Caught the bus at midnight. I took a two hour nap ahead of time to prepare myself for a night of little sleep. While walking the 20 minutes there, I went through a ‘new’ part of town for me, clearly filled with more bars and a club (?). A lot of people were out and about for Tomioka. There were two buses that came. The first was 10 minutes early and took a family of four. Two other people and I were left waiting. The next bus came 15 minutes late! I feel like nothing is ever late in Japan, but wham. I was told a seat number so good thing I’d learned my numbers by then. The seats had lots of leg room and reclined nicely as did the night bus I rode in Europe.

I slept some, but it was rough. Every two hours the bus stopped at a rest area and turned all the lights on. The two drivers kept switching on and off too. I didn’t see a toilet on the bus either so that’s also probably why they stop. I gave up on sleep around 6 as the sun was bright and shining. We disembarked outside of Kyoto Station at about 6:30 am. So many people! And all the Westerners I saw in the first couple of minutes. The signs were also written in English everywhere. Big city shock for little inaka (country) me. I bought some breakfast (pancake sandwich with bean paste and onigiri) and set off to navigate the station. Definitely wandered around a bit in circles to find the right part. Everything was upstairs! Successfully bought a ticket and caught the train to Osaka. Very interesting to see at the big train stations how everyone properly lines up to enter the train. There are door and car number markers on the ground including lines that you show stand on.

All I can say is that big city life also looks like anime, ha. Herds of people crossing crosswalks at once. Masses at the train station and on the trains and buses. I’m sure it was also extra busy for Silver Week. I met up with Ayaka in Osaka Station (also huge, 15 floors or so, but less tracks than in Munich). It was six months since we last traveled together in the US. So good to see her again! Now we’ve met in North America, Europe, and Asia! We first went to her apartment so I could drop off my stuff. I must say traveling suddenly got a lot faster. No deciphering train signs, waiting for the romaji spelling. Her Japanese transit app told her which platforms to go to as well. I just followed her around.

She’s located about 20 minutes from the main station in a nice neighborhood. We shared a yummy breakfast of croissants from a bakery, oranges, and buckwheat tea. Then we headed off to completely the itinerary. First up, Osaka Castle. We walked through a park from the train station that was filled with sakura trees and a food festival that was hopping despite it only being 10 am. Now that I can identify them, I see them everywhere. Can’t wait for spring! The castle had an outer and inner moat to cross. Certainly an impressive building! The park around it was rather meh. A small Japanese garden was more landscaped but that was it. Perhaps the paid garden area was better, but we didn’t enter. Afterward, we went to have lunch after traipsing through the city a bit to find the nearest train station. We went to a kaiten sushi (conveyor belt) place for my first time. Each plate costs a different amount and you pay based on your empty plates. I tried saba (mackerel) for the first time. So yummy! Now I understand why Haru from Free! is obsessed with it. It was also cool that you made your own tea. They had matcha powder there and a tap which emitted hot water.

Then it was off to stop #2, the Umeda Sky Building. It’s an awesome piece of modern architecture, two skyscrapers joined together built in 1993. We went all the way to the top and had great views of Osaka. Afterward, we went to the Pokémon Center in Osaka Station. I figured I had to satisfy my inner curiosity and check it out for my little bro. There was a special event going on with dancing Pikachus and so much Pokémon stuff. I’d like to go back when it’s less crowded. We had a little bit time to kill before our dinner plans so we popped into a bookstore. Very interesting to see that the books were quite small and all written up and down.

We had a mini Nashville consulate reunion with four of us! We had seven people meet up for dinner at an izakaya with nomihodai (all you can drink). We were lucky to have Ayaka with us. She made the reservation and found a coupon, and helped with all the ordering. I continued to drink my new fav, Calpis. Also tried the alcoholic version, Calpis sour. I finished it, but it was a bit too alcoholic tasting for me. The food was yummy! Ten dishes and so filling. Got to have yakisoba and Osaka’s traditional food: okonomiyaki. We made it home, planned our next day, and Ayaka slept her drinks off. What a fun evening!