Now that we figured out the basics of navigating Japan, it was time to go to Osaka via bullet train. Thestation was little chaotic, but we managed to find our train and off we went! The train was smooth and fast, as expected.
We accidentally booked ourselves into the Umeda district of Osaka, which turns out to be very cool. There are tons of little vintage shops and cool restaurants that we found while exploring.
We took a taxi to the Amerikamura district and visited an interesting mall with vintage shops and a pinball arcade.
But we found the highlight of the mall when I pushed an elevator button that was all in Japanese. The doors opened and we walked into a Japanese haunted house. Tickets were $7, so we were all in. The people were incredibly accommodating for our poor Japanese and Google translated all of the announcements throughout the visit.
The haunted house was very cute and we got some pictures with the scary clown afterwards.
Then we headed to the Dotonburi district to see the crazy displays.
We were pretty tired by the end of the day and tried to stop for a craft cocktail at Bar Cocktail Machine. The door made us think we were in the right place, but the menu did not impress.
There was a cool bar called Rabbit Hutch two floors below Cocktail Machine, but they were closed for a private party. I asked the bartender for some recommendations and he sent us to a district instead of a bar, which caused some confusion for a while. But eventually we found Bar Simon, which was a wonderful experience. We had a very nice conversation with the bartender through Google Translate.
When we were confused and trying to find the bar that was a district, one bar owner was very helpful, but closed. They taught me the special way to say thank you in Osaka that surprises most people when I say it. So we went back to that bar for some fun…and snake-infused liquor.
Osaka and its people are much more colorful than what we saw in Tokyo. There is also a lot less English and Osaka is my favorite part of the trip so far.
My Garmin said we walked 4.35 miles today. That’s definitely an undercount.
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