4 Days in Osaka

Japan has always been my dream destination and during my last visit I was able to share many of the country's great experiences with my partner Lisa. It was a fantastic trip filled with unique activities, sights and of course amazing food. We enjoyed it so much that in our minds we're already planning our next trip but little did we know the world would turn for the A SARS-like virus which has infected hundreds in China. The breaking news stay at home that is the order tonight from four state governors. The coronavirus is the biggest threat this country has faced for decades. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced he's extending his country's COVID-19 state of emergency until the end of May. For more than two years Japan would remain closed to visitors until now. We arrived in Tokyo in the evening. We're excited to be back in Japan however we were feeling pretty tired. We couldn't wait to get out of the airport and get to our hotel for some much needed rest before our trip to Osaka the next day. The following morning we found ourselves at the Tokyo station ready to board the Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka. After arriving in Osaka we immediately head to Dotonbori and explore the nearby area. Dotonbori during the day is completely different from its evening counterpart. It was now time for some dinner. One place I wanted to try in particular was a restaurant named Ajinoya which apparently served some of the best okonomiyaki in town. After our dinner we stumble around the many side streets taking in the ambience before heading back to our hotel. Back to my favorite, the Peach Suntory. Those of you who have seen my very first videos in Japan knows about this. This is the best, this is the best honestly you guys. Alright so we just woke up in our hotel room here at the Flag Hotel in Shinsaibashi. Today we're heading to the Katsuoji temple which is quite a bit of a distance away from where we are. It's about an hour with public transport but we're going there because I've seen photos of this place. I think it seems really interesting. It's nice to go out a little bit and see a nice temple probably a nice little garden. It's supposed to be really really big so yeah I'm gonna spend some time there and then head back to Osaka finish some things up before we head onwards to Kyoto and the rest of the places we're gonna visit. Just having the famous egg sandwich. Alright so we just bought these Daruma dolls. There's a little fortune inside. We're gonna pick it out. If it's good we keep it. If it's bad we tie it up at the strings over there. They usually tie up any bad sort of fortunes up there so it goes away. Let's see what we get. Once we finished up at the temple it was now time to head back to central Osaka and find some food. We decided to visit this small and unassuming izakaya located on the side of a small street. Nothing about this place stood out of the ordinary until the owner Toyo decided to whip out his flamethrower. So good. Really really good. Before finishing the day we wanted to visit the Osaka Botanical Garden which has become a digital art space thanks to team lab who are known for their art installations throughout Japan. We wake up early in the morning. Although I'm not the biggest fan of amusement parks I knew for this trip I couldn't skip this one. Alright we are in Universal Studios Japan. Let's check it out. Seems like a ton of fun. While it was interesting walking around exploring the amusement park our main attraction still lied ahead. Alright our last day in Osaka. We are at the Kuromon market right now or at least part of it. So we're just gonna check things out and do some exploring for the last day here. Alright so we just found ourselves some sushi. Some fatty tuna from this little shop here in the Kuromon market. Looks really really good. Eating the brain of a doll. Just your standard vanilla soft serve but you gotta keep the creepy doll head though. Hey what's up everyone this is Alan and you just watched the first part of the Japan travel series but I just want to make a quick announcement. My 14 days in Japan travel itinerary is now available on my shop. It's made on Notion and it's based on my previous trips with small updates of course. It will cover what to do in Japan and how much it's going to cost. I've also added Google Maps links to each of the locations for easy wayfinding. But wait there's more. You'll also get a PDF version of this which is great for when you're offline. This is 150 plus pages of travel information tips and nice photos for inspiration purposes. And finally I'm also including my custom Google Maps for Japan with saved pins and locations. All of this is now available on my shop and I do have plans to add several travel guides for both past and future trips. But for now you can find this one for Japan and another one for Iceland. So that was the sales speech. Thank you for sticking out with me you guys. Yeah that was it for this video really. More Japan content incoming very soon. As soon as I get done with the edits to be honest. But yeah there's a couple more videos incoming. So I just want to wrap things up now and say thank you for watching this video. Thank you for your continued support as always. This is Alan. I'll see you guys in the next one.