Umeda trip: Osaka Pokemon Center, Hep Five and department stores

Howdy~

The other day, I went to Umeda for the first time. It was good, and it is so different to Namba. To be honest, I think I prefer Namba.......... 

Umeda is still cool though! But it has more of a corporate vibe than Namba and it is harder to find your way around, especially in the 'Osaka Station City' underground. 

The first stop of the day was of course the Pokemon center! It's just a shop, but it was pretty fun to visit, and there were a few photo opportunities too :D 

For anyone that's interested, it's on the 13th floor on the Daimaru department store ^^

The area around Umeda and JR Osaka stations is so so confusing. There is a huge underground shopping area, lots of department stores and the whole area is called "Osaka station city". City is the right word. It is pretty intense. Above ground, it isn't that easy to navigate either, as it is mostly just fairly uniform skyscrapers....

....With the exception of the Hep 5 building, of course. How cool is it to just stick a random ferris wheel on top of a building? I really want to go on it, I'll probably force my boyfriend to come with me on a date ^^

We went to Maruzen (a bookstore) and I found a whole bunch of Minna no Nihongo! I used this textbook last year at Leeds, so it made me nostalgic.

We went shopping, although I actually didn't buy much! (I know, right?) I didn't get to tower records, so I stayed out later than my friends. Umeda is so beautiful at night!! I wish I could have taken more pictures of both Umeda and Tower Records, but unfortunately my ipod ran out of space. gyaaah. I'll have to take another trip there. For science. 

Although Umeda is fun, I'd actually recommend Namba more. Namba feels more friendly and is easier to get around. That being said, I do want to go back to Umeda! I want to re-visit tower records, go to Umeda Sky building for the apparently amazing view of Osaka, and I also want to go to Hep five for the giant red whales inside (I don't have photo proof, but they are a thing, I promise...) and to go on the Ferris wheel. 

Thanks for reading! 

-Amy xoxo