So it has been a quiet late post since it has been nearly 2 months after I came back from Nippon land, but I really wanted to write and sum up my wonderful two month Japan trip in one post (which will be extremely hard...TT) so warning to all it will be a long one.
On the 8th of December I flew out of the hot summer of aussie land and entered the freezing winter of Japan Osaka for a two month intense exchange program organised by my university.
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| bed of clouds from my window seat |
I think I departed really early in the morning - something like 6am, so I was exhausted.
After 9 hours of flying plus 3 hours of waiting at Cairns airport, I arrived in Kansai Airport at night finallyyyyy.
As expected, it was freezing cold and one of my friends and I stayed in one of the apartment in Shin-Osaka which was like right in the city. We didn't have much trouble getting there but our luggages were so huge it was difficult getting around places - especially on trains.
Oh my god, Japanese subways' staircases. Never-ending.
Anyway, so the hotel that we stayed (can't remember the name) was really nice and clean - we each got our individual rooms and although small, it had everything what we needed. I remember I had the best sleep that night zzz.
So the next day, it was the orientation day for the university that we were attending - which was the Osaka University ! It took about 45-50 minutes from where we stayed - we had to catch trains and buses, oh it was horrible.
But in the end we finally arrived.
It's a pretty quiet campus since it was one of the three's smallest campus called Mino. But it had everything to supermarkets outside of my dorm and a nice local community. I expected the area to be a lot busier since one of Japan's top university is located here but it was more towards the country-side. Since I love city lights and people, it was a little disappointing but in the end, I got so used to the place and wanted to stay longer !
On the first night of Mino, group of friends and I headed over to the local ramen shop which was so deli-cious. The restaurant was famous for its pork broth and we all ordered the main signature dish.
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| It was huge, but had to finish it. |
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| the shop attendant was lovely, he agreed to take photo with us. |
So after few days of going to classes, settling in my new dorm and the town of Mino, it was time to travel and explore the city of Osaka. I have never been before so this was my first time going to places like Namba, Shinsaibashi etc. It was definitely different to the vibes of Tokyo and in some ways better (?), of courser there were huge crowds of people everywhere you went but the atmosphere of the shops and the streets really gave an authentic feeling unlike the streets of Shibuya or Shinjuku.
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| My 'can I stay home its too cold' face. |
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| Poo shaped candies. Seriously, Japan has the most interesting snacks. |
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| Shinsaibashi |
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| the most famous street of Dotonbori in Namba. |
I think I literally went to Namba, Umeda and Shinsaibashi straight after when class finished.
It was that good and I give thumbs up for the most greatest shopping experience. Most of the stores were cheap or in good value - for example, stores like WEGO, SPINNS or Forever 21 have really good prices so make sure you check those out when you go there !
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| we took so many purikuras in this trip. Way too much. |
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| Osaka Castle |
I remember this castle was so magnificent, the colour, the size, just everything about it ! Definitely a must-go place in Osaka and it really isn't that hard to get there at all. This castle is located right next to a concert venue called Osaka-Jo Hall which Korean boy band EXO had their live the day I visited.
So many fans in the area who were cosplaying... it was interesting.
I have bunch of other photos from USJ so will put them in another post !
Until then, D xx
