking the tube to go to our first stop on our little tour of Oaka, and that will be Ozaka Castle. I can catch a glimpse of our first stop which is just the Oaka Castle over there. We have arrived in Oaka Castle Park. And what’s the first thing you notice? Well, that’s space. This feels like the city finally breathe. You know, Ozaka is a packed city full of tall towers, a lot of people. But then you come here and this is a lot more quiet. I mean, there’s a lot of people, but it’s a lot more spacious. those mosy stones behind me. Well, some of them weighed more than a blue whale. And you know what’s the crazy thing that they were carried here by hand because they were carried here quite a few years ago and they didn’t really have a lot of machines. You know what? Probably enough of me talking. Let’s just enjoy the beauty of this amazing place. [Music] [Music] Thank you. [Music] There’s quite a quue to get inside the castle. Well, I’ll tell you a little tip. If you go online and get an Ozaka amazing pass ahead of time, which give you access to over 25 attractions in Ozaka for free, you get to skip the whole queue. [Music] [Music] We’re now sadly going to leave the Ozaka Castle area, but sadly not sadly because we’re going to be heading to Niponbashi Denden Town, which is one of the most electric areas in the whole of Oaka. It’s where pop culture, anime, tech, and camera shop. They all mix together to create such a vibe. [Music] Neighboring Dundan town is another incredible Osaka district. In fact, I am right now standing in Shinsi Kai, which actually translates to new word. But spoiler alert, this place is incredibly and gloriously old school. [Music] Standing at 103 m tall, Tukaku Tower could literally be considered the lighthouse of South Osaka. And we’re just about to go on top of it. [Music] One thing that is quite crazy to think about is that you can do bungee jumping. That’s why you see people with a helmet just behind me. There’s also a slide that you can use to come down from like the lower deck to down and you go quite fast with it. It’s also included in Oaka e- pass if you’re curious. [Music] [Music] Another [Music] cool thing I learned is actually you can go further up through that door for 300 extra yen. And I’m like, you know what? Why not? It’s also outdoor. [Music] This is definitely one of the coolest things. I love this little platform. You’re just standing on top of Oaka. Honestly, this was so cool. We’re just making our way now. In fact, we’re just coming under it. And we’re going to make our way back to Oaka Station now because if you remember, we left our bags there. We got to go pick them up and check in for our hotel. [Music] We finally made it into our hotel. We are going to be staying just over here. [Music] This place is absolutely insane. Oh my god, this is so cool. Got two bedrooms, got an enormous bathrooms, got a lovely kitchen. The living room is stunning. [Music] No way. There’s even a secret bedroom. So, in the main one, there is this door that I didn’t see before. And there is like this little bedroom here. [Music] Finally dropped our bags after we checked in our hotel. By the way, that hotel is so sick. I absolutely love it. So, now that we’re luggage free, we’re heading to Team Lab Ozaka. For those of you that don’t know what Team Lab is, Team Lab is a company that does incredible and immersive exhibitions. The one in Ozaka is inside the botanical gardens. And it’s actually an exhibition that keeps reshaping itself as you walk through it. It’s made of lights. Uh there is digital floating petals. There is things that react as you step on them. And is it a botanical garden? So honestly like that sounds like the definition of beauty to me. It’s about half an hour away on the tube. So let’s head there. [Music] Probably too bright, but just trying to say I see a massive queue and I’m quite worried. I just hope that like if you book tickets online Q is a bit less. [Music] Wait, so it’s not too bad. [Music] Flora turned into an art space created by team lab. [Music] [Music] Good morning from a new district. I’m still in Ozaka today in Uma. This is a district that is north of Oaka in the Kita district. Well, Kita stands for north actually. And it’s a really lovely area that I really enjoy walking because it’s home of some of the tallest buildings in Ozaka. As you can see just behind me, it’s home of businesses, offices, and a lot of entertainment hubs. Well, that includes a lot of shopping malls. In fact, a lot of the activities we’re going to be doing today is just some shopping. You know, we’ve been visiting Ozaka non-stop for 3 days for 2 days now. And I think we do deserve a bit of shopping. But that’s only after we head to Umida Sky Building, which I’ll tell you more about in a second. [Music] We’re just crossing in the middle of the road. This road is so wide. It reminds me of Shibuya. But yeah, you can tell this area is quite a different vibe. I mean, all of Zak is very commercial, very big, but the scale here is just immense. We’re just nearby this like super big shopping mall which has like you know so many things inside. Our main stop in the Umida district is Umeida Sky Building which you see just over there. That is one of Oaka’s main and most iconic landmark. The building is 173 m tall and one of the cool features is that it has a super cool escalator that travels between the two towers midair. It’s