I’m wrapping up my #KyotoAkuDatang stories with this last post on shopping and our visit to Sky View Observation Hall. Click here to read the previous stories.

On the morning of our last day in Osaka, my wife and I felt that we had enough of sightseeing. Despite still having a long list of tourist attractions we have not visited, we wanted to do something different on that day. I guess that is the beauty of ‘free and easy’ travel as we get to do whatever we want to do at our own pace. Eventually we decided on a win-win itinerary where I get to check out an “aviation related place” and my better half checks out a “shopping place”. Menu for the day: Rinku Premium Factory Outlets and Sky View Observation Hall. Off we go!

As much as my wife and I try to keep our holiday to purely sightseeing, it is never easy to fight the temptation to shop wherever we go. Even in a country perceived to be expensive like Japan, we had the ‘itch’ to check out their stores every time we were at their city centre. It was more of window-shopping as most of the brands can be found in Malaysia at a cheaper price. However it is a slightly different story when it comes to shopping at an outlet, particularly in this case — the Rinku Premium Outlets.

Similar to the concept of Johore’s JPO, Jersey Garden, Adelaide’s Harbour Town, visitors can expect lots of top quality brand name bargains.

Just like other outlets, do not expect every single stores to have bargains. Some are just as expensive as downtown stores while some items (after conversion to Ringgit) are more expensive that the same items in Malaysia. So shop wisely.

Oh an important tips, before you start going to the stores, drop by at the information counter to get this coupon book for additional discounts.

Also I would recommend stopping by at Bagel & Bagel. I love their awesome hot steamed honey milk and bagel with salmon.

Initially we wanted to spend only a couple of hours here but we ended up shopping for about 5 hours. A short shuttle bus ride brought us to our next destination…

….  Kansai Airport’s Sky View Observation Hall.

*krik krik krik*

Yes, this place is not in most Osaka tourist maps or top 10 on tripadvisor but being an aviation geek, it was nice to be able to check this place out.

The Sky View Observation Hall is a building a few minutes’ drive from Kansai-Osaka airport that offers day long views of flights landing and taking off from the airport.

The top floor of this multi-storey building is where all the action takes place. An outdoor platform for public (and spotters) to enjoy the view!

A full café at the top floor provides visitors a ‘shelter’ from the rain and makes it a nice family and friends hanging out place.

Weather was not on our side, so we spent some time indoors checking out the various displays inside the café and at different levels of the building.

Plane models. Hundreds of it on display!

Photos taken by spotters.

Photo box.

My favourite part of the building the aviation souvenir shop, something we don’t have in Malaysia!

The rain finally stops and we spent some time admiring the planes as the sun sets on our final day in Osaka.

A great way to end our trip. Thank you for reading all the posts and insyaAllah we will be back in Japan soon 🙂