View of Osaka from Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden. (I have this ‘mild’ obsession with airplanes which you’ll find out soon enough in other photos)
Taiyaki in Kobe
Arashiyama. I don’t know why but it reminds me of something from a Miyazaki movie (maybe it’s just me)
Kyoto’s version of okonomiyaki
For Lunar New Years this year, I decided to take my time off work to travel to Osaka, Japan. I was there for about 4 days total. Before I left, I usually do hardcore research on the place I’m traveling to, from booking accomodations to figuring out what I want to go, things to see, etc. However, for the first time, I just booked my flight and hotel and decided I’ll walk around and enjoy my vacation.
Day 1.
I arrived at my hotel way later than I expected thanks to the very long immigration line and getting on the right train to the city from the airport. TIP. If you didn’t already know, public transportation in Japan is very expensive. After the cheap fare in Korea, I was surprised at how much I was spending on just transportation. Since I was only there for a short amount of time, I decided against the JR Pass and opted for the ICOCA card, which is like an Oyster card (for Londoners) or the Octopus (for Hong Kongers). I calculated at the end of the trip that either way, I would have roughly spent the same amount of money. On the first day, I went to the famous Osaka Castle. Sadly, it was too early for cherry blossoms. I met up with my friend who lives in Osaka and he took me to Dotonbori+Shinsaibashi where we got dinner and explored the night life.
Day 2.
The next day, I walked around Osaka, exploring the city and taking everything in. I ate ramen at Kinyuu Ramen because my boss told me I had to try it. It’s pretty famous and has a huge dragon sign that you can’t miss. It was really good! Honestly, my friend told me there weren’t many things to see in Osaka and I soon came to realize that, so after some debating I decided to take a random trip to Kobe. I think that’s the best thing about the Kansai region is that everything’s so close by, you can just take a train and go somewhere. Although I was only in Kobe for a few hours, it has a very different atmosphere from Osaka. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to eat any kobe beef but I will next time! TIP. Kobe City Hall offers a free observatory/observation desk.
Address: 6-5-1 Kanocho, Chuo Ward, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture 650-0001, Japan
Day 3.
Started my day at Umeda Sky Building to visit the Floating Garden. It costs 700 yen to go up and honestly, the only reason to go up is because of the building itself and to tell people you went. The view was alright but it was similar to Kobe’s skyline, which I got to see for free. Afterwards, I dragged my friend out to Kyoto because that’s his actual hometown and had him be my personal tour guide. First stop was Arashiyama (Bamboo Forest) which wasn’t as grand as I thought it would be, but everything around it such as the little shops and scenery was great. Next, he took me around the city, going to his favorite okonomiyaki place and through the Geisha District to Fushimi Inari Shrine. We arrived at the shrine a bit late so we only went halfway or a third of the way up before coming back down. We ended the day at Kyoto Station, taking in the breaktaking view of the city.
Day 4.
This day was spent for last minute shopping/souveniors. I was going to go to Universal Studios but my friend got off work late so we decided to go to Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium). Honestly, the aquarium wasn’t as grand as I thought it would be but it wasn’t terrible. I ended the day eating dinner with another friend and packing.
Sorry for the long post, I didn’t expect it to be so long but I didn’t want to separate it into several posts. If you have any questions on Osaka or Kyoto, or you’re planning a trip there, feel free to ask and I’ll try my best to help!
Dépaysement 