Today I ventured out to the Osaka Aquarium on my own. I bought two tickets both times instead of a transfer ticket, and realized I should have used my Suica card (which is why I got it in the first place). I’m looking forward to my future train travels being much simpler as a result.

I mean, look at this face. I spent a great deal of time just watching the Whale Shark exhibit: happy to see them swimming with their big smiles. Funny enough, it was really refreshing to spend the amount of time I wanted and even go to the bathroom when I needed to. I don’t think I’ve done that in the past nine days.

The whale sharks were certainly the highlight of the aquarium for me, and also one of the main features of the aquarium. I wonder how many other aquariums have them. They are so big, I wonder if it is rare to have in the captivity. I resited the strong temptation to buy all of the whale shark plushes (some which had a pocket for a mouth, and some which were some of the softest I’ve touched) and elected for some cute magnets instead.

After the aquarium I went to the Tempozan Marketplace for lunch and shopping. I found a Star Wars Tenegui (clearly a knock off) with R2D2 I don’t have yet, so that was an important purchase. Then, I ate 10 dumplings on my own. I was hesitant to order 10 instead of six, but I must have been hungry because I finished every last one.

I also found, upon exiting, that the Tempozan Marketplace offers a prayer room, something I hadn’t seen before. Between that and a booklet offering Halal Dining options, I’m glad to see this kind of openness to all kinds of tourists! Osaka seems to be much more diverse than other cities I’ve seen.