FRIDAY: I started the trip by heading to Ozu-shi's train station by bike. I caught a train that had a transfer in Matsuyama and then to Imabari where our friend Heidi lives. I met up with Travis and Eliot on the train and we headed together to her apartment. When we arrived, Daisuke was already preparing a delicious awesome dinner. He made curry with croquette and awesome seared tuna vegetable salad, which was delicious! We all had an enjoyable night hanging out and planning our trip to KANSAI!
SATURDAY: The next day we traveled on a bus from Imabari to Osaka that took 5 and a half hours! We started Saturday morning at 7 AM and got to Osaka around 12:30 It was long, but we all enjoyed the ride. I accidentally spilled chocolate ice cream on Eliot's pants while he was sleeping, and he got mad at me... MUAHAHAHAHA, it was awesome.
We visited the Danjiri Festival in Kishiwada in Osaka where we met up with Asuka. The Danjiri Festival was created to pray to the Shinto gods for good harvests. There were people who pulled the "danjiri carts" around in the street and had many food and toy booths. They also had fish catching and babt chicks that you could win. Poor Daisuke... he really wanted a chick... We all saw a hamburger stand with HUGE burgers... but it just didn't look like American burgers even though there was a huge USA flag in front of it. At night we went to a pasta place and on the way I saw a sign with my grandmother's last name "Aoki" and had to take a picture of it.
Mall time! I was watching a music video in the Osaka mall and found a tv screen with my sister Shari's favorite music group Tohoshinki. "This is for you Shari!" Oh... and everyone thought it would be funny to keep me on a leash, how silly.
For the first and last two nights in Osaka we stayed at Hotel Chuo located in Shin-Imamiya. We kept getting confused which train station to get off of because there was Shin-Imamiya and Imamiya. Good times... we made a mistake the first day we got there, and the last night in Osaka.
SUNDAY: Early in the morning we went to Nara to visit the Todaji temple and saw all the awesome deer surrounding the area. I had a lot of fun feeding the deer crackers and they seemed to like me a lot. HEHEHE. When it turned dark, I got a few really cool pictures of the sunset. Even though I've been to Nara before, I still enjoy its beauty.
After Nara, we headed back to Kyoto for dinner. We ate at this incredible Katsu place inside Kyoto train station. We we able to grind our own sesame seeds and make our own sauce. SOOOO good! Afterwards, we walked around the station, which had an unbelievable view of Osaka through an awesome sky walk terminal. Unfortunately Eliot didn't join us since he doesn't like heights... This night was the only night we were going to "wing it" in finding a hotel, which didn't really work out that well in Kyoto. Everything was pretty much booked and we were considering sleeping in a park or the train station. Luckily, Asuka graciously let us stay at her very tiny but awesome apartment. :) It all worked out.
MONDAY: We got up around 9 AM and headed out around 10. We ate lunch at another mall in Osaka after shopping around and visiting Kinokunia book store. The lunch was delicious and we headed out to Costco afterwards. We got a little lost, but we eventually found it and was amazed that it was practically the same as the Costcos in America. Before we got to Osaka Costco, we waited at a bus stop where Eliot and Travis decided to have a little Judo match. It was very fun watching...
That night, we went to meet up with a good college JASS friend in Namba. We had AWESOME okonomiyaki Osaka style. I had the cheese and potato one, which was delicious! It was nice to catch up with Yuko, a third year Jet in Kobe, and see how our lives have changed throughout the three years we haven't seen each other. It's amazing how much once can grow within a few years. We had a great time reminiscing, eating good food, and drinking awesome beer.
TUESDAY: We visited the world's largest aquarium, called Kaiyukan in Osaka on Tuesday. It was so big and had so many different attractions within the buildings. We were able to see all sorts of marine life including penguins, turtles, sting rays, seals, fish, otters, and much more! Also, they had a whale shark that I have never seen before, which was very interesting. Also, Kaiyukan had a special attraction of the "kapibara" animal, which is the largest of the rat family. It was HUGE! After the aquarium, we rode the giant ferris wheel, which again Eliot did not ride because of the height, tee hee hee.
That night, we stumbled across a suberb shabu shabu restaurant for only 2390 yen, which is CHEAP for all you can eat. I've never had it before so it was a great opportunity to try. They gave us lost of beef, pork, and vegetables. We were so stuffed afterwards, and we decided to play games while we ate. It was just wonderful.
WEDNESDAY: Before we headed onto the bus, we stopped at a ramen shop to eat lunch. They had an incredible lunch special that included ramen, gyoza, and fried rice, which was delicious! As we waited at the bus stop, I became sad at the thought of going back to my lonesome apartment and not hanging out with everyone anymore... Saddness, but I very much enjoyed our time together during Silver Week in Kansai.
