We saw otters, sharks, all kinds of stingrays, seals, sea lions, penguins, crabs, sea turtles, and fish of all shapes and sizes. We saw a capybara and also got to watch it swim. We saw a pirarucu which is a prehistoric looking fish. We saw dolphins playing- some of them were the same species as the ones we swam with in New Zealand We saw huge eels. They had a "Great Barrier Reef" aquarium which really did look like what we saw when we scuba dived there. We also saw some huge spider crabs which were really creepy looking. They look like huge spiders so I didn't like that, but I was starting to think that I'd be happy with some crab legs with butter right about then.
The biggest tank was the most impressive. It was about 9 meters deep and the whole place kind of wrapped around it, so we kept spiraling downwards with a constant view of that huge tank and other exhibits on the other side. We spent a long time looking at this one because it was super cool. It was unique in that it didn't have really any decorations or coral or anything; it was just a huge tank of water with rocks on the bottoms and a ton of huge fish swimming around. It had many different types of stingrays and a couple of them were huge!! There were sharks of all sizes, including hammerhead sharks. And the biggest: the whale shark. There were two and they were ginormous. I'd never seen a whale shark before but it was very impressive. I don't know that any of the pictures I got do them justice, but they would swim right in front of the glass and they were bigger than the whole length of the glass, so it was really hard to get a full picture.
We also saw some divers in this tank doing various things: cleaning the windows, moving rocks around (?), and feeding the sting rays. When he was feeding they all swarmed around him. It was really cool and I think I figured out my next job. Who wouldn't want to do that every day?!
Oh, and then we saw what we affectionately call the "derp" fish. It's really called a sun fish but it looks like the goofiest thing I've ever seen. It's actually really big but it looks like someone chopped the lower half of it's body off, because it stops really suddenly without a tail or anything. It also has it's largest fins on the top and bottom so I think it looks like it's sideways, because then it just has these gimpy little side fins. It didn't seem to be able to swim around very effectively and just generally seemed like it was derping around. Jack and I had a lot of fun making fun of this guy.
They had an entire exhibit dedicated to the fish found in the Finding Nemo series, but they were very careful not to use any of the movie names. They even had the dentist's tank completely re-created.
They also had an entire jellyfish exhibit which was really interesting. I wish I'd been able to read all of the Japanese information because I'm just it was fascinating. Watching them swim is so mesmerizing; I feel like I could do that for hours. I'd also never realized how many different types there were before.
The last part (and arguably the most awesome part) was at the end where they had a tank filled with rays and little sharks that you could pet. You could just reach your arm in and pet the backs of the sharks and rays! The sharks felt kind of rough but the rays were super smooth. I really like getting the hands-on opportunity so I really enjoyed that.
For dinner we went to the Osaka train station and just walked around that area until we found something that suited us all. We ended up at a place that had fried skewers of things. You would just order exactly what you wanted and they would bring you the skewers. Then you would dip them in the sauce they had on every table (no double dipping!) and chow down. It was better than I expected. I had a couple of beef skewers, a shrimp, tried lotus root which was different, but my favorites were onion and green pepper. Yum.
As we walked back to the station we found a bakery which had everything marked down 20% off since it was the end of the day, so we got a couple of things for dessert and for breakfast/snacks tomorrow. Matt and I split a banana pastry tonight and it was really good.
Tonight is our last night with Jack as he's flying back to the states tomorrow. :( We've had a great time traveling with him and we're definitely going to miss him. Matt and I aren't going to know what to do with ourselves when it's just us, so if anyone wants to come meet us somewhere just let us know!! (Seriously)
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