especially stunning at sunset or night when the city lights up. That is also included in our Oaka Eas. So, entrance is free, but only until 3:00 p.m. on every weekday. I really wish I could find a bin before we head on top. I’ve literally been carrying this coffee cup like this for the last hour. Actually, know where you find the most bins. If you go to like 7-Eleven, there was a bins inside. Oh, that’s so cute. Look at that. Little cute doggy. [Music] It’s now time to add all the way up there. We’re going to be using that elevator, I think. Although I think there is one on the inside because the instructions actually say head to the third floor. So over here and then on the third floor take the elevator all the way to the 39th floor. Uh so I’m not really sure. Not really sure how this works. I think there’s an elevator store here. [Music] And we’ve just made our way past the ticket office. The view is already insane, but I’ll give you a little tip. So, first and foremost, we had the Ozaka e- pass, which once again give you free access to this, and it was quite easy. We just show the QR code and come in. But even if you don’t have a ticket or you don’t want to pay £11 to come up here, the ticket office is on the 35th floor, you can still take the elevator and have a look through the windows. Now, you won’t make it to the garden, but you know, if you if you’re on a budget and you still want to visit this, that’s something you can definitely do. We found a pretty cool picture spot. There is usually a bit of a cue to get in, but once you get there, that’s your spot. You can take as many pictures as you want. And oh my goodness, the view is beautiful. [Music] Just stopping by to get a little quick coffee. They have a super cute coffee shop here. Like look at the menu. It keeps changing. And they have like so many things including a Japanese drink which I’m absolutely obsessed with. [Music] Oh, this is so adorable. There’s a little place where you can buy some lockers and you can just leave it here. This is super super cute. So, well, don’t forget to get a little locker to leave on this tower forever. All right, let’s give a shout out to a few couples. Let’s see. So, we have Lao and Tom 25th years anniversary. We have Marco and Shella that left this locker on the 31st of March 2025. We have Louisa and Emerson that left it on the 18th of November 2024. I’m just loving this. This is so beautiful. [Music] All right, I’m actually having a moment of indecision because I’m not really sure whether the date that you see on here is the date the locker was put in cuz there are some lockers that are from 1987 as you can see here. So, I’m actually kind of guessing this was the date that the couple got together. Although, there is a couple lockers that are literally 31st of March 2025, which was last week. So, I’m not sure. The views are so pretty. Although it is quite foggy cuz I’m trying to spot a couple things we’ve been seeing over the last couple of days. Like I’m trying to see Ozaka Castle and I’m trying to see the tower we hiked yesterday. But I don’t know if I’m looking in the wrong direction, but I can’t really see them. Probably going to can have a quick look on Google Maps if I can actually spot which direction they’re in and see if I can see them. On the way to do Bori, we actually figure we may have some lunch because it’s actually like 1:00 p.m. Now, I do want to show you how Japanese McDonald’s looks like because I have no idea. But what I’ve noticed is that McDonald’s is quite different wherever you go. Like we traveled to Italy some time ago and they had quite a few different things that London doesn’t have. We did travel to Thailand which also was Did they have Mac in Thailand? I think they did. But yeah, essentially long story short, McDonald’s broad is quite different. I’m really curious to see what they do sell in McDonald in Japan. Looks like there’s a McDonald inside there’s enormous shopping center which is just by Ozaka station and also not really too far from the Umeas Sky building which is just yeah just over there. Quite the opposite to UK shopping malls. The place where you get all the food is down on the lower ground floor rather than up all the way which is good cuz like I I hate having to go all the way up sometimes. It’s just it’s just really annoying. At least, you know, we got in the shopping mall. We’re looking for a McDonald and we found it straight. I mean, we haven’t found it. Oh, yeah. We have found it. There you go. Just over here. This is Braille. The drink selection is actually quite mad. Look how much stuff they have. Like, this is insane. I wish there was half of this stuff in London. [Music] We got our order sitting at a table. shall come through quite soon. I’m so hungry. [Music] So, let’s have a look at what I got cuz everything has arrived. I got a little sandwich, which comes in this super cute box. And I’m curious to see what’s inside. I got some fries. I got a little drink. I mean, little drink little. And then I got tartar sauce. But let’s have a look at the sandwich together. So, this is how it looks like. And I got to say it looks cool. Slightly smaller than I thought, but let’s try. [Music] So delicious. Now that we had some food, it’s time to continue on our little day out. I am so excited because we finally reached Doon Bori. This area is crazy and it’s beautiful. It’s so lively. There