follow my travel diaries throughout japan! recent posts as of late: #938952_

i recently got back from osaka, and it was a blast! this time, it was to visit some of my friend back from my hometown. it still remains my favorite area of japan, and i did alot of things with them, and on my own.

my main place of stay is in nagoya, and after i finished up my volunteer hours, i got on the next bullet train to osaka and made my way to my friend's place by 5pm.

i will be honest, i often stay at hostels when i'm traveling alone. the upside to this trip: it was a private room! the downside: the cleanliness was not the best, and the inconvenience of a women's toilet being on the other floors.

but hey, can't be free if they invited you, am i right? i'm grateful nonetheless for letting me come out to join them!

that evening, we went to eat tsukemen (dipping ramen) and it was super delicious! after that, we walked around dotonbori for a bit, then completely crashed out from a long day.

we went to nara park in the morning, and saw all the deer and cherry blossoms in bloom everywhere. it was great getting to see the little guys searching for deer cookies from tourists, and every now and then, tourists getting bit in the butt for more.

we went to go eat at a place called torikizoku, where everything (including drinks) was around 370 ($2.50 USD) per plate. It was awesome, and the pickled cucumbers were phenomenal.

in the evening, i decided to go solo and head to a ball called fireball near dotonbori to meet other solo travelers. an interesting bunch of people i must say, but the mango beer (manjo juice and whatever beer of your choosing) was amazing and is something i never knew i needed in my life until now.

this day was more or less a blur of relaxing at the hostel. i walked to the local park known for their rose bushes and decided to read for a few hours as the sun went down. the evening was spent drinking at another nearby park at like 1:30 in the morning under more cherry blossom trees.

this day consisted of me mostly lounging around the hostel until about 2pm. i got some discounted grocery store food for breakfast for like, $5, then made my way to tenjinbashisuji street (the longest shopping street in japan), and a small stroll at tennoji park to see the cherry blossom pedals falling like pink snow. i also went to a local bakery, and swallowed those crossiants so fast.

then, it started to rain, and on the way back to the hostel, i got caught up in a wind tunnel that pushed the rain my way, getting my pants absolutely soaked from the knee down. i spent the evening drying my pants in the girls bathroom with a hair dryer (because i don't need to pay any unecessary money for the dryer okay i'm a girl on a budget), and had dinner in the hostel's downstairs cafe. we had yakisoba, takoyaki, and karaage. also amazing, and at a great price!

the rain was a bit of a deal breaker for going back to nagoya that night because i was not about to walk in the rain to the train station for fifteen minutes, so i decided to crash one more night since my friends were going to kyoto in the morning anyways.

but yeah. osaka was really great, and i love how it's always a different experience when visiting but always so memorable.

now back to the regularly scheduled agenda before i go on another small travel adventure throughout this wonderful country!