What to do in Osaka?
Arriving in Osaka
Osaka was our first destination in Japan, we landed at Kansai airport at around 7/8am and didn’t manage to get any sleep so we were get lagged whilst having to drag our luggage around to our hotel.
On first official day in Osaka we went window shopping and explored the Shinsaibashi-Suji Street, tried out the latest tech trends and visited some capsule stores.
Ichiran ramen
Then we headed off to Ichiran ramen – which is famous for its unique solo booth set up and tonkotsu ramen. We ordered at the vending machine, which you need to put money in first and then select what you would like and this will then print out ticked which you then hand over to the servers which are hidden behind a bamboo mat wall in front of you. There are a lot of instructions and pictures around the booth to answer any questions and I think there was free water aswell which you could pour yourself. When the food arrived I could see through the bamboo mat flap that they bowed to you and hope that we would enjoy the food.
Osaka Castle
When we took our trip to Osaka castle we were blessed because the skies were completely clear perfect for photos. Osaka Castle is surrounded by gardens and we sat under a tree for shade whilst walking up the hill and enjoyed the of the city scenery from above.
Whilst walking out towards the main exit we came across 2 things. 1. A ‘secret’ Japanese garden whilst walking towards the main gate, and gave us a really beautiful view of the castle as well. I say ‘secret’ but when we arrive there was a row of photographers with huge cameras taking this shot. 2. The Hokoku Shrine
The Streets of Osaka
We visited the famous running man and the main shopping street with insane installations for advertising specific businesses such as the massive crab and gyozas.
This is also where went on our shopping spree for souvenir. We raided Daiso and Don Quijote stocking up on stationary, skin care and alot of Japanese snacks. A Bag of 13 mini Kitkat were only around 300¥ which is around £2.50 and came in all sorts of flavours – Cheery blossom, black tea, peach, grape, and the list goes on so we stocked up on them!
We did enjoy going to the final fantasy cafe in Osaka and I’ll write something about that later stay tuned.
At night, we took a ride on a Ferris wheel which cost 600¥ ~ £4.50 which gave us a beautiful skyline view of the Osaka. Then we ended the night with a ice cream parfait which is quite common in Japan.
Next week post will be about my trip to USJ!
