Osaka

At our Hostel called, The Dorm

Greetings from Osaka, our final stop on our Japan tour!

On the road again...

Our last two nights in Japan were at The Dorm hostel in Osaka. It happened to be another book themed hostel, but this time we weren't sleeping in the shelves. 😜  I didn't have the best sleep again (I felt a little claustrophobic in the bunk, people were clunking their luggage around, the fire alarm went off at midnight and no one seemed to care but us), but for $20 a night in a safe and friendly place I can't really complain.

A great space

Bananagrams! Kiel won but he
spelled "ecstasy" wrong so technically I won 😏

The streets near our hostel

Even the sewer holes are pretty 

On the first day here we set out for Osaka Castle. Surrounded by citadels, stone walls, and a park, the castle has quite an impressive history with the inside now a museum.  

The cutest place to park your bike...

Sakuramon Gate. The huge stones on both sides of the gate are known as Ryukoishi, which means dragon and tiger stones. Legend says that when it rained, an image of a dragon and tiger appeared on the stones, respectively.

Figures depicted the Summer War of Osaka

View from the observatory deck

I was craving something other than ramen or udon so for lunch we got burritos. But it may have just been better to have noodles again instead of trying to switch it up with a mediocre meal. We ate dinner at a Hot Pot place and to be honest, we both thought our go-to spot in the Inner Richmond in San Francisco was way better!

After dinner we roamed around the Dontonbori area; what a sensory overload! It was a popular nightlife spot with tons of shops and restaurants, neon signs, and throngs of people.

Dontonbori Canal

🐙

 

Today we stopped by the Ohatsu tenjin shrine, a famous site for eternal love. Because of the love story of Ohatsu and Tokubei (which is actually a tragic tale) the shrine is known to bring couples romance. We purchased a heart shaped 'ema' (a wooden board to write our wishes), and tied it among the other love notes.

I think Kiel was praying for a happy wife, happy life. haha

Bijin (wishing for a beautiful heart and face 😂)

Here I declare this land as "Lovers Sanctuary" to impart the joy and the magic of encounters, blissful marriages,and raising a happy home. I send my blessings to your encounters and wish you a wonderful future.

We hopped on the subway and walked through Nippombashi Denden, a downtown area with electric appliance and video game stores and then made our way to the Kuromon Market, a market filled with tons of different food stalls. Shamefully, we ate McDonald's and Starbuck's for lunch though.

Octopus pops, anyone?!

Since the weather was pretty overcast, we decided to go to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, the largest aquarium in the world, located at the ward of the port in Osaka. It was filled with tons of cool fish and sea creatures, but it was also a little sad seeing Monterey Bay sea lions and other animals not in their natural habitat; I was constantly reminded of "Finding Dory"!

We ended the night and our Japan trip feasting at Gyu-Nabe M, sister restaurant to Matsusakagyu Yakiniku M. Kiel had been dreaming of this (beef) the entire trip. Considered as "the art of meat", Matsusaka beef gets its tasty reputation from the special treatment the cattle is given. The cows are fed beer to create a healthy appetite, and given massages to create smooth blood circulation. Coming from someone who usually doesn't like to eat a lot of meat, it was quite amazing! 

"Steak Sushi" on the left. Salt and pepper, BBQ sauce and soy sauce were available to dip. On the right is beef with leeks.

Garlic fried rice. Yum!

We certainly ended on a high note. I can't believe we've been here for two weeks (feels a lot longer than that). A few of our takeaways: 

Japan is so clean! With hardly any garbage cans around there is no litter on the streets. I even ate a piece of my breakfast that fell onto a public seat. Five second rule?!

People stand off to the side and wait for others to get off the subway before getting on. SF could use a little help with that.

Japanese citizens are polite and helpful. On two separate occasions we had little kids accidentally bump into us, only for them to turn around and apologetically bow. Also, Kiel left behind his jacket at a cafe and a map in the subway.  Ten seconds later we had people running after us to return them. Again, a very rare find in the US. 

Most tourists, on the other hand, have no sense for anyone but themselves. 

When spoken to in Japanese, we just smile and say "hi". People still keep speaking in Japanese until they realize we only speak English and then they try their best to speak English too. 

The water tastes good.

The energy here can't be beat. Sorry NYC. 

Japan, you have been so hospitable, vibrant, and fantastic! 

Next up, we're on to my motherland...!