Flower Expo '90 and Shopping

Off to Expo '90 Park and Mitsui Factory Outlet and Umeda Shops
Expo '90 park, many flowers not out yet, including the tulips (found a few, but most hadn't flowered in the main windmill display). Many of the exhibits and exhibit gardens are really run down now. Such a pity.



In the Australian Garden there are some nice bits of bush, the wattle were all out, the bottlebrushes looked nearly ready to flower. A lot of beautiful gums with all of their limbs cut off, just the lovely white bark of the ghost gums and few box gums. But so sad to see them looking like a venus de milo. No leaves, and no sign of life, maybe they cut them back for winter?

Over all the park was a disappointment this time. Combination of being too earlier for best flowering and the general run down appearance of everything. The windmill looks quite boring when the tulips aren't out.



There were some very good single flower cherry blossoms though and a little rain due this week will make it all seem better.

Mitsui Factory Outlet. Previously called Blossom Town, the name which you can still see on a tower which is near it, this can help you find it after leaving the station.
Gill got a pair of shoes here, as we walked into the addidas shop they passed us a 30% voucher, which is a pretty good discount off the already cheap prices.

Then went back to Umeda, which from our vantage is a shopping precinct that runs underground between 3 or 4 subway stations. Easy to get lost, but eventually you end up in the same place, even if you didn't intend to.

Had some nice Okanomyaki and 'talked' to a couple in the booth beside us who were on holiday from Ogaki, Gifu. And they had recently been to a zoo in Wakayama were they have pandas.