Japan trip: Part V - Osaka

Time: 14.03.2015-05.04.2015
Notes about first days in Osaka still missing, so it is a bit difficult to write about everything..

25.03.2015

After we arrived to Osaka we were really tired and just wanted to go to our hostel. What we understood much much later is that when you take the cheapest hostel, then you should not expect much from it. Or not expect anything at all. I am still pretty sure that those linen were not washed before and I do not even want to know what things were thrown out from these windows. It was really weird place to stay and Yanne later said that actually we were just one block away from the most criminal area in whole Japan. Gyoza how I like Osaka. I was really surprised because despite being the second biggest metropolitan area in Japan you can see way too big differences between different areas of the city. In Tokyo and Kyoto the difference was not so big and obvious, but in Osaka it seemed like two different cities. At the moment I am talking about the differences of Shinsekai and other areas. Well, Shinsekai was the place were we stayed. A lot of alcoholics, a lot of garbage everywhere, the whole place looked almost abandoned. It is definitely a place where you do not walk around during the night alone. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it is a place were you should not be alone.
So the evening of 25th we tried to overcome the shock about the hostel and the area and made last repacking for going to Okinawa, because we were going with low-fare airline so we wanted to go just with hand luggage.

26.03.2015

After waking up we decided to rented bikes to go see as much as we can see in Osaka. Yanne was at first a bit against it, but it ended up being one of the greatest decisions, despite the fact that my bike was broken and it was difficult to ride with it, not mentioning taking photos. We went around the Osaka and while being without map we did not know really where we are or where are we going. I have to say that Kanjani8 are definitely the stars of Osaka. All places where filled with notes or photos about them and saying "Kanjani8 ate here!!". It is great to see that boys are so famous there. At the same time it more felt cozy and home-like. Everything gave the feeling that it is the home of Kanjani8 members and everybody act like family. I do not know exactly why I felt like it. Another thing that I noticed was that I saw so much more host clubs in Osaka compared to Tokyo. But maybe in Osaka they just stood out more in the street view.

We went to eat okonomiyaki, because Osaka is the city of Okonomiyaki. It became one of the favorite foods for Chris, so we even ended up buying all the ingredients back with us when we left Japan.
We visited Osaka Castle and we actually met our aunt there who was in Osaka for one conference. Weird to go to the other side of the world to meet with your relative who lives almost in the same city as you. Unfortunately, I must say that Osaka Castle was a big let-down for me. Outside of it is amazing and one of a kind, definitely worth seeing, but inside is just museum with really modern restoration. While I am still studying interior architecture, I believe they could have done the inside in a better way. Basically after this we turned around again and started going back - of course from a different route. We went back through Minami district and that was only place where I thought 1) Oh, Osaka is BIG city 2) It is too crowded to ride a bike here. It was really crowded and it was the only part that reminded me something similar to streets in Tokyo.

For our surprise, we were not too tired so we decided to go out for a party. I had missed some moments so I do not know how we were invited to nomihoudai in one pub. It was pub where a lot foreigners went. We met a lot of people there and it was really interesting to hear how they are living in Osaka. In a weird way, we ended the night playing video games in one gamer's bar with one really cool English teacher. I still feel bad that I really sucked in the game and I do not remember his name. He was definitely one person worth remembering.

27.03.2015
This was our last day in Osaka. Actually half of day because then we had to go to the Airport.
We spent this day walking around Shinsekai, because Yanne knew that there should be one of the oldest temples in Japan. Unfortunately, we saw many other temples and shrines there, until Yanne discovered that the oldest temple is actually really far from us and we do not have time anymore to go there. Luckily, she visited it later when she made another trip to Osaka. We also went to one temple which contains buddha statues made of human ashes. It was rather creepy place, especially when we saw people bringing more ashes to build another buddha in few years. Also the big statues at the gates of the temple were modern statues made by the priest who has a big interest in architecture - See the photo up..

As street-food is really popular in Shinsekai, we decided to finally eat takoyaki there. Another food that is really popular in Osaka. I did not think it is so chummy and it definitely was way too hot to eat all at once. Aaa, and there was more Kanjani8 there!
If you want to hear if Shinsekai was as dangerous as it is told to be, then beside homeless people we managed to see one crazy woman escaping from the police and screaming. I do not know if she was under some kind of drug influence or she was just lost her mental state, but it was rather scary thing to see.
So the time came to take our things and go to Kansai airport and fly to Okinawa! We got there earlier, because we had to send most of our baggage straight to Sendai, because it would have been too expensive and useless to bring it all to Okinawa. I do not remember how much it cost, but for all our things it was rather cheap. If you happen to be in position like this, then it is a great option to send your things - just be sure that there is someone in the destination to collect it and store it until you get there. In addition, Kansai Airport is one of the coolest airports, because it is built on artificial island and metro road will take you long over the water to get there. Rather spooky experience for people who are afraid of heights over deep water.

In Kansai Airport we also had time to take part of samurai performance where we were made to wear all the outfits and act as we are samurai's having a fight. Though I was in a really bad mood and I do not like these kind of things, it was funny experience for other members of my travel group.
And then we were off to Okinawa! Few hours of flying and the sunny weather waited for us.. or that is what we believed and hoped, but more about it in next travel post! ;)