A Bulky Family Bullet to Osaka

Whew that was rough. One thing to make the journey for two with packs in the heat, but with back and front packs, a pram, a wheelie bag and 3 little ones, it was a real challenge. We pulled it off though, which was super satisfying.
A big challenge we've always tried to avoid was too many wheels. People say theres stairs everywhere and lifts can be hard to find. Both are mostly true. The biggest issue was not so much finding them, but getting on them. The lifts were often tiny, and often there were huge queues to use them. Hard to avoid with a baby in a pram.
We checked out from Hilton Tokyo Bay and piled on a free shuttle to Miahama JR station.
Then I managed to arrange a child Suica (like Myki) for Ryland which requires his passport to acquire. This makes it easier to to get around without buying him paper tickets. Itll work in Osaka too.
We caught the red line from Miahama to Tokyo Central. From there we navigated huge crowds and giant queues for scarce lifts to find our bullet train to Shin-Osaka.
We got there and 5 of us piled into 3 seats ahead of the well needed extra luggage space. Occupied with lunch, a bento box and activities we all made the 2.5 hour trip relatively well. From there, it was a matter of finding the way to our new hotel. About 30mins south by local rail, and a very sweaty 15min walk and we were finally there at Eslead Namba South III by about 430pm. We have a nice simple apartment-ish room on level 10. Great views of the Osaka tower and neigbourhood with a line of beds, cots, small kitchenette, laundry and bathroom.
I spontaneously decided to set the tired family up with supplies and venture out about an hour solo to watch a J League Game; Gamba Osaka vs the Urawa Redwings. Getting on the metro and monorail to get "close-ish" wasnt the issue, but the path to actually get there was something else... what a labyrinth to get to the Panasonic Stadium Suica.
What an atmosphere getting there. You could hear the crowd from miles away. I arrived a few minutes late for the 7pm kickoff, at the wrong side of the ground so my seat was occupied by the time I got there but I made do nearby. The stadium was packed and bouncing. The game wasnt too much of a thrill, but there was a cracking late winner for the home side 1-0.
I managed to get negotiate the hour+ trip back with a flat phone battery by about 1015.
Tomorrow, we'll explore Osaka.Baca selengkapnya