Japan 2019: Osaka + Kobe

And here we are on the last leg of my Kyoto-Osaka trip! I'm a bit tired writing at this point lol (this is my fourth post today), so I'm just going to list what we did on the last leg of our trip:

- ate ramen at Ichiran

- went to Osaka Castle and rode the Osaka-jo Gozabune boat

- went up the Umeda Sky Building

- had fluffy french toast at Hoshino Coffee

-had yummy unlimited sushi at this random place in Dotonbori 

- took pictures with the Glico man and shopped at Don Quixote

- ate Kobe beef (AMAZING!!- worth a trip to Kobe)

-had lots and lots of Gyudon

- was treated steak because it was my friend's birthday

Now that I think about it, it seemed like we did nothing but eat, eat, and eat! Haha. Until next time!

Japan 2019: Universal Studios

My favorite part in every vacation—a visit to a theme park! I'm still a kid at heart and I love love love going to theme parks. This is quite funny but my theme park tradition is ordering a turkey leg for snack. Every time I go to theme parks, I always have to have a turkey leg. It makes my visit complete. Lol.

In USJ, I especially loved the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I am a Harry Potter fan and I've read all the books immediately after they were published. This place is truly memorable because it was where I got my very first taste of butterbeer! And to add to that, we were lucky that we went on this trip in October, since Halloween was approaching, the park was horror-themed! There were horror houses, and at nighttime, the park staff dressed up as monsters or zombies and they roamed around the park to try and scare you! HARRY POTTER + BUTTER BEER + HORROR HOUSES + TURKEY LEG = HAPPINESS!!

Japan 2019: Himeji Castle

We headed to Himeji Castle on our second day in Kyoto... which was a wrong decision because we would be passing by Osaka on our way there! We stayed during the first half of our trip in Kyoto and the second half in Osaka. Traveling back and forth is so fast and easy so it would've been better if we stayed in Osaka the entire duration of our trip—we could've avoided the hassle of transporting our luggage! 

Himeji Castle was amazing! From the train station, we rented bikes and biked around the castle complex. It was so cool because we got to enter the castle to see the rooms up close. Would you believe that this castle was built more than six centuries ago?

When we felt we have spent enough time at Himeji Castle, we took the train back to Kyoto for a quick visit at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was already closed! Disappointed at our poor time management, we just went to the mall where we met up with a Japanese friend, and ordered katsu for dinner!

Japan 2019: Kyoto

It has been a looooong time since I last visited Japan—nine years ago, to be exact. Oh but I did go to Okinawa last year as it was a stopover in a cruise, but that doesn't count lol. Anyway, for my annual trip with my high school friends, we decided on Japan!

We visited Kyoto and Osaka, and I was the only one in group who would be visiting these cities for the first time (I visited only Tokyo before)! We went to Fushimi Inari shrine, and joined a walking tour in Kyoto on our first day, where we explored both Gion (where geisha houses are located) and Higashiyama districts. We decided not to finish the tour because some of my friends were tired from all the walking, so instead of making multiple stops had we continued the tour, we headed directly to Kiyomizudera Temple. We didn't enter though because the building was under construction. Sad, it could've looked so beautiful. We ended our tiring first day with an unlimited yakiniku dinner. Yay!

The next day, we headed to the majestic Himeji Castle! But more on that on my next post.

On the third day, we got up early to have a quick look at Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion). It was a remarkable sight! The place looked so peaceful and relaxing, and the entire walk around the property took only around 20 minutes. After that, we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the group at Nishiki Market but we took the wrong bus and got lost on the way! Lol. It took us a long time but we eventually got there. After grabbing some food at the market, we checked out from the hotel and took the train to Osaka.