Japan Trip: Part 4 (Osaka)

On our first full day in Osaka, we went to the mall across from hotel for a bit before meeting up Yusaku's mom's side of the family for lunch. Kazumi's sister and brother-in-law, niece, nephew, brother, mother, and great aunt and uncle were all there. We had another multi-course traditional Japanese meal. After lunch, Yusaku's grandma, great aunt and uncle, and uncle all headed home. I was a little bummed that we did not get to spend a little more time with them since we don't see them very often.  

The rest of the group headed to a nearby mall for coffee, snacks, and more visiting.

After our coffee and snacks, everyone but Kanako had to leave. Kanako stayed with us and we went to Osaka-jo. It is a beautiful castle. I was little surprised and disappointed to discover that the building standing today is a reproduction of the original and is less than 100 years old. Today it is just a museum. It was interesting and beautiful regardless.

After Osaka-jo, we had some tonkatsu for dinner (probably Olivia's favorite thing to eat in Japan) at a restaurant at a mall near our hotel. On Monday, we took a trip to Nara, which I'm saving for my next/last post. On Tuesday, our last full day in Osaka, we went to the aquarium (see pics below). 

We had one last dinner with Kanako and afterward got some desserts in the basement to take back up to our hotel room to eat while we visited a little longer. Olivia had finally warmed up to Kanako and despite the language barrier, they managed to enjoy each other's company. It made me so happy that Kanako got to know the "real" Olivia. She was the only relative that we really spent any extended time with and because of that, Olivia was able to come out of her shell. Looking forward to seeing Kanako and some other Japanese friends and family at Yosuke and Manami's wedding in June.

Wednesday was the beginning of our long journey home - traveling to Narita to spend the night by the airport, flying to Dallas, and FINALLY flying to Dayton. It was a great trip, but like any time you travel, it is always good to come home.

Japan Trip: Part 3 (Kyoto)

We arrived in Yokohama on Wednesday, after a fairly long day of traveling (a train to the Shinkansen station, the Shinkansen, and then a hotel shuttle bus ride from the train station). After checking into our hotel, we decided to do a little exploring and walked to Nanzenji. Unfortunately, it was closing so we didn't stay too long.

Instead, we walked to dinner and had some yakisoba (probably my favorite Japanese meal) in a small restaurant. This was our first time on the trip to eat in traditional Japanese style (no shoes, on the floor) and Olivia got a big kick out of it.

The next morning, we headed back to Nanzenji. We climbed very steep stairs to the top of this building (see pic below). It was freezing, as we climbed up there in just our socks.

After Nanzenji, we stopped for some coffee and warmed up a bit and then headed a little further down the road to the Kyoto City Zoo.

It was fairly small and undergoing construction and very different than the zoos we have been to at home, but we had fun nonetheless.

After the zoo, we stopped for some lunch at another traditional Japanese restaurant and then walked to Heian Jingu (see pics below). We walked around the beautiful garden there. After such a busy day, we headed back to the hotel and decided to stay in and have dinner at the restaurant there.

Friday morning, Yusaku, the girls, and I had breakfast at our hotel and then met up with Yusaku's parents to go to a paint-your-own pottery place. This was probably one of my favorite experiences of the trip. I love doing hands-on activities and it was a nice diversion from sightseeing. We had to leave the pottery there to be fired so we asked them to send the finished pieces to Yusaku's uncle with the plan of Takashi picking them up on his trip in March and bringing them back home then. I can't wait to get them!

After leaving the pottery place, we grabbed some lunch before returning to the hotel to meet up with Yosuke and Manami. All of us hopped into two taxis and headed to Kiyomizudera. I love the walk up the hill Kiyomizudera. It is lined with lots of little shops selling souvenirs and foods and people are handing out samples to try.

We were a bit frozen after exploring Kiyomizudera, so we stopped into a restaurant for some coffee, tea, and snacks to warm up. After leaving the restaurant and some more walking around, we took a taxi to the restaurant where we were meeting the Arakis for dinner.

We ate a delicious multi-course meal in a private room of a traditional style Japanese restaurant. It is always nice to see them. I wish we didn't live so far away. They are a very nice family.

On our last day in Kyoto, I started off the day by trying vending machine coffee for the first time. It wasn't bad. Still seems strange to me to get a warm drink from a vending machine, but, oh well.

We went to Kinkakuji (see pics below), had some lunch, and then checked out Ryoanji before taxing a (very long) taxi ride to the train station. This was followed by a train ride to Osaka, which is where I will pick up my next post.

Japan Trip: Part 2 (Yokohama)

On Sunday, our first full day in Yokohama, we stopped by the Babies R' Us (very interesting to see and compare to the American Babies R 'Us!) and picked up an inexpensive umbrella stroller. This came in very handy during our trip even at home Olivia rarely rides in a stroller anymore. It was so nice to have when we were out and about all day and she needed a chance to rest.

After that, we headed to the InterContinental Hotel for lunch with Yuskau's dad's side of the family. We met with Yusaku's uncles, Shunzo and Katsuhiro, their wives, and children (Maki and husband, Hiro and wife, and Yoko and husband and son, Mahiro). Including Yusaku's parents, the four of us, and Yosuke and Manami, there were 19 of us there! Even though most of his family doesn't speak English, we had a nice time visiting. They were excited to meet Natalie and see Olivia again and both girls received MANY presents.

After lunch, we took a short walk to Yusaku's uncle, Katsuhiro's apartment.

We spent a good while there, visiting with everyone. We had a very nice time!

On Monday, we walked around the harbor and checked out the deck by the cruise ship. It was freezing! After this, we headed to the mall for something warm to drink and a bite to eat before heading back out to a store where we could buy Natalie some diapers.

view from our hotel room

It turned out that the store where the diapers were was very close to the Anpanman Children's Museum, so we decided to check that out. It was an interesting experience for sure.

After the museum, we had some lunch (a ramen set) at the mall food court, shopped at Uniqlo, and headed back to the hotel. Natalie and I called it an early night, while Yusaku and Olivia headed out for some dinner with his parents.

Tuesday, we had lunch with Manami's family and later, dinner with Katsuhiro and his wife.