Osaka: the city in sync with our vibe

Ate at a bad Vegan Cafe which shall not be named

Went to Osaka Castle

Called in at a local shop to get onigiri and sushi to have for dinner later

Got back to the room early to have another long hot bath and watch films to try rest up

Shopping!

Bought a bunch of vegan and soy-free snacks and Japanese treats to try

Had bagels for lunch

Bought a new frying pan and silicone spatula

Made a big long list of everything we’d like to buy if we had the money

Hot bath and watched films in the evening to try rest up after another long day on our feet 

Another opportunity to window shop 

Caught the bullet train back to Tokyo

The first day, we arrived in Osaka in the evening. We spent a while trying to find our accommodation again (this time it wasn’t due to the place being in a bad location, but rather because we took a wrong turning down a street and Osaka kind of is a grid system so everywhere looks exactly the same). All our worries melted away though the moment we stepped into our accommodation; It was beautiful! The bed was comfy, the kitchen and bathroom was well-equipped, the decor was stunning… we honestly felt like we had walked into a five star suite. That night, I had a long hot bath again and tried to rest my feet, as they were becoming more crippled by the day. We then planned our following days and got an early night as, once again, we were so so so exhausted.

The next day, when we were exploring Osaka, we ate at a bad vegan cafe which shall not be named. The place had no windows, the staff were rude, the food was bad and undercooked and not to mention they soy-poisoned me (and I’m still having pains a week later from it). It wasn’t too expensive though, and at least we ate something before going to the castle so I didn’t crash, but honestly, it was terrible. Definitely would not recommend.

After food, like I said, we went to Osaka castle. It was absolutely stunning! We were also very lucky to still see some blossom about the grounds. There wasn’t as much as in Kyoto, but we were still over the moon and grateful for the beauty of it all. After walking around, we decide to head home. We caught the metro back to Namba and stopped off at a convenience store on the way home for some onigiri and sushi to have in our apartment later (so we didn’t have to go back out for food). Sam got a grilled rice ball and some inari sushi, whereas I just had a salted rice ball and then a pickled plum with seaweed onigiri. They were great and we were very thankful to find food for us both at such a cheap price, not to mention so easily – because finding soy-free food for me can be difficult (as you can imagine)! That night, we watched some silly films before bed.

The third day, when we were in Osaka, we did some shopping (mostly window shopping due to our lack of money ha, but still we got some nice soy-free vegan snacks and sweet treats for us to try). We had bagels for lunch and we bought a nice new frying pan and silicone spatula for our apartment, as we really needed one. We also started a list of everything we needed or would like… a “if we had the money what would we buy” sort of thing. That night we watched films again and I had another long, hot bath to rest my feet (what can I say, the accommodation was really nice and we don’t have a bath in our apartment so had to make the most of such things whilst on holiday).

The fourth day, we left Osaka by taking the bullet train back to Tokyo. We stopped off at some shopping centers before leaving, but overall we tried to make it brief. We had fallen in love with the city, of Osaka and could really see ourselves living there in the future, however we were really ready to return to our home in Tokyo. We were tired, it had been such a lovely holiday, but a very long one too, and we knew I started work within 48hours, so we just wanted to get settled at home and rest up. I didn’t take a lot of photos of Osaka whilst we were there unfortunately, because mostly we just went shopping and whatnot, but I hope you like those that I did manage to take.

Thank you so much to everyone that reads my blog. Thank to everyone who sends us well wishes and love – we send them back of course! I hope these little posts are enough of a window into what we’re doing. They seem long and filled with pictures right now, but of course after a month or so, they will get shorter and more concise, as I start work and we’ll get into a rhythm of every day life in Tokyo. For now though, I hope you enjoy these busy accounts and thanks again for caring so much that you’ve got to the end of yet another of my long blog posts <3

All the best

-Alice