After 10 days or so of non-stop sightseeing and walking up to 25,000 steps every day, we were quite tired and ready for a quieter day of doing our own thing, where we could just come and go from our accommodation near Dotonbori as we pleased.
Jay and I had looked at going to a baseball game, but I wasn't sure if I would love it enough to pay $80 to go and wasn't sure if we would get frustrated sitting there and 'wasting' a whole day, so we decided not to buy tickets. Jalen then joked that he might go to Universal Studios which we loved on our first trip. I loved it on our last trip, but not enough to go back and spend another day at a theme park.
Melissa and Harri went off and looked at the shops together and Kobe also headed off shopping on his own. I love just wandering around, people watching and although I don't love shopping, I love just looking around and seeing the different things that you can buy and comparing the prices with what we would pay at home. I did end up buying a couple of things in Osaka as the price was just so much cheaper than home.
Kobe and I met up and decided to get Sushiro (sushi train) for lunch.
We then jumped on the train and went to Shinsekai which is a retro-styled, nostalgic neighbourhood.
We had fun just looking around and Kobe played a couple of the games.
Throughout the day we were all sending updates on what we were doing on the group chat and Jay sent a photo of him outside Universal Studios. We knew that standing at that sign meant he was still outside and had a laugh as only Jalen would go all the way to try to convince us that he went without us.
Not long after, he then sends us videos and photos of him in the park! He said he originally decided to just go outside as a joke, and then when he got there, he decided to buy a ticket and go in and loved just seeing his favourite things again. Kobe and Harri were both disappointed as they would've liked to have gone again with him, but we all had a good day, taking it a bit easier.
I love the manholes all around Japan.
We decided to meet up after we all got our own dinner. Dotonbori is always busy, but especially busy at night.
I don't mind eating on my own at all, so just wandered the streets and found a place where you could order ramen on the machine outside and then take your ticket in and they prepare it for you, while you sit and wait. It was so good and I remember just sitting there eating it and feeling so sad that our trip was almost over.
After dinner we all decided to meet up at a place called Round One. We paid for 90 minutes which is unlimited play of all the activities in there which included darts, basketball, tennis, skating, bowling and baseball cages etc.
I love all the little alleys which are close to Dotonbori.
Melissa and Harri found a cute cafe close to our accommodation that made the cutest drinks.
On our first trip we loved watching these buskers at Dotonbori. The woman was pregnant on our last trip and now they're busking with their baby!
We love Osaka and Dotonbori, and it was so nice to just have a 'down' day where we could all do whatever we want and catch up later on.
One of my favourite days on our recent trip to Japan was our day trip to Nara. I felt sad about leaving our accommodation in Kyoto, because I knew it meant we were on the last part of our trip and it would soon all be over.
I just couldn't find the time to go to Nara on our first trip, but I'm so glad we made sure we went this time. I'd heard that the deer could be quite aggressive and that the tamer deer were further up in the forest area around Kasuga Taisha Shrine, so once we arrived at the train station, we caught the bus there.
I don't think I was prepared for actually how many deer there were going to be in Nara.
We found a place to buy the deer crackers, and I had read about keeping them in your bag or pocket, rather than holding them the whole time, or the deer would just keep coming up to you. I had also read that you should show your hands to the deer, so they knew that you didn't have any crackers in your hand and then they leave you alone.
It seemed so magical just seeing these beautiful deer standing in the forest in between the stone lanterns.
Jalen, Kobe and I paid to go and have a look inside Kasuga Taisha shrine. The whole area has over 3000 lanterns, which have been donated to represent the 3000 Kasuga shrines spread throughout Japan.
This deer just seemed to know that this was the spot to stand as all the tourists would come and take photos and then feed it.
We stayed for ages around the Kasuga Taisha Shrine area.
We then walked towards Nara Park where the more aggressive deer were.
I was very keen to see Todai-ji Temple with the big Buddha statues inside. The Nandaimon Gate which you had to walk through to get to the temple was impressive enough with its huge statues.
Photos just don't show how huge and impressive everything was.
Tojaiji Temple is huge. It was built in 752, and I find it so hard to get my head around how they build these incredible temples so long ago and how so many of them have been rebuilt after war or earthquakes and have been so well preserved.
The statues inside were massive. It was worth going to Nara just to see this temple.
We absolutely loved going to Nara.
We caught the train back to Osaka which was a short train ride away. We were excited to see what Melissa thought about Osaka as we love the vibe at Dotonbori which is where we stay.
I love everything about Japan except for all the stairs at the train stations!
We were excited to get back to Osaka and knew exactly where we were going as we were going to be staying in the same accommodation that we booked for our first trip.
When we see the crab sign in the distance, we know that we are on our street :)
I was so excited to get to Dotonbori as soon as we dropped off our luggage, as it was our last time that we would be able to meet up with Simone and Simon and their family. Every time I was with them, I just kept thinking 'I can't believe we are in Japan together'. It was such a dream come true.
Simone has been the most beautiful friend to me through all the ups and downs in my life. She helped care for my boys when Noah was in hospital during the last days of life, she was at my house waiting for me the day after Aaron passed away (we were away on holiday and had to drive home after it happened), she looked after Kobe for me regularly when I was a new widow and just struggling to get through every day. She was my gym buddy every day, before we both started our jobs as teachers and she never ever forgets a birthday or anniversary.
This moment of eating okonomiyaki together in Osaka is such a special memory for both of us.
I loved this trip for so many reasons, but especially because we got to spend some of the time with Simone and Simon and the kids. We said goodbye here as they were flying to South Korea early the next morning.
As Kobe and I walked off, we noticed a busker on the bridge. Kobe called out to me to take notice of the jacket that he had on, as it was an Oasis jacket. I stopped to look and realised he was singing a Beatles song. Aaron loved Oasis and also the Beatles. Then he finished singing the Beatles song and started singing an Oasis song! I know Aaron was with us many times on this trip.
Osaka is well known for Takoyaki, which are octopus cooked in balls of dough. I had to get some before I went back to our accommodation.
I loved staying here as it was literally a 5-minute walk to Dotonbori and we could all come and go as we wanted and would just meet back up here whenever we wanted to rest for a bit. I was so happy to be back in Osaka, but sad that there weren't a lot of days left on our trip.