are so many people. Definitely packed with tourists. But you know what the crazy bit is that this area originally was built as a theater district but then over the course of this year he has changed significantly and now it hosts some of Oaka’s most famous attractions like the glcom men just behind me today is mostly known for its neon signs which actually come alive at night so you can expect a lot more people this road which is beyond packed with people and general entertainment. I’m so excited to visit this area and to explore all the cool spots in it and take some pictures with all the beautiful signs. [Music] This sun is actually so cool. I was reading in a where was I? Yeah, I was a museum yesterday. How the sun has gone through so many like redesigns and stuff. Like the original design from the 1940s is actually like six designs ago cuz this one you see now it’s the more modern one which was built in the 19 in 2011. I’m I’m pretty sure [Music] another cool little perk of the Zaka bus is the fact that we have a free cruise over and this is quite cool cuz I think it cost about £10 full price but we got it for free. I mean for free, you know, included with the price of our pass. It last 20 minutes and we’re just about to set off now. Now our tour guide, she’s so lovely. She’s literally saying hello to every single person we bump into the river. So this is Two, three. [Music] Thank you. That was That was fun. But god, it was loud. This crazy parked road is called Shinsaiibashi Shopping Street and I think it’s one of the main main highways for shopping in Osaka. There is every single kind of shop you can think about from clothes to chemist to sweets to manga to whatever you’re looking for. And it’s indeed very busy, but it’s such a vibe. Also, it’s quite crazy because you walk into a shop and then you see a sign that says, “Oh, this is on the ninth floor.” And I’m like, “How there’s even ninth floor?” Because I I thought there was a ceiling, but no, the buildings continue and go all the way up. After a pretty chill day walking around Central Laka, doing some shopping and buying a few things. And one of the things I bought is actually the official Expo Zaka guide book, which I’m going to read on the way back home. We figured it’s probably a good idea to start heading back towards our hotel room because tomorrow we’re visiting Expo Zaka. And since we’re going to the expo tomorrow, it’s probably a good idea to catch some sleep tonight. It’s currently actually have no idea what time is there. Well, it’s midnight 40 and I’ll show you my lovely background. Isn’t that cute? But yeah, it’s midnight 40, alarm 7:30. But regardless, I think this is the perfect setting to close off the Saka video. And yeah, just final remarks about Luzaka. I think this city is stunning. It’s funny because sort of controversially, I do read on the internet a lot that people say I will spend less time in Oakake and more time in Kyoto. I kind of do think the opposite. I think I will spend an extra day in Ozaka and probably one less day in Kyoto. I mean, not true because we only spend there two days. Two days was perfect. But in Oaka, effectively out of the three days we have here, one day for the Expos, we only have two. I would definitely spend here another day. I think there’s a lot to see. But even if we don’t go see anything particular, it’s just such a vibe to walk the city around. From Doburi, which is this crazy neon signs, entertainment, theaters and bars and pubs, to the Oaka Castle, which is this quiet, tranquil, green space in the city. I think the city really has so much to offer. So beautiful, and there is something to do for literally everyone. So yeah, if you’re planning a trip to Ozaka, I 100% recommend to come here to stay for a bit. It’s a good idea to stay on the tube on any tube station because it’s very well connected and transport is also very cheap. So yeah, I shall see you next week and I hope you enjoyed the video. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and hope you have a good trip to Zaka if you’re planning on coming here.
Planning to explore Osaka in 2 days? Spoiler alert: you totally can — and it blew my mind! In this Osaka travel guide, I’ll show you exactly how to spend 2 days in Osaka, covering the top things to do and must-see sights across the city. From the neon lights of Dotonbori and the views from Umeda Sky Building to the retro vibes of Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku Tower, this vlog is packed with unmissable sights that made Osaka one of my favourite cities in Japan. Feel free to subscribe to join my travel community and never miss out on new videos! Thank you for tuning in, and let’s explore the world together! 🌎✈️ ✨
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➮ Timestamps
00:00 – Trailer
00:20 – Train from Kyoto to Osaka
00:40 – Osaka Station
01:04 – Osaka Castle
03:10 – Nipponbashi Denden Town
04:05 – Shinsekai
04:40 – Tsutenkaku Tower
06:47 – Osaka Hotel Check-in
07:48 – teamLab Botanical Garden Osaka (Nagai Park)
09:50 – Umeda District Osaka (Kita)
11:01 – Umeda Sky Building
15:43 – McDonald’s in Japan
17:43 – Dotonbori
20:21 – Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street
21:17 – Conclusions
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#Osaka #OsakaTravel #osakavlog
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1 Comment
is this in china?