13 Sep 2008 - Day 2: Kaiyukan Aquarium at Osaka Bay

Our plan for today is to visit Kaiyukan Aquarium at Osaka Bay area. It is one of the world's largest aquarium with 580 different species of marine life and 30,000 specimens. Jerlene has always loved fishes and so whenever there is an aquarium, I will definitely bring her there. She enjoyed very much when we were at Sydney Aquarium last Oct.

Jerlene was dancing to show her excitement the moment we left our hotel room.
When we reached the Namba train station, it was packed with people and there were security guards everywhere. It seemed like there was a political party rally just outside the station. I quickly took a few pictures and left the place.

It was a short train ride to Osakako station. From the station, it's just 5-10mins walk to the aquarium. We had our lunch at one of the Japanese restaurant along the way before we proceed to the aquarium. Anyway, Jerlene was sleeping at that time so no rush. She woke up half way through our lunch and "shared" some of mommy's udon and daddy's rice.

Soon after, we arrived at the Aquarium and the place was VERY crowded. Probably it's because that day was a Saturday.

Next to the aquarium is a place called Tempozan Marketplace, which is a modern three-storey shopping and entertainment complex. There is also a huge Ferris Wheel next to it.
There was a long queue to the aquarium ticket counter and when we finally got the tickets, we realized there was another queue to the exhibits. Some of the exhibits were simply impossible for Jerlene to squeeze in. So one piece of advice for those who intend to visit this aquarium one of these days, try not to go during the weekends.

As we were not in a rush, we decided to sit around and wait for the crowd to clear a bit so that Jerlene can see the fishes.
Below are photos of some of the marine life in the aquarium.

Jerlene was very fascinated by those huge Manta Ray that swim gracefully in the huge tank.

One icon of this aquarium is the huge whale shark that swims in a massive tank, which spans across several storeys.
We spent about 3hrs inside the aquarium and it was already evening when we left. Before going back to Namba area, we decided to walk to the nearby Santa Maria pier to have a short rest and enjoy the sunset. There is a cruise operating that brings passenger around the Osaka Bay area.
As there is a big open space, Jerlene enjoyed herself running and dancing around.
Before heading back to our hotel, we decided to shop around Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori area to take some night shots.

Other than the crowd in the aquarium, it was still an enjoyable day generally. Two days have passed and 5 more days to go.........